adobe/workflow-development

Workflow Development (AEM 6.5 LTS)

Beta Skill: This skill is in beta and under active development. Results should be reviewed carefully before use in production. Report issues at https://github.com/adobe/skills/issues

Implement custom workflow components for AEM 6.5 LTS: WorkflowProcess, ParticipantStepChooser, OSGi registration, metadata handling, and error patterns.

Variant Scope

• AEM 6.5 LTS only.
• Both Felix SCR and DS R6 annotations are supported. DS R6 preferred for new code.
• Bundle deployed via Maven (autoInstallBundle) or Package Manager.

Workflow

Development Progress
- [ ] 1) Identify what the step does: process (auto) or participant (human) or dynamic participant
- [ ] 2) Create Java class implementing WorkflowProcess or ParticipantStepChooser
- [ ] 3) Register with @Component/@Service (Felix SCR) or @Component (DS R6) with service property
- [ ] 4) Read step arguments from MetaDataMap args
- [ ] 5) Access payload via item.getWorkflowData().getPayload().toString()
- [ ] 6) Read/write workflow instance metadata via item.getWorkflowData().getMetaDataMap()
- [ ] 7) Return normally to advance; throw WorkflowException to trigger retry
- [ ] 8) Deploy; verify process.label appears in Workflow Model Editor step picker

WorkflowProcess Template — DS R6 (Preferred)

@Component(
    service = WorkflowProcess.class,
    property = {
        "process.label=My Custom Process Step",
        "service.description=Short description"
    }
)
public class MyCustomProcess implements WorkflowProcess {

    @Reference
    private ResourceResolverFactory resolverFactory;

    @Override
    public void execute(WorkItem item, WorkflowSession session, MetaDataMap args)
            throws WorkflowException {
        String payloadPath = item.getWorkflowData().getPayload().toString();
        String myArg = args.get("myArgKey", "defaultValue");
        item.getWorkflowData().getMetaDataMap().put("processedBy", "my-step");
        // ... do work ...
    }
}

WorkflowProcess Template — Felix SCR (Still Valid)

@Component(metatype = false)
@Service(value = WorkflowProcess.class)
@Property(name = "process.label", value = "My Custom Process Step")
public class MyCustomProcess implements WorkflowProcess {

    @Reference
    private SlingRepository repository;

    @Override
    public void execute(WorkItem item, WorkflowSession session, MetaDataMap args)
            throws WorkflowException {
        // same body as DS R6 example
    }
}

ParticipantStepChooser Template

@Component(
    service = ParticipantStepChooser.class,
    property = {"chooser.label=Department Head Chooser"}
)
public class DepartmentHeadChooser implements ParticipantStepChooser {

    @Override
    public String getParticipant(WorkItem workItem, WorkflowSession session,
                                 MetaDataMap args) throws WorkflowException {
        String department = workItem.getWorkflowData()
                                    .getMetaDataMap().get("department", "marketing");
        return department + "-managers";
    }
}

Guardrails

• Never use loginAdministrative(). Always use a service user mapped via ServiceUserMapper.
• Felix SCR: keep metatype=false unless exposing configuration to the OSGi console.
• Do not mix Felix SCR and DS R6 annotations in the same class.
• Throw WorkflowException for retryable errors; log and rethrow for unexpected errors.

References

• process-step-patterns.md — WorkflowProcess patterns with Felix SCR and DS R6 examples
• participant-step-patterns.md — ParticipantStepChooser patterns and completing steps
• variables-and-metadata.md — MetaDataMap, workflow variables, inter-step data
• api-reference.md
• 65-lts-guardrails.md