workflow-orchestration-patterns
Design durable workflows with Temporal for distributed systems. Covers workflow vs activity separation, saga patterns, state management, and determinism constraints. Use when building long-running processes, distributed transactions, or microservice orchestration.
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/wshobson/agents --skill workflow-orchestration-patterns- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads workflow-orchestration-patterns automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
Security audits
Independent scans of the skill's instructions and bundled files.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Workflow Orchestration Patterns
Master workflow orchestration architecture with Temporal, covering fundamental design decisions, resilience patterns, and best practices for building reliable distributed systems.
When to Use Workflow Orchestration
Ideal Use Cases (Source: docs.temporal.io)
- Multi-step processes spanning machines/services/databases
- Distributed transactions requiring all-or-nothing semantics
- Long-running workflows (hours to years) with automatic state persistence
- Failure recovery that must resume from last successful step
- Business processes: bookings, orders, campaigns, approvals
- Entity lifecycle management: inventory tracking, account management, cart workflows
- Infrastructure automation: CI/CD pipelines, provisioning, deployments
- Human-in-the-loop systems requiring timeouts and escalations
When NOT to Use
- Simple CRUD operations (use direct API calls)
- Pure data processing pipelines (use Airflow, batch processing)
- Stateless request/response (use standard APIs)
- Real-time streaming (use Kafka, event processors)
Detailed patterns and worked examples
Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.
Best Practices
Workflow Design
- Keep workflows focused - Single responsibility per workflow
- Small workflows - Use child workflows for scalability
- Clear boundaries - Workflow orchestrates, activities execute
- Test locally - Use time-skipping test environment
Activity Design
- Idempotent operations - Safe to retry
- Short-lived - Seconds to minutes, not hours
- Timeout configuration - Always set timeouts
- Heartbeat for long tasks - Report progress
- Error handling - Distinguish retryable vs non-retryable
Common Pitfalls
Workflow Violations:
- Using
datetime.now()instead ofworkflow.now() - Threading or async operations in workflow code
- Calling external APIs directly from workflow
- Non-deterministic logic in workflows
Activity Mistakes:
- Non-idempotent operations (can't handle retries)
- Missing timeouts (activities run forever)
- No error classification (retry validation errors)
- Ignoring payload limits (2MB per argument)
Operational Considerations
Monitoring:
- Workflow execution duration
- Activity failure rates
- Retry attempts and backoff
- Pending workflow counts
Scalability:
- Horizontal scaling with workers
- Task queue partitioning
- Child workflow decomposition
- Activity batching when appropriate
Additional Resources
Official Documentation:
- Temporal Core Concepts: docs.temporal.io/workflows
- Workflow Patterns: docs.temporal.io/evaluate/use-cases-design-patterns
- Best Practices: docs.temporal.io/develop/best-practices
- Saga Pattern: temporal.io/blog/saga-pattern-made-easy
Key Principles:
- Workflows = orchestration, Activities = external calls
- Determinism is non-negotiable for workflows
- Idempotency is critical for activities
- State preservation is automatic
- Design for failure and recovery
FAQ
What does the workflow-orchestration-patterns skill do?
Design durable workflows with Temporal for distributed systems. Covers workflow vs activity separation, saga patterns, state management, and determinism constraints. Use when building long-running processes, distributed transactions, or microservice orchestration.
How do I install workflow-orchestration-patterns?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/wshobson/agents --skill workflow-orchestration-patterns in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/workflow-orchestration-patterns/ (personal) or .claude/skills/workflow-orchestration-patterns/ (project).
Which AI agents can use workflow-orchestration-patterns?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is workflow-orchestration-patterns safe to install?
Security partners have reviewed it: Gen Agent Trust Hub passed; Socket passed; Snyk passed; Runlayer passed; ZeroLeaks passed. As with any skill, read the SKILL.md and bundled scripts before installing.
Who maintains workflow-orchestration-patterns?
It is published by wshobson in wshobson/agents. It has 12,142 recorded installs.
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