Your first workflow

Connect two tasks

A workflow describes tasks and the dependencies between them. In this example, an agent fixes the tests on a separate branch. A second task reads its result and returns a short summary.

Use the configuration from Installation and save these three files next to it. Each tab shows one file: the agent task, the summary task and the script that runs them.

fix-task.tssummary.tsfix.ts

fix-task.ts

import { defineIsolatedTask } from "@elie-laloum/outpost";
import { repository, sandboxProvider, coder } from "./outpost.config.ts";

export const fix = defineIsolatedTask({
  key: "fix",
  request: () => ({
    repository,
    sandboxProvider,
    agent: coder,
    branch: { mode: "named", name: "outpost/fix-tests" },
    brief: { text: "Fix the failing tests, run them and commit the fix." },
  }),
});

summary.ts

import { defineTask } from "@elie-laloum/outpost";
import { fix } from "./fix-task.ts";

export const summary = defineTask({
  key: "summary",
  after: [fix],
  perform: (context) => ({
    branch: context.value(fix).branch,
    commits: context.value(fix).commits.length,
  }),
});

fix.ts

import { reportValue } from "./reporter.ts";
import { defineWorkflow } from "@elie-laloum/outpost";
import { fix } from "./fix-task.ts";
import { summary } from "./summary.ts";

export const result = await defineWorkflow("fix-tests", [fix, summary]).start();
result.unwrap();
reportValue(result.value(summary));
// Example output: { branch: 'outpost/fix-tests', commits: 1 }

Run the script

The agent works on outpost/fix-tests. After it succeeds, the summary task returns the branch name and the number of commits. The exact commit count depends on the work the agent produced.

node fix.ts

Review the branch before merging it. A successful workflow means its tasks completed; this example does not independently check whether the tests pass.

Read the dependencies and results

defineIsolatedTask() runs the agent in its own sandbox. defineTask() runs your function. Neither starts work until you call the workflow’s start() method.

after: [fix] tells summary to wait for fix. It also lets summary read the first task’s output with context.value(fix); TypeScript keeps the value’s type.

result.unwrap() throws if the workflow did not finish successfully. After it returns, result.value(summary) gives you the summary. See Connect tasks and dependencies for failures, skipped tasks and parallel execution.

Add a check when you need one

To make test results decide whether work is accepted, add a verification loop. To require a person’s decision, add an approval task.

When the workflow needs to resume in a later process, save its progress with a checkpoint. You can add these features to the same task graph.

API: defineIsolatedTask · defineTask · defineWorkflow.