Quick Start¶

This guide walks you from zero to a running multi-task workflow in five minutes.

1. Install and initialise¶

curl -fsSL https://silocorp.github.io/workflow/install.sh | sh
wf init

Note

No Go toolchain required. The install script downloads the pre-built binary for your platform and verifies its checksum. See Installation for manual download options.

2. Point wf at a directory¶

export WF_PATHS_WORKFLOWS="$(pwd)/workflows"
mkdir -p workflows

3. Write your first workflow¶

cat > workflows/hello.toml <<'EOF'
name        = "hello"
description = "A simple three-task workflow"

[tasks.greet]
cmd      = "echo Hello, $(whoami)!"
register = "greeting"

[tasks.timestamp]
cmd      = "date +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S"
register = "ts"

[tasks.report]
cmd        = "echo '{{.greeting}} — run at {{.ts}}'"
depends_on = ["greet", "timestamp"]
EOF

4. Validate¶

wf validate hello
# ✓ hello — 3 tasks, no cycles detected

5. Run it¶

wf run hello --print-output

Expected output:

[greet]      Hello, alice!
[timestamp]  2026-03-09T14:22:01
[report]     Hello, alice! — run at 2026-03-09T14:22:01
✓ hello completed in 42ms

6. Inspect the run¶

# List all runs
wf runs

# Get the run ID from the last run
RUN_ID=$(wf runs --limit 1 | awk 'NR==2{print $1}')

# See registered variables
wf inspect $RUN_ID

# Full audit trail
wf audit $RUN_ID

7. Visualise the DAG¶

wf graph hello                    # ASCII DAG to stdout (default)
wf graph hello --format html      # writes hello_graph.html — open in browser
wf graph hello --format dot       # Graphviz DOT output

Next: Add parallel tasks and error handling¶

name = "pipeline"
description = "Parallel build with rollback"

[tasks.lint]
cmd = "echo linting..."

[tasks.test-unit]
cmd        = "echo unit tests..."
depends_on = ["lint"]

[tasks.test-integration]
cmd        = "echo integration tests..."
depends_on = ["lint"]

[tasks.build]
cmd        = "echo building..."
depends_on = ["test-unit", "test-integration"]

[tasks.deploy]
cmd         = "echo deploying..."
depends_on  = ["build"]
retries     = 2
retry_delay = "5s"
on_failure  = "rollback"

[tasks.rollback]
type = "forensic"
cmd  = "echo rolling back..."

# Run with work-stealing scheduler for maximum parallelism
wf run pipeline --work-stealing --print-output

Both test-unit and test-integration start as soon as lint completes — they don't wait for each other.

What to explore next¶

Topic	Link
All TOML fields	Workflow File Reference
Parallel execution modes	Execution Modes
Variables and `register`	Variables & Interpolation
Matrix fan-out	Matrix Expansion
Failure handling	Forensic Tasks
Resuming failed runs	Resume
Real-world examples	Examples