Workflow Design Patterns

Apply four typical design patterns to build well-structured, maintainable workflows.

Sequential Pattern

Linear execution: A → B → C → D

Use case: Document processing pipeline

Parallel Pattern

Concurrent execution: A → (B, C, D) → E

Use case: Multi-source data aggregation

Conditional Pattern

Branching logic: A → if(condition) → B else C

Use case: Content routing

Loop Pattern

Iterative execution: A → while(condition) → B → A

Use case: Batch processing and bounded retries

Configure an explicit termination condition and a finite cap. The workflow editor defaults the loop limit to 10; the executor enforces a maximum of 1000 iterations. Use an Iteration node when processing an array or object so each item has a clear input and output rather than relying on an unbounded loop.

Safety checklist:

• Set a cap appropriate to the input size
• Ensure the condition can make progress toward termination
• Handle empty input and per-item failures
• Keep retries separate from business iteration

Related documentation

• Agent vs Workflow — Choosing the right abstraction
• System Architecture — Component overview
• Prompt Engineering — Prompt-writing guidance