workflow-best-practices
Build durable workflows with the Workflow Development Kit — steps, streaming, agent runs, metadata, and persistence. Use when authoring, starting, resuming, or persisting a workflow.
What this skill does
# Workflow Best Practices
Build durable workflows with steps, streaming, and agent execution.
## Prerequisites
Complete these setup recipes first:
- Workflow Development Kit Setup
### Folder Structure
Each workflow gets a subfolder under `src/workflows/`. `index.ts` orchestrates (`"use workflow"`); `steps/` holds durable checkpoints (`"use step"`); shared steps live in the top-level `steps/`.
```
src/workflows/
steps/ # shared step functions (e.g. stream helpers)
stream.ts
chat/
index.ts # orchestration ("use workflow")
steps/ # workflow-specific steps ("use step")
history.ts
logger.ts
name-chat.ts
types.ts # UI message types
```
### Creating a Workflow
The orchestration function carries `"use workflow"` and calls steps. Always wrap an agent run with `startStream(messageId)` before and `finishStream()` after — `WorkflowChatTransport` needs the start/finish frames to parse the response.
```typescript
// src/workflows/chat/index.ts
import { getWorkflowMetadata, getWritable } from "workflow";
import { startStream, finishStream } from "../steps/stream";
import { chatAgent } from "@/lib/ai/chat-agent";
export async function chatWorkflow({ chatId, userMessage }) {
"use workflow";
const { workflowRunId } = getWorkflowMetadata();
await persistUserMessage({ chatId, message: userMessage });
// runId lets clients resume this stream later
const messageId = await createAssistantMessage({
chatId,
runId: workflowRunId,
});
const history = await getMessageHistory(chatId);
await startStream(messageId);
const { parts } = await chatAgent.run(history, {
maxSteps: 10,
writable: getWritable(),
});
await persistMessageParts({ chatId, messageId, parts });
await finishStream();
await removeRunId(messageId);
}
```
`startStream` writes `{ type: "start", messageId }`; `finishStream` writes `{ type: "finish", finishReason: "stop" }` and closes the writable.
### Steps
Steps are durable checkpoints that persist their results.
```typescript
async function getMessageHistory(chatId: string) {
"use step";
const dbMessages = await getChatMessages(chatId);
return convertDbMessagesToUIMessages(dbMessages);
}
```
The workflow runtime can't import Node modules, so wrap logger calls in a step.
```typescript
// src/workflows/chat/steps/logger.ts
import { logger } from "@/lib/logging/logger";
export async function log(
level: "info" | "warn" | "error" | "debug",
message: string,
data?: Record<string, unknown>,
): Promise<void> {
"use step";
if (data) {
logger[level](data, message);
} else {
logger[level](message);
}
}
```
### Starting and Resuming
Start with `start` from `workflow/api`; reconnect to an in-progress or completed run with `getRun`.
```typescript
import { start, getRun } from "workflow/api";
import { chatWorkflow } from "@/workflows/chat";
const run = await start(chatWorkflow, [{ chatId, userMessage }]);
// run.runId - unique id for this run
// run.readable - stream of UI message chunks
const resumed = await getRun(runId);
const readable = await resumed.getReadable({ startIndex });
```
### Persisting Results
Save agent output in a step. `assertChatAgentParts` narrows the generic `UIMessage["parts"]` to the app's tool/data types before insert.
```typescript
// src/workflows/chat/steps/history.ts
import type { UIMessage } from "ai";
import { insertMessageParts } from "@/lib/chat/queries";
import { assertChatAgentParts } from "../types";
export async function persistMessageParts({
chatId,
messageId,
parts,
}: {
chatId: string;
messageId: string;
parts: UIMessage["parts"];
}): Promise<void> {
"use step";
assertChatAgentParts(parts);
await insertMessageParts(chatId, messageId, parts);
await db
.update(chats)
.set({ updatedAt: new Date() })
.where(eq(chats.id, chatId));
}
```
---
## References
- [Workflow Development Kit](https://useworkflow.dev/docs)
- [Workflow API Reference](https://useworkflow.dev/docs/api-reference)
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