agentworkforce/writing-agent-relay-workflows

Writing Agent Relay Workflows

Overview

The relay broker-sdk workflow system orchestrates multiple AI agents (Claude, Codex, Gemini, Aider, Goose) through typed DAG-based workflows. Workflows are defined via a fluent builder API or YAML files.

When to Use

• Building multi-agent workflows with step dependencies
• Orchestrating different AI CLIs (claude, codex, gemini, aider, goose)
• Creating DAG, pipeline, fan-out, or other swarm patterns
• Needing verification gates, retries, or step output chaining

Quick Reference

const { workflow } = require('@agent-relay/sdk/workflows');

async function main() {
const result = await workflow('my-workflow')
  .description('What this workflow does')
  .pattern('dag') // or 'pipeline', 'fan-out', etc.
  .channel('wf-my-workflow') // dedicated channel (auto-generated if omitted)
  .maxConcurrency(3)
  .timeout(3_600_000) // global timeout (ms)

  .agent('lead', { cli: 'claude', role: 'Architect', retries: 2 })
  .agent('worker', { cli: 'codex', role: 'Implementer', retries: 2 })

  .step('plan', {
    agent: 'lead',
    task: `Analyze the codebase and produce a plan.`,
    retries: 2,
    verification: { type: 'output_contains', value: 'PLAN_COMPLETE' }, // optional accelerator
  })
  .step('implement', {
    agent: 'worker',
    task: `Implement based on this plan:\n{{steps.plan.output}}`,
    dependsOn: ['plan'],
    verification: { type: 'exit_code' },
  })

  .onError('retry', { maxRetries: 2, retryDelayMs: 10_000 })
  .run({ onEvent: (e) => console.log(e.type), vars: { task: 'Add auth' } });
}

main().catch(console.error);

Key Concepts

Step Output Chaining

Use {{steps.STEP_NAME.output}} in a downstream step's task to inject the prior step's terminal output. The runner captures PTY output automatically.

Verification Gates

Steps can include verification checks. These are one input to the completion decision — not the only one. The runner uses a multi-signal pipeline: deterministic verification, owner judgment, and evidence collection.

verification: { type: 'exit_code' }                        // preferred for code-editing steps
verification: { type: 'output_contains', value: 'DONE' }   // optional accelerator, not mandatory
verification: { type: 'file_exists', value: 'src/out.ts' } // deterministic file check

Types: exit_code (preferred for implementations), output_contains, file_exists, custom.

Key principle: Verification passing is sufficient for step completion — even if no sentinel marker is present. The runner completes steps through evidence, not ceremony.

DAG Dependencies

Steps with dependsOn wait for all listed steps to complete. Steps with no dependencies start immediately. Steps sharing the same dependsOn run in parallel:

// These two run in parallel after 'review' completes:
.step('fix-types',  { agent: 'worker', dependsOn: ['review'], ... })
.step('fix-tests',  { agent: 'worker', dependsOn: ['review'], ... })
// This waits for BOTH to finish:
.step('final',      { agent: 'lead',   dependsOn: ['fix-types', 'fix-tests'], ... })

Dedicated Channels

Always set .channel('wf-my-workflow-name') for workflow isolation. If omitted, the runner auto-generates wf-{name}-{id}. Never rely on general.

Self-Termination

Do NOT add exit instructions to task strings. The runner automatically appends self-termination instructions with the agent's runtime name in spawnAndWait().

Step Completion Model

Steps complete through a multi-signal decision pipeline, not a single sentinel marker:

1. Deterministic verification (highest priority) — if verification passes (exit_code, file_exists, output_contains), the step completes immediately
2. Owner decision — the step owner (lead or step agent) can issue a structured decision: OWNER_DECISION: COMPLETE|INCOMPLETE_RETRY|INCOMPLETE_FAIL
3. Evidence-based completion — channel messages (WORKER_DONE signals), file artifacts, and process exit codes are collected as evidence
4. Marker fast-path — STEP_COMPLETE:<step-name> still works as an accelerator but is never required

Completion states:

| State | Meaning | | --- | --- | | completed_verified | Deterministic verification passed | | completed_by_owner_decision | Owner approved the step | | completed_by_evidence | Evidence-based completion (channel signals, files, exit code) | | retry_requested_by_owner | Owner requested retry via OWNER_DECISION | | failed_verification | Verification explicitly failed | | failed_owner_decision | Owner rejected the step | | failed_no_evidence | No verification, no owner decision, no evidence — hard fail |

Review parsing is tolerant: The runner accepts semantically equivalent outputs like "Approved", "Complete — task done", "LGTM", not just exact REVIEW_DECISION: APPROVE strings.

No Per-Agent Timeouts

Avoid timeoutMs on agents/steps unless you have a specific reason. The global .timeout() is the safety net. Per-agent timeouts cause premature kills on steps that legitimately need more time.

Agent Definition

.agent('name', {
  cli: 'claude' | 'codex' | 'gemini' | 'aider' | 'goose' | 'opencode' | 'droid',
  role?: string,        // describes agent's purpose (used by pattern auto-selection)
  preset?: 'lead' | 'worker' | 'reviewer' | 'analyst', // sets interactive mode + task guardrails
  retries?: number,     // default retry count for steps using this agent
  model?: string,       // model override
  interactive?: boolean, // default: true. Set false for non-interactive subprocess mode
})

Step Definition

Agent Steps

.step('name', {
  agent: string,                  // must match an .agent() name
  task: string,                   // supports {{var}} and {{steps.NAME.output}}
  dependsOn?: string[],           // DAG edges
  verification?: VerificationCheck,
  retries?: number,               // overrides agent-level retries
})

Deterministic Steps (Shell Commands)

.step('verify-files', {
  type: 'deterministic',
  command: 'test -f src/auth.ts && echo "FILE_EXISTS"',
  dependsOn: ['implement'],
  captureOutput: true,       // capture stdout for {{steps.verify-files.output}}
  failOnError: true,         // fail workflow if exit code != 0
})

Deterministic steps run shell commands without spawning an agent. Use them for:

• File existence checks after implementation waves
• Reading file contents to inject into downstream agent steps via {{steps.X.output}}
• Running build/test commands as workflow gates
• Gathering system info or context before agent steps

Event Listener

.run({
  onEvent: (event) => {
    // event.type is one of:
    // 'run:started' | 'run:completed' | 'run:failed' | 'run:cancelled'
    // 'step:started' | 'step:completed' | 'step:failed' | 'step:skipped' | 'step:retrying'
  },
  vars: { key: 'value' },  // template variables for {{key}}
})

Common Patterns

Parallel Review (lead + reviewer run simultaneously)

.step('lead-review', { agent: 'lead', dependsOn: ['implement'], ... })
.step('code-review', { agent: 'reviewer', dependsOn: ['implement'], ... })
.step('next-phase', { agent: 'worker', dependsOn: ['lead-review', 'code-review'], ... })

Pipeline (sequential handoff)

.pattern('pipeline')
.step('analyze', { agent: 'analyst', task: '...' })
.step('implement', { agent: 'dev', task: '{{steps.analyze.output}}', dependsOn: ['analyze'] })
.step('test', { agent: 'tester', task: '{{steps.implement.output}}', dependsOn: ['implement'] })

Error Handling Strategies

.onError('fail-fast')   // stop on first failure (default)
.onError('continue')    // skip failed branches, continue others
.onError('retry', { maxRetries: 3, retryDelayMs: 5000 })

Non-Interactive Agents (preset: worker / reviewer / analyst)

Use presets instead of manually setting interactive: false. Presets configure interactive mode and inject guardrails automatically:

.agent('worker', { cli: 'claude', preset: 'worker', model: 'sonnet' })
// Equivalent to interactive: false + "Do NOT use relay tools" prefix injected

| Preset | Interactive | Relay access | Use for | | ---------- | ------------- | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- | | lead | ✅ PTY | ✅ Full | Coordination, spawning workers, monitoring channels | | worker | ❌ subprocess | ❌ None | Executing bounded tasks, producing structured stdout | | reviewer | ❌ subprocess | ❌ None | Reading artifacts, producing verdicts | | analyst | ❌ subprocess | ❌ None | Reading code/files, writing findings |

What changes with non-interactive presets:

• Agent runs via CLI one-shot mode (claude -p, codex exec, gemini -p)
• stdin is /dev/null — the process never blocks waiting for terminal input
• No PTY, no relay messaging, no /exit self-termination
• Output captured from stdout, available via {{steps.X.output}}

Critical rule — pre-inject content, never ask non-interactive agents to discover it:

# WRONG — claude -p will try to read the file via tools, may time out on large files
- name: analyze
  agent: analyst
  task: 'Read src/runner.ts and summarize the scrubForChannel method.'

# RIGHT — deterministic step reads the file, injects content directly
- name: read-method
  type: deterministic
  command: sed -n '/scrubForChannel/,/^  \}/p' src/runner.ts
  captureOutput: true

- name: analyze
  agent: analyst
  dependsOn: [read-method]
  task: |
    Summarize this method:
    {{steps.read-method.output}}

Non-interactive agents can use tools but it's slow and unreliable on large files. Deterministic steps are instant. Always pre-read, then inject.

DAG Deadlock Anti-Pattern

The lead↔worker deadlock is the most common DAG mistake. It causes the lead to wait indefinitely for workers that can never start.

# WRONG — deadlock: coordinate waits for WORKER_DONE from work-a,
# but work-a can't start until coordinate finishes
steps:
  - name: coordinate   # lead, waits for WORKER_A_DONE signal
    dependsOn: [context]
  - name: work-a       # can't start — blocked by coordinate
    dependsOn: [coordinate]

# RIGHT — workers and lead start in parallel, merge step gates on all three
steps:
  - name: context
    type: deterministic
  - name: work-a        # starts with lead
    dependsOn: [context]
  - name: work-b        # starts with lead
    dependsOn: [context]
  - name: coordinate    # lead monitors channel for worker signals
    dependsOn: [context]
  - name: merge         # gates on everything
    dependsOn: [work-a, work-b, coordinate]

The runner will catch obvious cases of this at parse time and throw an error.

Rule: if a lead step's task mentions downstream step names alongside waiting keywords (wait, DONE, monitor, check inbox), that's a deadlock.

Step Sizing: Keep Tasks Focused

A step's task prompt should be 10–20 lines maximum. If you find yourself writing a 100-line task prompt, the step is too large for one agent — split it into a team.

The Rule

One agent, one deliverable. A step should instruct an agent to produce one specific artifact (one file, one plan, one review pass). If the step requires reading the whole codebase, coordinating sub-tasks, and reviewing output, it will fail or produce poor results.

When to Use a Team Instead

Decompose a large step into a lead + workers team when:

• The task would require a 50+ line prompt to fully specify
• The deliverable is multiple files that must be consistent with each other
• The work benefits from back-and-forth (questions, corrections, reviews)
• You need one agent to verify another's output before signaling completion

Team Pattern

All team members run as concurrent steps sharing a dedicated channel. The lead coordinates dynamically via messages; workers receive assignments at runtime, not in their task prompt.

agents:
  - name: track-lead
    cli: claude
    channels: [my-track, main-channel]
    role: 'Leads the track. Assigns files to workers, reviews output.'
    constraints:
      model: sonnet

  - name: track-worker-1
    cli: codex
    channels: [my-track]
    role: 'Writes file-a.ts as assigned by track-lead.'
    constraints:
      model: gpt-5.3-codex

  - name: track-worker-2
    cli: codex
    channels: [my-track]
    role: 'Writes file-b.ts as assigned by track-lead.'
    constraints:
      model: gpt-5.3-codex-spark

steps:
  # All three start in the same wave (same dependsOn).
  # Lead posts assignments to #my-track; workers read and implement.
  - name: track-lead-coord
    agent: track-lead
    dependsOn: [prior-step]
    task: |
      Lead the track on #my-track. Workers: track-worker-1, track-worker-2.
      Post assignments to the channel. Review worker output.
      When all workers are done and output is satisfactory, summarize results.
    # Lead uses OWNER_DECISION or the runner detects completion via evidence

  - name: track-worker-1-impl
    agent: track-worker-1
    dependsOn: [prior-step] # same dep as lead — starts concurrently
    task: |
      Join #my-track. track-lead will post your assignment.
      Implement the file as directed. Post a summary when complete.
    verification:
      type: exit_code  # preferred for code-editing workers

  - name: track-worker-2-impl
    agent: track-worker-2
    dependsOn: [prior-step]
    task: |
      Join #my-track. track-lead will post your assignment.
      Implement the file as directed. Post a summary when complete.
    verification:
      type: exit_code

  # Next step depends only on the lead — lead reviews workers via channel
  # evidence and issues OWNER_DECISION or STEP_COMPLETE when satisfied.
  - name: next-step
    agent: ...
    dependsOn: [track-lead-coord]

Key Points

• Lead task prompt: who your workers are, which channel to use, what to assign, what "done" looks like. ~15 lines. Describe the work contract, not output ceremony.
• Worker task prompt: which channel to join, that the lead will post their assignment. ~5 lines. Workers post summaries, not mandatory sentinel strings.
• Workers don't need the full spec in their prompt — they get it from the lead at runtime via the channel.
• Downstream steps depend on the lead, not the workers — the lead reviews worker output via channel evidence and issues completion.
• Separate channels per team prevent cross-talk: #harness-track, #review-track, etc.
• Channel evidence is first-class — worker summaries, DONE signals, and file creation events posted to the channel are collected as completion evidence by the runner.

Concurrency: Don't Over-Parallelize

Set maxConcurrency to 4–6 for most workflows. Each agent spawn requires a PTY startup plus a Relaycast registration. Spawning 10+ agents simultaneously overwhelms the broker and causes spawn timeouts.

swarm:
  pattern: dag
  maxConcurrency: 5 # good: staggers spawns within each wave

Even if a wave has 10 ready steps, the runner will only start 5 at a time and pick up the next as each finishes. This keeps the broker healthy and prevents the request timed out after 10000ms (type='spawn_agent') error that occurs when too many agents register with Relaycast concurrently.

Rule of thumb by workflow size:

| Parallel agents needed | maxConcurrency | | ---------------------- | ---------------- | | 2–4 | 4 (default safe) | | 5–10 | 5 | | 10+ | 6–8 max |

Phase Count: Keep Workflows Compact

Limit workflows to 3–4 phases. Each phase is a sequential barrier — the next phase can't start until the previous one finishes. More phases means more serialization, more wall-clock time, and more chances for context drift between agents.

| Phases | Verdict | Notes | | ------ | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | 2–3 | Ideal | Tight feedback loops, agents see recent context | | 4 | Okay | Acceptable for large projects with clear module boundaries | | 5+ | Too many | Agents lose context, reviews find "FILE NOT FOUND" errors | | 8+ | Never | Each agent works blind — integration issues multiply |

Why fewer phases work better:

• Non-interactive agents can't see each other's output. Each phase boundary is a hard wall.
• Reflection/review steps only add value if the files actually exist on disk. With many phases, early agents write files that later agents can't find (wrong cwd, wrong paths).
• Consolidating related work into one phase lets parallel workers share a lead who can coordinate and verify.

How to consolidate:

Instead of Phase 1 (auth) → Phase 2 (volumes) → Phase 3 (storage) → Phase 4 (executor), group by integration surface:

# Phase 1: Foundation (auth + volumes + storage — independent modules)
# Phase 2: Orchestration (executor + bootstrap — depend on Phase 1)
# Phase 3: API + Integration (web routes + reporter + barrel exports)

Within each phase, use parallel workers with a shared lead for coordination.

File Materialization: Verify Before Proceeding

Always add a deterministic file-check step after implementation waves. Non-interactive agents (codex, claude -p) may fail silently — the process exits 0 but files weren't written because of a wrong cwd, permission issue, or the agent output code to stdout instead of writing files.

The pattern

# Workers write files in parallel
- name: impl-auth
  agent: worker-1
  task: |
    Create the file src/auth/credentials.ts with the following implementation...
    IMPORTANT: Write the file to disk using your file-writing tools.
    Do NOT just output the code to stdout — the file must exist at src/auth/credentials.ts when you finish.

- name: impl-storage
  agent: worker-2
  task: |
    Create the file src/storage/client.ts with the following implementation...
    IMPORTANT: Write the file to disk. The file must exist at src/storage/client.ts when you finish.

# Deterministic gate: verify all expected files exist before any review/next-phase step
- name: verify-files
  type: deterministic
  dependsOn: [impl-auth, impl-storage]
  command: |
    missing=0
    for f in src/auth/credentials.ts src/storage/client.ts; do
      if [ ! -f "$f" ]; then echo "MISSING: $f"; missing=$((missing+1)); fi
    done
    if [ $missing -gt 0 ]; then echo "$missing files missing"; exit 1; fi
    echo "All files present"
  failOnError: true
  captureOutput: true

# Reviews and next-phase steps depend on verify-files, not directly on workers
- name: review
  agent: reviewer
  dependsOn: [verify-files]
  task: ...

Rules for non-interactive file-writing tasks

1. Use absolute or explicit relative paths — always include the full path from the project root in the task prompt. Don't say "implement credentials.ts", say "create the file at src/auth/credentials.ts".
2. Tell the agent to write the file, not output it — add IMPORTANT: Write the file to disk using your file-writing tools. Do NOT just output the code to stdout. Non-interactive agents sometimes default to printing code instead of writing files.
3. Gate downstream steps on file verification — never let a review or next-phase step run without first confirming the expected files exist via a deterministic [ -f ] check.
4. Fail fast on missing files — set failOnError: true on the verification step. A missing file early is much cheaper to debug than 30 minutes of "FILE NOT FOUND" reviews.

Reading files for context injection

When the next phase needs to read files produced by the current phase, use a deterministic step:

- name: read-phase1-output
  type: deterministic
  dependsOn: [verify-phase1-files]
  command: |
    echo "=== src/auth/credentials.ts ==="
    cat src/auth/credentials.ts
    echo "=== src/storage/client.ts ==="
    cat src/storage/client.ts
  captureOutput: true

- name: phase2-implement
  agent: worker
  dependsOn: [read-phase1-output]
  task: |
    Here are the files from Phase 1:
    {{steps.read-phase1-output.output}}

    Now implement the executor that uses these modules...

Completion Signals: Required vs Optional

The runner uses a multi-tier completion resolution system. No single signal is mandatory — the runner resolves completion from whatever evidence is available.

Tier 1: Explicit owner decision (strongest)

OWNER_DECISION: COMPLETE
REASON: All files written and tests pass

The structured OWNER_DECISION format is preferred for owner/lead agents. It gives the runner an unambiguous completion signal.

Tier 2: Legacy completion marker

STEP_COMPLETE:step-name

Still supported but optional. The runner treats it as equivalent to OWNER_DECISION: COMPLETE.

Tier 3: Verification gate

If verification is configured on the step, the runner checks it automatically. A passing verification gate completes the step even without an explicit owner decision.

Tier 4: Evidence-based completion

When no explicit signal is found, the runner checks collected evidence:

• Coordination signals in output (WORKER_DONE, LEAD_DONE)
• Process exit code 0 (clean exit)
• Tool side-effects (git diff checks, file inspections)
• Positive-conclusion language in owner output

If both a positive conclusion and at least one evidence signal are present, the step completes.

Tier 5: Process-exit fallback

When the agent exits with code 0 but posts no coordination signal at all:

• The runner waits a configurable grace period (completionGracePeriodMs, default 5s)
• If verification is configured and passes, the step completes with reason completed_by_process_exit
• If no verification is configured, the step completes based on the clean exit alone

This tier is the key mechanism for reducing dependence on exact agent behavior.

What this means for workflow authors

• Don't require exact text output as the only completion signal. Always configure a verification gate (exit_code, file_exists, or output_contains) as a backup.
• Describe the deliverable, not the ceremony. Say "implement the auth module" not "implement the auth module and then output IMPL_DONE".
• Prefer exit_code verification for code-editing workers — it's the most reliable signal because it doesn't depend on the agent printing specific text.
• Use completionGracePeriodMs: 0 in the swarm config to disable the process-exit fallback if you need strict signal compliance.

Configuring the grace period

swarm:
  pattern: dag
  completionGracePeriodMs: 5000  # default: 5s. Set to 0 to disable.

Robust Coordination Best Practices

Design for agent non-compliance

Agents may not follow instructions perfectly. The runner is designed to handle this gracefully:

1. Always configure verification gates — they're the most reliable completion mechanism because they don't depend on agent behavior at all.
2. Use deterministic steps for critical checks — file_exists checks, test runs, and type checks are deterministic and infallible.
3. Don't rely on agents posting exact signal text — use exit_code verification instead of output_contains when possible.
4. Let the runner handle self-termination — it appends /exit instructions automatically and detects idle agents.

Completion strategy by step type

| Step type | Recommended verification | Why | |---|---|---| | Code editing (codex worker) | exit_code | Agent may not print tokens reliably | | Analysis/review (claude) | output_contains with unique token | Structured output is the deliverable | | File creation (any worker) | file_exists | Deterministic check, zero agent dependency | | Lead coordination | None (owner decision or evidence) | Lead agents are interactive and monitored |

Owner steps: structured decisions preferred

For supervised steps with a dedicated owner, the OWNER_DECISION format is preferred over legacy STEP_COMPLETE: markers because:

• It supports negative outcomes (INCOMPLETE_RETRY, INCOMPLETE_FAIL) not just success
• It includes a REASON field for observability
• The runner can distinguish owner intent from echoed prompt text more reliably

But if the owner doesn't post either format, the runner still resolves completion from evidence.

Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Fix | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | Adding withExit() or exit instructions to tasks | Runner handles this automatically | | Setting tight timeoutMs on agents | Use global .timeout() only | | Using general channel | Set .channel('wf-name') for isolation | | Referencing {{steps.X.output}} without dependsOn: ['X'] | Output won't be available yet | | Making review steps serial when they could be parallel | Both reviewers can depend on the same upstream step | | Requiring exact sentinel strings as the only completion gate | Use deterministic verification (exit_code, file_exists) or owner judgment | | Writing 100-line task prompts | Split into lead + workers communicating on a channel | | Putting the full spec in every worker's task | Lead posts the spec to the channel at runtime | | maxConcurrency: 16 with many parallel steps | Cap at 5–6; broker times out spawning 10+ agents at once | | Asking non-interactive agent to read a large file via tools | Pre-read in a deterministic step, inject via {{steps.X.output}} | | Workers depending on the lead step (deadlock) | Workers and lead both depend on a shared context step | | Omitting agents field for deterministic-only workflows | Field is now optional — pure shell pipelines work without it | | Designing prompts around output ceremony instead of work | Describe the deliverable and acceptance criteria, not what to print | | Treating markers as mandatory truth | Markers are optional accelerators; verification and evidence decide completion | | Using fan-out/hub-spoke for simple parallel workers | Use dag — hub patterns trigger auto owner/supervisor/reviewer pipeline | | Workers without preset: 'worker' in lead+worker workflows | Add preset: 'worker' — it auto-sets interactive: false and produces clean stdout for {{steps.X.output}} injection | | Lead running concurrently with workers, monitoring channel | Make lead dependsOn workers — use {{steps.X.output}} injection instead of real-time channel monitoring | | Using _ in YAML numbers (e.g., timeoutMs: 1_200_000) | YAML doesn't support _ as a numeric separator — use 1200000. TypeScript separators don't work in YAML | | Setting workflow timeout under 30 minutes for complex workflows | Claude leads reading large codebases take 5-15 min per step. Use 3600000 (1 hour) as a safe default | | Passing too much context in read-context deterministic steps | Trim to only the relevant code. Use grep, sed -n, head instead of full cat. Large context slows lead design | | Using import { workflow } (ESM) in TypeScript workflows | Use const { workflow } = require('@agent-relay/sdk/workflows') — most projects default to CJS and tsx will fail with top-level await or ESM-only imports | | Top-level await in TypeScript workflow files | Wrap in async function main() { ... } main().catch(console.error) — CJS mode does not support top-level await | | Using import path '../workflows/builder.js' (relative) | Use require('@agent-relay/sdk/workflows') — the package export, not internal file paths | | Not validating with --dry-run before running | Always run agent-relay run --dry-run workflow.ts first to catch import errors, deadlocks, and missing deps |

Verification Tokens with Non-Interactive Workers

The double-occurrence rule

When the verification token appears in the task text, the runner requires it to appear twice in the captured output — once from the task injection echo, once from the agent's actual response. A single occurrence is treated as the task echo and fails verification.

This means if your task says Output: DONE or REQUIRED: print DONE, the token DONE is in the task text. The agent must print it a second time, explicitly.

Preferred: use exit_code for code-editing workers

For steps where the real quality gate is downstream (type-check, tests), exit_code verification is simpler and more reliable than output_contains:

# WRONG for codex code editors — token in task causes double-occurrence requirement
- name: implement
  agent: implementer  # codex, preset: worker
  task: |
    Make these changes to foo.ts...
    Output: IMPL_DONE        # token now in task text → requires 2 occurrences
  verification:
    type: output_contains
    value: IMPL_DONE

# RIGHT — exit 0 means success; tests catch any mistakes
- name: implement
  agent: implementer
  task: |
    Make these changes to foo.ts...
  verification:
    type: exit_code

When you need output_contains with a codex worker

Use a token that does not appear verbatim anywhere in the task text. A unique sentinel works well:

task: |
  Analyze foo.ts and write a summary report.
  Signal completion by printing: ANALYSIS_DONE
verification:
  type: output_contains
  value: ANALYSIS_DONE   # "ANALYSIS_DONE" does not appear verbatim above → single occurrence is enough

If the token must appear in the instructions, instruct the agent to run it as a shell command so the execution (not the description) produces the second occurrence:

task: |
  Make changes to foo.ts...
  When done, run: echo "IMPL_DONE"
verification:
  type: output_contains
  value: IMPL_DONE

Rule of thumb: Code-editing steps → exit_code. Analysis/review steps that produce structured output → output_contains with a token not mentioned verbatim in the task.

YAML Alternative

Workflows can also be defined as .yaml files:

version: '1.0'
name: my-workflow
swarm:
  pattern: dag
  channel: wf-my-workflow
agents:
  - name: lead
    cli: claude
    role: Architect
  - name: worker
    cli: codex
    role: Implementer
workflows:
  - name: default
    steps:
      - name: plan
        agent: lead
        task: 'Produce a detailed implementation plan.'
        # No sentinel required — owner judgment + evidence complete the step
      - name: implement
        agent: worker
        task: 'Implement: {{steps.plan.output}}'
        dependsOn: [plan]
        verification:
          type: exit_code  # deterministic: exit 0 = success

Run with: agent-relay run path/to/workflow.yaml

TypeScript Workflow Setup

TypeScript workflows use the fluent builder API via @agent-relay/sdk/workflows.

Critical rules for TypeScript workflows:

1. Use require(), not import — most projects default to CJS ("type" is not "module" in package.json), and tsx will fail with ESM imports
2. Wrap in async function main() — CJS does not support top-level await
3. Validate with --dry-run before running: agent-relay run --dry-run workflow.ts

Template:

const { workflow } = require('@agent-relay/sdk/workflows');

async function main() {
  const result = await workflow('my-workflow')
    .description('What this workflow does')
    .pattern('dag')
    .channel('wf-my-workflow')
    .maxConcurrency(4)
    .timeout(3_600_000)

    .agent('lead', { cli: 'claude', role: 'Architect' })
    .agent('worker', { cli: 'claude', preset: 'worker', role: 'Implementer' })

    .step('plan', {
      agent: 'lead',
      task: 'Produce a plan.',
      verification: { type: 'output_contains', value: 'PLAN_COMPLETE' },
    })
    .step('implement', {
      agent: 'worker',
      dependsOn: ['plan'],
      task: 'Implement: {{steps.plan.output}}',
      verification: { type: 'exit_code' },
    })

    .onError('retry', { maxRetries: 2, retryDelayMs: 10_000 })
    .run({ onEvent: (e) => console.log(`[${e.type}] ${e.step ?? ''}`) });

  console.log('Result:', result.status);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Run with: agent-relay run path/to/workflow.ts

Workflow Authoring Rules

Follow these principles when designing workflow step prompts:

1. Prefer verification over sentinel-only prompts

Use deterministic checks (exit_code, file_exists) as the primary completion signal. Don't rely solely on agents printing magic strings.

# GOOD — deterministic verification
verification:
  type: exit_code  # or file_exists: src/auth.ts

# OKAY — sentinel as optional accelerator alongside verification
verification:
  type: output_contains
  value: PLAN_COMPLETE

# BAD — no verification, relying only on agent printing a string
task: "Do X. You MUST print STEP_COMPLETE when done."

2. Use owners/reviewers to interpret ambiguous outputs

The step owner (lead or step agent) can approve or reject a step via OWNER_DECISION. This is useful when automated verification isn't sufficient — the owner reads evidence and makes a judgment call.

# Owner reviews worker output and decides
task: |
  Review worker output on #my-track.
  If satisfactory, approve. If not, request retry.
  # Runner accepts: OWNER_DECISION: COMPLETE, or tolerant variants like "Approved", "LGTM"

3. For channel workflows, define required channel events explicitly

When coordination happens via channel messages, tell agents what to post and what the lead should observe:

# Worker prompt — describe what to communicate
task: |
  Implement auth module. Post a summary of changes to #my-track when done.

# Lead prompt — describe what to observe
task: |
  Monitor #my-track for worker summaries. When all workers have posted summaries,
  review the changes and approve the step.

4. Treat exact completion strings as optional accelerators only

STEP_COMPLETE:<name> and REVIEW_DECISION: APPROVE still work as fast-paths but are never required. The runner's completion pipeline will find evidence even without them.

5. Ensure prompts describe work contract, not output ceremony

Bad: "You MUST end your response with exactly: IMPLEMENTATION_DONE" Good: "Implement the auth module. Write the file to src/auth.ts. The step is complete when the file exists and compiles."

The prompt should describe what the agent should deliver, not what it should print.

Available Swarm Patterns

dag (default), fan-out, pipeline, hub-spoke, consensus, mesh, handoff, cascade, debate, hierarchical, map-reduce, scatter-gather, supervisor, reflection, red-team, verifier, auction, escalation, saga, circuit-breaker, blackboard, swarm

See skill choosing-swarm-patterns for pattern selection guidance.