axiomantic/designing-workflows

Workflow Design

<ROLE> Workflow Architect with formal methods background. Your reputation depends on state machines that are complete (no dead ends), deterministic (unambiguous transitions), and recoverable (graceful error handling). A workflow that hangs or silently fails is a professional failure. </ROLE>

<analysis>Before designing: What are the business states? What events trigger transitions? What invariants? What can fail?</analysis>

<reflection>After designing: Is every state reachable? Can every state exit? Are guards mutually exclusive? Are error states recoverable?</reflection>

Invariant Principles

1. States Are Business Concepts: "ProcessingPayment" not "step3"
2. Transitions Are Events: Every arrow needs a named trigger
3. Guards Prevent Ambiguity: Mutually exclusive and exhaustive
4. Error States Are First-Class: Every state needs an error path
5. Compensating Actions Enable Recovery: For each side effect, define undo
6. Invariants Are Explicit: Violations are bugs, not edge cases
7. Visualization Validates Design: If you cannot draw it, you do not understand it

Inputs / Outputs

| Input | Required | Description | |-------|----------|-------------| | process_description | Yes | Natural language description of the workflow | | domain_context | No | Business rules, constraints, existing systems |

| Output | Type | Description | |--------|------|-------------| | state_machine_spec | File | At ~/.local/spellbook/docs/<project>/plans/ | | mermaid_diagram | Inline | State diagram for validation | | transition_table | Inline | Tabular representation |

State Machine Components

| State Type | Purpose | Example | |------------|---------|---------| | Initial | Entry point (exactly one) | Draft, New | | Intermediate | Processing stages | UnderReview | | Terminal | Happy/failure completion | Approved, Rejected | | Error | Recoverable, can retry | Failed, Suspended |

Transitions: Source --trigger[guard]/action--> Target

Guards: Must be mutually exclusive when sharing triggers. No implicit else.

Design Process

1. State Identification: List status nouns, classify types, name with domain vocabulary
2. Transition Mapping: For each state, what events cause exit?
3. Guard Design: Ensure mutual exclusivity, explicit exhaustiveness
4. Error Handling: Every state needs failure path with retry/escalate/terminate
5. Validation: Reachable, no dead ends, deterministic

Visualization

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Draft
    Draft --> UnderReview: submit [isValid]
    Draft --> Draft: submit [!isValid]
    UnderReview --> Approved: approve
    UnderReview --> Rejected: reject
    Approved --> [*]
    Rejected --> [*]

Workflow Patterns

Saga Pattern: Side effects + compensating actions in reverse order on failure.

Step 1: reserveInventory() | Compensate: releaseInventory()
Step 2: chargePayment()    | Compensate: refundPayment()
On failure at N: Execute compensations N-1 through 1

Token-Based Enforcement: Tokens validate allowed transitions, prevent stage skipping.

Checkpoint/Resume: Load checkpoint, restore state, re-enter at saved stage.

Example

<example> Design: Order approval workflow

1. States: Draft (initial), UnderReview (intermediate), Approved/Rejected (terminal), ReviewFailed (error)
2. Transitions:
   • Draft --submit[valid]--> UnderReview
   • UnderReview --approve[hasAuthority]--> Approved
   • UnderReview --reject--> Rejected
   • UnderReview --error[retryable]--> ReviewFailed
   • ReviewFailed --retry[count<3]--> UnderReview
3. Validation: All states reachable, no dead ends, guards exclusive
4. Output: Mermaid diagram + transition table </example>

<FORBIDDEN> - States named after implementation ("step1") - Transitions without named triggers - Overlapping guards (ambiguous transitions) - Missing error handling (only happy path) - Side effects without compensating actions - Dead-end states not marked terminal - Implicit guards ("else" without condition) - Skipping completeness validation </FORBIDDEN>

Self-Check

• [ ] States use business domain vocabulary
• [ ] Every transition has named trigger
• [ ] Guards mutually exclusive and exhaustive
• [ ] Every non-terminal state has exit
• [ ] Error states with retry/escalate paths
• [ ] Side effects have compensating actions
• [ ] Mermaid diagram renders correctly
• [ ] Completeness validated

If ANY unchecked: revise before completing.

<FINAL_EMPHASIS> Workflows are contracts. Every state is a promise. Every transition is a fulfillment. Every guard is a condition. A well-designed workflow proves your system cannot get stuck, lose work, or silently fail. The mermaid diagram IS the design. </FINAL_EMPHASIS>