Workflows
A workflow is the central unit of automation in Orvanta — a script running standalone, or a flow: a directed acyclic graph (DAG) of steps, where each step runs a script, branches, loops, calls another flow, or runs an AI agent.
Anatomy of a workflow
Section titled “Anatomy of a workflow”Trigger → Node A → Node B ──→ Node C └──→ Node D (parallel branch)Each workflow has:
- A unique path and name. Used to reference the workflow in the CLI and API (e.g.
f/folder/my_workflow). - Steps. Individual nodes connected in sequence, with branches and loops where needed.
- Input transforms. Define, per step, where each argument’s value comes from — a static value, the flow’s own input, or a previous step’s result.
- Triggers. Determine when the workflow runs (manual, scheduled, webhook, or API call).
Node types
Section titled “Node types”| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Script | Runs a versioned script (by path) or inline code, in any supported runtime (Bash, Python, TypeScript, Go, …). |
| Branch one / Branch all | Routes execution down one matching branch, or fans out across every branch, based on a condition. |
| For loop / While loop | Repeats a set of steps over an iterator or until a condition is no longer met, optionally in parallel. |
| Sub-flow | Invokes another flow by path and waits for it to complete. |
| AI agent | Runs an LLM-driven agent step with access to a defined set of tools. |
| Identity | Passes its input through unchanged — useful as a placeholder or branch default. |
Any script or flow step can also act as a human-in-the-loop gate by returning resume/cancel URLs from its own logic — there’s no separate “approval” node type. See Approval steps.
Triggers
Section titled “Triggers”Workflows can be triggered in four ways:
- Manual. Via the UI Run button or
orvanta flow run. - Scheduled. Cron expression defined on the workflow.
- Webhook. An inbound HTTP POST to the workflow’s unique webhook URL.
- API. Programmatic trigger via the REST API.
Versioning
Section titled “Versioning”Every workflow change is versioned. You can pin a trigger to a specific version or always run the latest. Previous versions remain available for audit and rollback.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Scripts: Reusable code units used inside Script nodes.
- Jobs and runs: Individual executions of a workflow.
- Approval steps: Human-in-the-loop approval.