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How to Add a Workflow

Add state-machine orchestration to an existing PromptPack so that transitions between prompts happen automatically based on events, without the caller deciding which prompt to invoke.

Prerequisites

  • A PromptPack with at least 2 prompts (v1.3+ schema; v1.4 adds the agent-loop fields shown in Step 5b below)
  • Understanding of Pack Structure
  • Familiarity with the prompts you want to orchestrate

Step 1: Identify Your States

Each state in the workflow maps to a prompt. Look at your existing prompts and decide:

  1. Which prompt receives initial input? → This becomes the entry state.
  2. What events cause transitions? → These become on_event keys.
  3. Which states are terminal? → On v1.4+ mark them with terminal: true; on v1.3 leave on_event: {} empty.

For example, if you have triage, billing, technical, and closing prompts:

flowchart LR
    triage([triage · entry]) -- billing --> billing_state[billing_state]
    triage -- technical --> tech_state[tech_state]
    billing_state -- resolved --> closing_state([closing_state])
    tech_state -- resolved --> closing_state

Step 2: Define Entry and Events

Add the workflow top-level field with a version, entry, and states:

{
  "workflow": {
    "version": 1,
    "entry": "triage",
    "states": {
      "triage": {
        "prompt_task": "triage",
        "description": "Classify and route incoming requests",
        "on_event": {
          "billing": "billing_state",
          "technical": "tech_state"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Key rules:

  • entry must reference a key in states
  • prompt_task must reference a key in prompts
  • on_event values must reference other state keys

Step 3: Configure Persistence

Each state can be transient (default) or persistent:

  • transient: Conversation context resets when entering this state. Good for classification/routing states where prior context isn’t needed.
  • persistent: Conversation context is preserved across turns. Good for states where the agent needs to remember what was discussed.
{
  "billing_state": {
    "prompt_task": "billing",
    "on_event": { "resolved": "closing_state", "escalate": "escalation" },
    "persistence": "persistent"
  }
}

Persistent states consume more tokens because the full conversation history is maintained. Use transient for stateless operations like classification or routing.

Step 4: Set Orchestration Mode

Each state can declare how it interacts with external systems:

  • internal (default): The runtime handles execution entirely within the pack
  • external: The state hands off to an external system (e.g., human-in-the-loop)
  • hybrid: The runtime executes the prompt but may also coordinate with external systems
{
  "escalation": {
    "prompt_task": "closing",
    "on_event": {},
    "orchestration": "external"
  }
}

Step 5: Add Terminal States

In v1.4+, mark exit states explicitly with terminal: true:

{
  "closing_state": {
    "prompt_task": "closing",
    "terminal": true,
    "orchestration": "internal"
  }
}

For backward compatibility with v1.3, an empty on_event: {} is still treated as terminal:

{
  "closing_state": {
    "prompt_task": "closing",
    "on_event": {},
    "orchestration": "internal"
  }
}

Prefer terminal: true on new packs — it’s explicit, easier to read, and lets static analyzers flag terminal states without inspecting on_event contents.

Step 5b: Bound Agent Loops (v1.4+)

If a state can be re-entered (e.g., implement → test → implement in a code-generation loop), bound it with max_visits and route the overflow to a fallback state with on_max_visits:

{
  "implement": {
    "prompt_task":   "implement",
    "max_visits":    5,
    "on_max_visits": "review",
    "on_event":      { "CodeReady": "test" }
  },
  "review": { "prompt_task": "review", "terminal": true }
}

For lightweight, structured state that needs to flow across visits (commit SHAs, test reports, iteration logs), declare artifacts:

{
  "implement": {
    "prompt_task": "implement",
    "max_visits":  5,
    "on_max_visits": "review",
    "artifacts": {
      "commit_sha":  { "type": "text/plain",       "description": "Latest commit" },
      "test_report": { "type": "application/json", "description": "Test runner output" },
      "iteration_log": { "type": "text/plain", "mode": "append", "description": "Per-visit log" }
    },
    "on_event": { "CodeReady": "test" }
  }
}

Templates read artifact values as {{artifacts.commit_sha}} etc. mode: "append" accumulates across visits; the default "replace" overwrites.

Add a workflow-level budget as a global runaway-loop safety net:

{
  "workflow": {
    "version": 1,
    "entry":   "plan",
    "states":  { /* … */ },
    "engine": {
      "budget": {
        "max_total_visits":  50,
        "max_tool_calls":   200,
        "max_wall_time_sec": 600
      }
    }
  }
}

engine.budget is a backstop — set it on any pack that contains a loop, even if every state has its own max_visits. See Agent Loops and RFC-0009 for the full design.

Complete Example

Here’s a PromptPack before adding a workflow (caller must choose which prompt to use):

{
  "id": "support-pack",
  "name": "Support Pack",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "template_engine": { "version": "v1", "syntax": "{{variable}}" },
  "prompts": {
    "triage": {
      "id": "triage",
      "name": "Triage",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "system_template": "Classify the request as billing or technical.",
      "parameters": { "temperature": 0.3 }
    },
    "billing": {
      "id": "billing",
      "name": "Billing",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "system_template": "Handle billing inquiries.",
      "parameters": { "temperature": 0.5 }
    },
    "technical": {
      "id": "technical",
      "name": "Technical",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "system_template": "Provide technical troubleshooting.",
      "parameters": { "temperature": 0.4 }
    },
    "closing": {
      "id": "closing",
      "name": "Closing",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "system_template": "Summarize the resolution.",
      "parameters": { "temperature": 0.6 }
    }
  }
}

And after adding workflow orchestration:

{
  "id": "support-pack",
  "name": "Support Pack",
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "template_engine": { "version": "v1", "syntax": "{{variable}}" },
  "prompts": {
    "triage": {
      "id": "triage",
      "name": "Triage",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "system_template": "Classify the request as billing or technical. Respond with exactly one word: billing or technical.",
      "parameters": { "temperature": 0.3 }
    },
    "billing": {
      "id": "billing",
      "name": "Billing",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "system_template": "Handle billing inquiries. When the issue is resolved, respond with: resolved. If you cannot resolve it, respond with: escalate.",
      "parameters": { "temperature": 0.5 }
    },
    "technical": {
      "id": "technical",
      "name": "Technical",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "system_template": "Provide technical troubleshooting. When the issue is resolved, respond with: resolved. If you cannot resolve it, respond with: escalate.",
      "parameters": { "temperature": 0.4 }
    },
    "closing": {
      "id": "closing",
      "name": "Closing",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "system_template": "Summarize the resolution and ask if there's anything else.",
      "parameters": { "temperature": 0.6 }
    }
  },
  "workflow": {
    "version": 1,
    "entry": "triage",
    "states": {
      "triage": {
        "prompt_task": "triage",
        "description": "Classify and route incoming requests",
        "on_event": {
          "billing": "billing_state",
          "technical": "tech_state"
        }
      },
      "billing_state": {
        "prompt_task": "billing",
        "on_event": {
          "resolved": "closing_state",
          "escalate": "escalation"
        },
        "persistence": "persistent"
      },
      "tech_state": {
        "prompt_task": "technical",
        "on_event": {
          "resolved": "closing_state",
          "escalate": "escalation"
        },
        "persistence": "persistent"
      },
      "closing_state": {
        "prompt_task": "closing",
        "on_event": {},
        "orchestration": "internal"
      },
      "escalation": {
        "prompt_task": "closing",
        "on_event": {},
        "orchestration": "external"
      }
    }
  }
}

Validation Checklist

  • workflow.entry references a valid state key
  • Every prompt_task references a valid prompt key
  • Every on_event value references a valid state key
  • At least one state is terminal — either terminal: true (v1.4+) or empty on_event: {}
  • All states are reachable from the entry state
  • On v1.4: any re-enterable state declares max_visits, and the workflow has an engine.budget
  • On v1.4: on_max_visits (if set) references a valid state key
  • On v1.4: every key in an artifacts map declares a type (MIME type)
  • Pack validates against the v1.4 JSON schema (or v1.3 if you’re not using agent-loop fields)

:::warning Common Mistakes

  • Circular loops without exit: Make sure there’s always a path to a terminal state. A billing → triage → billing cycle with no resolved event creates an infinite loop.
  • Missing prompt_task: Every state must have a prompt_task that matches a key in prompts. A typo here will fail schema validation.
  • Prompt doesn’t emit expected events: The workflow routes based on events like "billing" or "resolved", but these must actually appear in the prompt’s output. Update your system_template to instruct the model to emit the right event strings. :::

Next Steps