Building Workflows

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

The canvas is the authoring surface; the Rust workflow engine is the runtime. When you run a workflow, 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 Workflow view is made of four main working areas:

• Workflow selector and action bar: choose a saved workflow, 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 a workflow.
2. Add nodes from the Block Library.
3. Connect outputs to downstream inputs.
4. Configure each node in the right-side settings drawer.
5. Save changes.
6. Run the workflow 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:

• Scheduled Trigger shows different fields depending on whether you pick Minutes, Hours, Daily, Weekly, or One-Time.
• Agent shows different targeting fields depending on whether the run mode is ephemeral, inherit_fresh, or inherit_resume.
• Loop shows different fields for count versus conditional mode.

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 workflow graph.
• Run Workflow: save first, then launch based on the workflow's trigger type.

Builder launch behavior is intentionally type-aware:

• workflows with a Manual Trigger run immediately
• workflows with a Scheduled Trigger create a scheduled task instance
• workflows with a File Watcher or webhook-style listener activate a live listener instead of doing a one-off run

When the Run Modal Appears

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

That usually means one or both of these are true:

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

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

After a workflow finishes, the app can add its completed or failed outcome to the separate Queue triage surface.

Builder vs Library

Use the Workflow Builder when you need to:

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

Use the Workflow Library when you need to:

• launch an existing workflow quickly
• create another scheduled instance of a saved workflow
• start or reactivate a listener without opening the graph

Related References

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