workflow-automation – Agents & Automation skill for AI agents

Workflow Automation

Workflow automation is the infrastructure that makes AI agents reliable.

Without durable execution, a network hiccup during a 10-step payment

flow means lost money and angry customers. With it, workflows resume

exactly where they left off.

This skill covers the platforms (n8n, Temporal, Inngest) and patterns

(sequential, parallel, orchestrator-worker) that turn brittle scripts

into production-grade automation.

Key insight: The platforms make different tradeoffs. n8n optimizes for

accessibility, Temporal for correctness, Inngest for developer experience.

Pick based on your actual needs, not hype.

Reliability and example limits

Durability does not guarantee exactly-once external effects. Payment/shipment helpers must forward a stable operation key to the provider and reconcile ambiguous success; email needs an outbox/deduplication strategy. Examples are incomplete fragments with version-specific SDK signatures. Validate them against installed types, use test accounts, and keep payloads/credentials out of workflow history and logs.

Detailed Guide

Read [the detailed guide](references/detailed-guide.md) before executing this skill. It retains the complete procedure and reference material. Treat its safety, prerequisites, and validation requirements as mandatory. For focused work, load the relevant sections; for end-to-end work, read the guide completely.

Inngest Example (TypeScript)

import { inngest } from "./client";

export const processOrder = inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "process-order" },
  { event: "order/created" },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    // Step 1: Validate order
    const validated = await step.run("validate-order", async () => {
      return validateOrder(event.data.order);
    });

    // Step 2: Process payment (durable - survives crashes)
    const payment = await step.run("process-payment", async () => {
      return chargeCard(validated.paymentMethod, validated.total, { idempotencyKey: `order-${event.data.orderId}-payment` });
    });

    // Step 3: Create shipment
    const shipment = await step.run("create-shipment", async () => {
      return createShipment(validated.items, validated.address);
    });

    // Step 4: Send confirmation
    await step.run("send-confirmation", async () => {
      return sendEmail(validated.email, { payment, shipment });
    });

    return { success: true, orderId: event.data.orderId };
  }
);

Temporal Example (TypeScript)

import { proxyActivities } from '@temporalio/workflow';
import type * as activities from './activities';

const { validateOrder, chargeCard, createShipment, sendEmail } =
  proxyActivities<typeof activities>({
    startToCloseTimeout: '30 seconds',
    retry: {
      maximumAttempts: 3,
      backoffCoefficient: 2,
    }
  });

export async function processOrderWorkflow(order: Order): Promise<void> {
  const validated = await validateOrder(order);
  const payment = await chargeCard(validated.paymentMethod, validated.total, { idempotencyKey: `order-${order.id}-payment` });
  const shipment = await createShipment(validated.items, validated.address);
  await sendEmail(validated.email, { payment, shipment });
}

Inngest Example

export const analyzeDocument = inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "analyze-document" },
  { event: "document/uploaded" },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    // Run analyses in parallel
    const [security, performance, compliance] = await Promise.all([
      step.run("security-analysis", () =>
        analyzeForSecurityIssues(event.data.document)
      ),
      step.run("performance-analysis", () =>
        analyzeForPerformance(event.data.document)
      ),
      step.run("compliance-analysis", () =>
        analyzeForCompliance(event.data.document)
      ),
    ]);

    // Aggregate results
    const report = await step.run("generate-report", () =>
      generateReport({ security, performance, compliance })
    );

    return report;
  }
);

Temporal Example

export async function orchestratorWorkflow(task: ComplexTask) {
  // Orchestrator decides what work needs to be done
  const plan = await analyzeTask(task);

  // Dispatch to specialized worker workflows
  const results = await Promise.all(
    plan.subtasks.map(subtask => {
      switch (subtask.type) {
        case 'create':
          return executeChild(createWorkerWorkflow, { args: [subtask] });
        case 'modify':
          return executeChild(modifyWorkerWorkflow, { args: [subtask] });
        case 'delete':
          return executeChild(deleteWorkerWorkflow, { args: [subtask] });
      }
    })
  );

  // Aggregate results
  return aggregateResults(results);
}

When to Use

• User mentions or implies: workflow
• User mentions or implies: automation
• User mentions or implies: n8n
• User mentions or implies: temporal
• User mentions or implies: inngest
• User mentions or implies: step function
• User mentions or implies: background job
• User mentions or implies: durable execution
• User mentions or implies: event-driven
• User mentions or implies: scheduled task
• User mentions or implies: job queue
• User mentions or implies: cron
• User mentions or implies: trigger

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.