Defining Workflows

Purpose

This Skill provides comprehensive guidance for defining workflows - multi-agent orchestrations that coordinate multiple agents in sequence, parallel, or conditionally to accomplish complex tasks. Workflows enable reusable, validated processes.

When to use this Skill:

• Creating new workflow documents
• Defining multi-agent coordination patterns
• Structuring sequential or parallel agent execution
• Writing workflow acceptance criteria
• Documenting workflow parameters and inputs

Workflow Structure

YAML Frontmatter (Required)

---
name: workflow-name
description: Clear description of workflow purpose and outcomes
tags:
  - workflow-category
  - domain-area
status: active | draft | deprecated
agents:
  - agent-name-1
  - agent-name-2
parameters:
  - name: param-name
    type: string | number | boolean
    required: true | false
    default: value
    description: Parameter purpose
created: YYYY-MM-DD
updated: YYYY-MM-DD
---

Critical YAML Syntax: Values containing colons (:) must be quoted.

✅ Good:

description: "Workflow name: detailed description here"
parameter: "key: value pairs"

❌ Bad (breaks YAML parsing):

description: Workflow name: detailed description

Workflow Content

# Workflow Name

## Purpose

What this workflow accomplishes and when to use it.

## Agents Involved

- **agent-name-1**: Role and responsibility
- **agent-name-2**: Role and responsibility

## Input Parameters

| Parameter | Type   | Required | Default | Description |
| --------- | ------ | -------- | ------- | ----------- |
| param1    | string | Yes      | -       | Purpose     |
| param2    | number | No       | 5       | Purpose     |

## Execution Phases

### Phase 1: Name (Sequential)

1. Run agent-name-1 with parameters
2. Wait for completion
3. Run agent-name-2 with results from agent-name-1

### Phase 2: Name (Parallel)

Run in parallel:

- agent-name-3
- agent-name-4

Wait for all to complete before proceeding.

### Phase 3: Name (Conditional)

If condition A:

- Run agent-name-5
  Else:
- Run agent-name-6

## Success Criteria

```gherkin
Given [precondition]
When [workflow executed]
Then [expected outcome]
And [additional verification]
```

Example Usage

Concrete example showing how to invoke workflow.

Related Workflows

• workflow-name-1 - When to use together
• workflow-name-2 - Alternative approach

## Execution Patterns

### Sequential Execution

**When**: Steps depend on previous results.

```markdown
1. maker creates content
2. checker validates content (uses maker output)
3. fixer applies fixes (uses checker findings)

Parallel Execution

When: Steps are independent and can run simultaneously.

Run in parallel:

- checker-1 validates docs
- checker-2 validates code
- checker-3 validates configs

Combine results after all complete.

Conditional Execution

When: Different paths based on conditions.

If validation passes:

- Deploy to production
  Else:
- Create issue with findings
- Notify team

Mixed Patterns

Combine sequential, parallel, and conditional:

1. Run maker (sequential)
2. Run checkers in parallel:
   - checker-1
   - checker-2
3. Wait for all checkers
4. Conditional:
   If critical issues found:
   - STOP
   - Report to user
     Else:
   - Run fixer (sequential)
   - Deploy

Standard Input Parameters

Most workflows support:

• max-concurrency (number, default: 2): Maximum parallel agents
• dry-run (boolean, default: false): Preview without executing
• verbose (boolean, default: false): Detailed logging

Common Mistakes

❌ Mistake 1: Unquoted colons in YAML

Wrong:

description: Workflow name: detailed description

Right:

description: "Workflow name: detailed description"

❌ Mistake 2: Missing agent dependencies

Wrong: Parallel execution when agent-2 needs agent-1 output Right: Sequential execution with explicit dependency

❌ Mistake 3: No success criteria

Wrong: Workflow without Gherkin validation criteria Right: Clear Gherkin scenarios for success validation

❌ Mistake 4: Missing parameters documentation

Wrong: Undocumented parameters that users must guess Right: Table with all parameters, types, defaults, descriptions

Workflow File Naming

Convention: ex-ru-wf-[scope]__[workflow-name].md

Examples:

• ex-ru-wf-pl__quality-gate.md - Plan quality gate workflow
• ex-ru-wf-do__quality-gate.md - Docs quality gate workflow
• ex-ru-wf-wo__rules-quality-gate.md - Repo rules quality gate workflow

Quality Checklist

Before publishing workflow:

• Valid YAML frontmatter (all colons quoted)
• name field matches filename
• description is clear and concise
• All agents listed in frontmatter
• All parameters documented (type, required, default)
• Execution phases clearly defined
• Dependencies explicit (sequential vs parallel)
• Success criteria in Gherkin format
• Example usage provided
• Related workflows linked

References

Primary Convention: Workflow Pattern Convention

Related Conventions:

• Maker-Checker-Fixer Pattern - Three-stage workflow pattern
• Acceptance Criteria Convention - Gherkin format

Related Skills:

• wow__applying-maker-checker-fixer - MCF workflow pattern
• plan__writing-gherkin-criteria - Success criteria format

This Skill packages workflow definition standards for creating reusable multi-agent orchestrations with clear coordination patterns. For comprehensive details, consult the primary convention document.