building-workflows

name

building-workflows

description

Use when authoring, writing, editing, or debugging a defineWorkflow workflow file (*.workflow.ts) with the `defineworkflow` package — orchestrating coding agents via agent()/parallel()/pipeline(), declaring meta.harness, returning structured output with zod schemas, reading args, asking the human a question, or when a run fails with errors about Date.now/Math.random being forbidden or "defineWorkflow must be the first runtime statement".

Building Workflows

Overview

A workflow is a single TypeScript file that orchestrates coding-agent calls. You write the control flow; agents do the work. Execution is deterministic and journaled: every agent() result is recorded by sequence number, so a crashed or paused run replays from a checkpoint without re-invoking the model. That durability is why the rules below exist — anything nondeterministic would break replay.

You author against the defineworkflow package. The imports are type-only stubs for editor autocomplete; at run time the CLI strips them and injects the live runtime into a VM sandbox.

npm install defineworkflow      # provides the `defineworkflow` CLI + authoring types

The shape (copy this)

// tweet-contest.workflow.ts
import { agent, args, defineWorkflow, log, parallel, phase, z } from "defineworkflow";

export default defineWorkflow({
  name: "tweet-contest",
  description: "Draft 3 tweets in parallel, then judge the best",
  harness: "claude", // required — see harness table
  phases: [{ title: "Draft" }, { title: "Judge" }], // optional, drives the progress UI
  async run() {
    // Schemas + profiles MUST be declared INSIDE run() (see Rule 1).
    const Draft = z.object({ tweet: z.string(), hook: z.string() });

    // `args` is `unknown` — cast it once (see Rule 3).
    const { topic } = (args ?? {}) as { topic?: string };
    const subject = topic ?? "durable workflows";

    phase("Draft");
    log(`drafting tweets about: ${subject}`);
    const angles = ["witty", "contrarian", "heartfelt"];
    const drafts = await parallel(
      angles.map(
        (angle) => () =>
          agent(
            `Write a ${angle} tweet (<280 chars) about "${subject}". Return the tweet and its hook.`,
            { label: `draft:${angle}`, phase: "Draft", schema: Draft },
          ),
      ),
    );

    phase("Judge");
    const candidates = drafts.map((d, i) => `#${i} (${d.hook}): ${d.tweet}`).join("\n");
    const verdict = await agent(
      `Pick the best tweet about "${subject}".\n${candidates}\nReturn the 0-based winnerIndex and a reason.`,
      {
        label: "judge",
        phase: "Judge",
        schema: z.object({ winnerIndex: z.number().int(), reason: z.string() }),
      },
    );

    const winner = drafts[verdict.winnerIndex] ?? drafts[0]; // index access is `T | undefined` — guard it
    return { topic: subject, reason: verdict.reason, tweet: winner?.tweet };
  },
});

Non-negotiable rules

These are the things that silently break a run or fail to type-check. Get them right first.

1. defineWorkflow(...) must be the FIRST runtime statement in the file. Only imports and type-only declarations (interface, type) may precede it. So declare your zod schemas and profile() calls INSIDE run(), not at module scope. A const Schema = z.object(...) at the top of the file is the most common cause of a workflow that won't start.
2. No nondeterministic globals. Date.now(), Math.random(), and argless new Date() are forbidden inside the sandbox — they break journal replay. Need a unique path or seed? Pass it via args. Array.map/filter/forEach, JSON, Math.* (except random) are fine.
3. args is unknown. Cast it: const { topic } = (args ?? {}) as { topic?: string }. Reading args.topic directly does not type-check.
4. harness is required and is the single source of truth. No auto-detect, no CLI override. The declared CLI must be installed to run for real (--mock skips that).
5. Index access is T | undefined (noUncheckedIndexedAccess). parallel/pipeline return arrays — guard arr[i] with ?. or ?? fallback.

Primitives

Primitive	Signature	Use
agent(prompt, opts?)	(string, { label?, phase?, model?, schema? }) => Promise<T | unknown>	Invoke one coding agent. With a zod schema, resolves to the inferred type; without, resolves to the raw text as unknown.
agent(profile, prompt, opts?)	adds a leading Profile	Apply reusable defaults (see profile()).
parallel(thunks)	Array<() => Promise<T>> => Promise<T[]>	Barrier. Pass thunks (() => agent(...)), not promises. Awaits all; a thrown thunk becomes null in the array — .filter(Boolean).
pipeline(items, ...stages)	each stage (prev, item, i) => Promise<R>	No barrier. Each item flows through all stages independently; item B can be in stage 1 while A is in stage 3. A throwing stage drops that item to null. Default for multi-stage work.
phase(title)	(string) => void	Switch the active progress group; match a meta.phases[].title.
log(msg)	(string) => void	Emit a progress line.
askUserQuestion(opts)	({ key, question, choices?, allowOther?, default }) => Promise<string>	Pause and ask the human; question is markdown. Answer is journaled (resume never re-asks). Headless falls back to --answers then default.
workflow(ref, args?)	runs another workflow inline	Nested one level deep only; shares the parent budget.
profile(config)	({ instructions?, model?, ... }) => Profile	Bundle reusable agent defaults; declare inside run().
budget	{ total, spent(), remaining(), record() }	Token budget; remaining() is Infinity when uncapped.

Structured output with zod

Use the re-exported z (import { z } from "defineworkflow") — not a separate zod install. A zod schema makes agent() return the inferred type and validates output at run time:

const out = await agent("Invent a headline.", {
  schema: z.object({ title: z.string(), impact: z.enum(["high", "medium", "low"]) }),
});
// out: { title: string; impact: "high" | "medium" | "low" }

.describe(...) on fields steers the model. Without a schema, the result is the agent's text typed as unknown — cast it ((await agent(p)) as string).

parallel vs pipeline

• parallel when you need all results together at one point (fan-out then combine). It is a barrier: the slowest thunk gates the rest.
• pipeline when each item runs a multi-stage chain and stages don't need cross-item context. No barrier — wall-clock ≈ the slowest single chain, not sum-of-slowest-per-stage. Stage callbacks receive (prevResult, originalItem, index).

Don't reach for a barrier just to map/filter between stages — do that inside a pipeline stage.

meta fields

Field	Required	Purpose
name	yes	Identifier; used by save / run-by-name.
description	yes	One line shown in lists and the consent gate.
harness	yes	"claude" | "codex" | "copilot" | "raw-api". raw-api needs ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.
phases	no	Array<{ title, detail? }> — labels the progress UI; pair with phase().
whenToUse	no	Hint shown in the saved/bundled workflow list.
output	no	A directory path. When set, the return value is persisted (result.json + each top-level string field to its own file). Omitted → return value only printed.

Running & iterating

defineworkflow run tweet-contest.workflow.ts --args '{"topic":"rust"}'   # real agents, uses tokens
defineworkflow run tweet-contest.workflow.ts --mock                       # fabricates schema-valid data — NO agents, NO tokens
defineworkflow run <file> --detach        # headless; tail with `watch`
defineworkflow run <file> --yes           # skip the interactive consent gate (also auto-skipped in CI/non-TTY)
defineworkflow list | watch <id> | resume <id> | stop <id> | save <id>
defineworkflow adapters                    # show which harness CLIs are installed

Iterate on control flow with --mock first — every agent() returns dummy data matching its schema, so you can debug phases, fan-out, and the return shape with no agents spawned and no tokens spent. The declared harness need not be installed under --mock.

Common mistakes

Symptom	Cause	Fix
"defineWorkflow must be the first runtime statement" / run won't start	const X = z.object(...) or profile() at module scope	Move schemas/profiles inside run().
args.topic type error	args is unknown	Cast once: const { topic } = (args ?? {}) as { topic?: string }.
"Date.now is not defined" / sandbox violation	nondeterministic global	Remove it; pass values via args.
parallel runs only the first / odd results	passed promises, not thunks	Wrap each: parallel(items.map(x => () => agent(...))).
arr[i] is possibly undefined	noUncheckedIndexedAccess	Guard with ?. / ?? fallback.
Result typed unknown, can't read fields	no schema on agent()	Add a zod schema, or cast the text.
tsc rejects the harness string	typo	Use exactly one of claude / codex / copilot / raw-api.
Workflow ran but produced no files	no meta.output	Set output: "<dir>" to persist the return value.
Burned tokens debugging control flow	ran for real	Use --mock until the shape is right.