Building Automations

Use the Automation Builder when you want to create, edit, or test automation logic directly on the canvas.

The canvas is the authoring surface; the Rust automation engine is the runtime. When you run an automation, Wardian saves the graph, resolves launch-time input, then processes candidate nodes through the engine's internal execution loop, records node output, pulses downstream ports, and emits run telemetry.

Builder Layout

The Automation view is made of four main working areas:

• Automation selector and action bar: choose a saved automation, create a new one, save changes, reset, duplicate, delete, or run.
• Canvas: place nodes and draw connections between them.
• Block Library: add new nodes to the graph.
• Node Settings drawer: configure the currently selected node.

The builder also includes the Variable Assistant, which shows upstream values you can interpolate into prompts, conditions, paths, and commands.

Basic Authoring Flow

1. Create or open an automation.
2. Add nodes from the Block Library.
3. Connect outputs to downstream inputs.
4. Configure each node in the right-side settings drawer. Branch conditions use a dot-separated registry path; comparison expressions are rejected.
5. Save changes.
6. Run the automation or activate its trigger behavior.

Working With Nodes

When you click a node, Wardian opens the node settings drawer. That drawer shows the fields for the selected block type and hides fields that do not apply to the current mode.

Examples:

• Manual Trigger can declare an input schema for the run modal.
• Agent nodes resolve their configured role/class or invocation binding.
• Loop's optional until field uses the same registry-path condition grammar as Branch.

Connections and Flow

Nodes run based on their incoming dependencies and output ports.

Common patterns:

• connect a trigger into an execution node to start work
• connect a Branch into different follow-up paths
• connect a Loop body back into downstream work and let done exit the cycle
• use Wait when multiple branches need to synchronize before continuing

Save, Reset, and Run

The builder has three important actions:

• Reset: discard unsaved canvas changes and reload the saved version.
• Save Changes: persist the current automation graph.
• Run Automation: save first, then launch based on the automation's trigger type.

Builder launch behavior is intentionally invoker-aware:

• automations with a Manual Trigger run immediately
• schedules are created separately and invoke the saved blueprint later
• event listeners, when available, invoke the same durable run contract

When the Run Modal Appears

Wardian opens the run modal when the automation needs extra launch-time input.

That usually means one or both of these are true:

• the automation has a Manual Trigger with an input schema
• the automation contains Agent nodes in an inherited run mode that need role-to-agent assignments

If neither is needed, the automation launches immediately based on its trigger type.

After an automation finishes, the app can add its completed or failed outcome to the separate Inbox triage surface.

Builder vs Library

Use the Automation Builder when you need to:

• change the graph
• edit node settings
• test an automation while looking at the canvas
• confirm exactly what will be saved before launch

Use the Automation Library when you need to:

• launch an existing automation quickly
• inspect the saved blueprint before creating an invoker

sub_automation is reserved and does not appear in the Block Library. Existing blueprints containing it fail validation with unsupported_node_type; this is intentional until durable child-run input, provenance, approval, cancellation, and restart semantics are implemented.

Related References

• Triggers
• Node Reference
• Agent Assignment
• Inbox
• Visual Builder Architecture