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Creating and Managing Workflows

Create, edit, and manage workflows within your wireflow project.

What is a Workflow?

A workflow is a named, persistent task configuration stored in .workflow/run/. Each workflow contains:

  • Task description (task.txt) - The prompt/instructions for the task
  • Configuration (config) - Workflow-specific settings
  • Output directory (output/) - Where responses are saved

Creating Workflows

wfw new analysis-01

Creates .workflow/run/analysis-01/ with:

.workflow/run/analysis-01/
├── task.txt          # Your task description
├── config            # Workflow config (optional)
└── output/           # Response outputs (created on first run)

After creation, use wfw edit analysis-01 to open the workflow files in your editor.

Task.txt Structure

The task.txt file uses an optional XML skeleton:

<description>
  Brief overview of this workflow's purpose
</description>

<instructions>
  Detailed step-by-step instructions or requirements
</instructions>

<output-format>
  Specific formatting requirements for the output
</output-format>

Example:

<description>
  Analyze a dataset and create a summary report
</description>

<instructions>
  1. Data overview (rows, columns, data types)
  2. Statistical summary of numerical columns
  3. Key patterns or correlations
  4. Recommendations for further analysis
</instructions>

<output-format>
  Structured markdown with sections and tables
</output-format>

Workflow Configuration

Override project defaults in config:

MODEL=claude-opus-4-5-20251101
TEMPERATURE=0.5
MAX_TOKENS=8192
CONTEXT=(data/*.csv notes.md)
OUTPUT_FORMAT=md

Leave empty to inherit from project config.

Naming Conventions

Sequential: 00-context, 01-analysis, 02-writeup

Descriptive: extract-data, analyze-results, generate-figures

Rules: Use lowercase, hyphens, underscores. No spaces or special characters.

Editing Workflows

wfw edit analysis-01          # Opens task.txt and config
wfw config analysis-01        # Shows configuration cascade

Configuration sources (lower overrides higher):

  • (default) - Global defaults
  • (global) - ~/.config/wireflow/config
  • (project) - .workflow/config
  • (workflow) - .workflow/run/<name>/config

Listing Workflows

wfw list      # or: wfw ls

Configuration Options

Option Description Example
MODEL Model identifier claude-sonnet-4-20250514
TEMPERATURE Randomness (0-1) 0.7
MAX_TOKENS Max response tokens 8192
SYSTEM_PROMPTS System prompts (array) (base research)
OUTPUT_FORMAT Output extension md, json
INPUT Input files (array, globs expand) (report.pdf data/*.csv)
CONTEXT Context files (array, globs expand) (intro.md methods.md)
DEPENDS_ON Dependencies (array) (00-context 01-analysis)

Adding Context

In config: 

CONTEXT=(README.md notes.txt data/*.csv)

At runtime: 

wfw run analysis-01 -cx "data/*.csv" -cx README.md

Runtime flags override config settings.

Workflow Dependencies

Chain workflows with --depends-on:

wfw run 02-analysis --depends-on 01-context

This includes output from 01-context as context for 02-analysis.

Multiple dependencies: 

wfw run 03-synthesis --depends-on 01-context 02-analysis

Dependency graph example: 

00-data-import → 01-cleaning → 02-analysis → 03-report
                           └→ 02-tests ────┘

Output Files

Outputs saved to .workflow/run/<name>/output.<format>:

.workflow/run/analysis-01/
├── task.txt
├── config
└── output.md      # Latest output

Hardlink also created at .workflow/output/analysis-01.md for convenience.

View output: 

wfw cat analysis-01
cat .workflow/run/analysis-01/output.md
cat .workflow/output/analysis-01.md

Managing Workflows

Delete: 

rm -r .workflow/run/old-workflow

Rename: 

mv .workflow/run/old-name .workflow/run/new-name
# Update DEPENDS_ON in dependent workflows

Copy: 

cp -r .workflow/run/template .workflow/run/new-workflow

Best Practices

Do: - Keep tasks focused and specific - Use descriptive workflow names - Set workflow-specific config only when needed - Use dependencies to chain related workflows

Don't: - Create overly broad, multi-purpose workflows - Hardcode file paths (use context options) - Duplicate config across workflows (use project config)

Good task descriptions: - Clear, specific instructions - Structured output requirements - Context about the domain

Continue to Execution Guide →