Steps and Actions

steps is an ordered list. Each element is a step: a map with exactly one key, which is the step’s id. The value is the step body — an action call, or one of the constructs of value and render, control flow, and code and agents.

An action call names connector.action and supplies its arguments:

  - ticket:
      helpdesk.new_ticket:
        queue: tier1
        subject: "{{ message.subject }}"

Implementations MUST validate arguments against the manifest’s input schema: required fields present, no unknown fields, and types and enums satisfied.

Steps execute in list order. The order of declaration is the order of execution. There is no separate dependency declaration, and implementations MUST NOT reorder steps.

What a step binds

Body kind	Binds
action call	the action’s declared output — a value
value	the evaluated structure — a value
render	the rendered string, or a map of part name to rendered string — a value
run	the value that the sandboxed code returned
agent	a value that satisfies the declared returns schema
call	the callee’s outputs projection — a value
route, choose	the scope of the branch that executed
for_each, repeat	a list of iteration scopes, indexed by position
parallel	a scope whose members are the branch scopes, named by branch
wait_for	a scope with the members status and event
wait, stop	nothing readable

A path into the id of a wait step or a stop step is a validation error. Both still take an id, which names the step in the run record.

Modifiers

A step body MAY include the following modifier keys beside its body. Each modifier is permitted only on the body kinds that the table names.

Key	Meaning	Permitted on
when	Guard expression	every body kind
timeout	Wall-clock limit for the step	action call, run, agent, call, for_each, parallel, repeat
retry	Overrides the manifest’s default retry policy	action call, run
idempotency_key	Expression producing the key that the action’s idempotency parameter receives	action call
must_succeed	Failure is not subject to an enclosing policy	action call, run, agent, call, route, choose, for_each, parallel, repeat
optional	Failure is recorded, and the run continues	the same kinds as must_succeed
undo	Compensating action	action call
on_unknown	Behavior on an ambiguous outcome	action call
reconcile	Reconciliation that determines the true outcome	action call
connection	Overrides the environment’s default connection for this connector	action call
recovery	Scope recovery policy	route, choose, for_each, parallel, repeat

Implementations MUST reject a modifier on a body kind that the table does not name. Implementations MUST reject a step that declares both optional and must_succeed.

A construct’s own keys are part of the body, and are not modifiers. with, match, code, network, cases, else, then, steps, as, max, concurrency, on_error, for, until, every, goal, tools, returns, budget, and on_exhausted are construct keys. The section that defines each construct states which of them it takes.

timeout accepts a literal duration or an expression that yields one. wait and wait_for do not accept the timeout modifier, because timeout is a key of the wait_for construct itself.