Fluxor: A Generic Workflow Engine

Fluxor is a powerful, Go-based workflow engine that allows you to define, execute, and manage complex workflows with custom actions and executors. This README provides an overview of Fluxor's architecture, features, and how to use it effectively.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Key Features
• Architecture
• Getting Started
• Defining Workflows
• Custom Actions
• Executors
• Task Allocation
• Advanced Features
• Contributing
• License

Overview

Fluxor is designed to provide a flexible, extensible workflow engine that can be integrated into any Go application. It supports:

• Complex workflow definitions with nested tasks
• Task dependencies and conditional execution
• Custom actions and executors
• State management and persistence
• Pausable and resumable workflows
• Dynamic task allocation

Key Features

• Declarative Workflow Definitions: Define workflows in YAML or JSON
• Task Dependencies: Specify dependencies between tasks to control execution order
• Custom Actions: Create and register custom actions to extend the engine
• State Management: Track workflow state and execution history
• Concurrency Control: Control the level of parallelism in workflow execution
• Extensible Architecture: Easily extend the engine with custom components

Architecture

Fluxor consists of the following main components:

• Workflow Model: Defines the structure of workflows, tasks, and transitions
• Process Engine: Manages the lifecycle of workflow processes
• Task Executor: Executes individual tasks within a workflow
• Task Allocator: Allocates tasks to execution workers
• Persistence Layer: Stores workflow definitions and execution state
• Extension System: Allows for custom actions and executors

Component Diagram

┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Workflow      │    │      Task       │    │   Extension     │
│   Definition    │───▶│    Allocator    │───▶│     System      │
└─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘
                              │                        │
                              ▼                        ▼
                       ┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
                       │     Process     │    │      Task       │
                       │     Engine      │◀───│     Executor    │
                       └─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
                       ┌─────────────────┐
                       │   Persistence   │
                       │      Layer      │
                       └─────────────────┘

Getting Started

Installation

go get github.com/viant/fluxor

Basic Usage

package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"github.com/viant/fluxor"
	"time"
)

func main() {
	err := runIt()
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
}

func runIt() error {
	srv := fluxor.New()
	runtime := srv.Runtime()
	ctx := context.Background()
	workflow, err := runtime.LoadWorkflow(ctx, "parent.yaml")
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	_ = runtime.Start(ctx)
	process, wait, err := runtime.StartProcess(ctx, workflow, map[string]interface{}{})
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	fmt.Println("process:", process.ID)
	output, err := wait(ctx, time.Minute)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	fmt.Printf("output: %+v\n", output)
	return nil
}

Defining Workflows

Fluxor workflows are defined in YAML or JSON. Here's a simple example:

init:
  i: 0

pipeline:
  start:
    action: printer:print
    input:
      message: 'Parent started'
  loop:
    inc:
      action: nop:nop
      post:
        i: ${i + 1}

    runChildren:
      action: workflow:run
      input:
        location: children
        context:
          iteration: $i
    body:
      action: printer:print
      input:
        message: 'Iteration: $i'
      goto:
        when: i < 3
        task: loop

  stop:
    action: printer:print
    input:
      message: 'Parent stoped'

Custom Actions

Custom actions allow you to extend Fluxor with your own functionality:

package myaction

import (
    "context"
    "github.com/viant/fluxor/model/types"
    "reflect"
)

type Input struct {
    Param1 string `json:"param1"`
    Param2 int    `json:"param2"`
}

type Output struct {
    Result string `json:"result"`
}

type Service struct{}

func (s *Service) Name() string {
    return "my/action"
}

func (s *Service) Methods() types.Signatures {
    return []types.Signature{
        {
            Name:   "execute",
            Input:  reflect.TypeOf(&Input{}),
            Output: reflect.TypeOf(&Output{}),
        },
    }
}

func (s *Service) Method(name string) (types.Executable, error) {
    if name == "execute" {
        return s.execute, nil
    }
    return nil, types.NewMethodNotFoundError(name)
}

func (s *Service) execute(ctx context.Context, in, out interface{}) error {
    input := in.(*Input)
    output := out.(*Output)
    
    // Implement your action logic
    output.Result = fmt.Sprintf("Processed %s with value %d", input.Param1, input.Param2)
    
    return nil
}

Register your custom action:

actions.Register(&myaction.Service{})

Executors

Executors handle the execution of tasks within workflows:

task:
  action: system/executor
  commands:
    - echo "Hello, World!"

The built-in system/executor action allows you to run shell commands.

Task Allocation

The task allocator is responsible for assigning tasks to execution workers and managing dependencies between tasks. It ensures tasks are executed in the correct order based on their dependencies.

alloc := allocator.New(
    processDAO,
    taskExecutionDAO,
    queue,
    allocator.DefaultConfig(),
)
go alloc.Start(ctx)

Advanced Features

Task Dependencies

taskB:
  dependsOn: taskA
  action: printer:print
  input:
    message: "Task B depends on Task A"

Parallel Execution

parallelTasks:
  tasks:
    - id: task1
      async: true
      action: printer:print
      input:
        message: "Running in parallel 1"
    
    - id: task2
      async: true
      action: printer:print
      input:
        message: "Running in parallel 2"

Contributing

Contributions to Fluxor are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

Fluxor is licensed under the LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.

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