Restate Workflows

Restate Workflows

This skill is now a compatibility alias for substrate work.

For new work, load workflow-rig first. Use this skill only when the real problem is the runtime bridge itself: external repo submission, queue-family contracts, or low-level ADR-0217 substrate mechanics.

The boundary is the joelclaw CLI.

Do not reach into Redis directly. Do not import private joelclaw packages. Do not pretend the other repo knows internal queue schemas unless you have explicitly verified them.

The runtime shape

ADR-0217 currently reads best as:

• Redis is the pressure layer — queue admission, bursts, pause/resume, family control
• Dkron is the clock — scheduled starts
• Restate is the durable executor — workflow identity, retries, DAG progress
• Sandboxed runners are the side-effect boundary — isolated code-changing work

An external repo should integrate at the edge, not by coupling itself to the middle.

That means:

• submit saved workload artifacts through joelclaw workload run when the work has already been shaped at the workload layer
• use joelclaw queue emit only as the low-level escape hatch for verified raw queue families
• carry enough metadata for idempotency and tracing
• let joelclaw decide how that request reaches Restate or a sandbox runner

When to use

Use this skill when a user asks for any of these:

• "send work to the queue"
• "have this repo request background work"
• "bridge this repo into joelclaw"
• "submit sandboxed work"
• "emit a workflow request"
• "wrap joelclaw queue emit"
• "run this in Restate from another repo"

Non-negotiable rules

• CLI boundary only. Prefer joelclaw workload run for approved workload artifacts; use joelclaw queue emit only when you are intentionally working at the raw queue-family layer.
• Never talk to Redis directly from the external repo.
• Never depend on private joelclaw internals (@joelclaw/*, Redis keys, internal TypeScript types, worker-only contracts) unless the repo itself is the joelclaw monorepo.
• Keep changes inside the calling repo. Build a wrapper in that repo; do not assume you can edit joelclaw at the same time.
• Inspect live help first. The CLI contract wins over memory.
• Prefer explicit workflow families. If there is no verified family for the job, stop and document the proposed family/contract instead of guessing silently.
• Machine-readable output by default. The wrapper should return stable JSON that callers can parse.
• Support dry-run. The repo should be able to show the exact request without enqueuing it.

First steps

Run these before designing the bridge:

joelclaw workload run --help
joelclaw queue --help
joelclaw queue emit --help

If the target repo is supposed to monitor results too, also inspect:

joelclaw jobs status --hours 1 --count 10
joelclaw queue observe --hours 1

If you are unsure whether a workflow family already exists, search docs or ask instead of inventing one.

What to build in the external repo

The default deliverable is a thin wrapper command/module/script around joelclaw workload run when the repo can produce a saved workload artifact. Fall back to joelclaw queue emit only when you have a verified low-level family and there is no workload artifact to bridge.

Good shapes:

• scripts/request-work.ts
• bin/request-background-work
• src/lib/joelclaw/requestWorkflow.ts
• src/cli/restate-workflow.ts

Bad shape:

• raw shell one-liners scattered across the repo with no contract doc or tests

Minimum request payload

Every request payload should include these fields unless the target family has a stricter contract:

{
  "idempotencyKey": "repo-name:task-type:base-sha:input-hash",
  "requestId": "uuid-or-stable-derived-id",
  "repo": {
    "path": "/abs/path/or/null",
    "url": "git@github.com:owner/repo.git",
    "name": "repo-name",
    "baseSha": "abc123",
    "branch": "main"
  },
  "task": {
    "kind": "sandboxed-change",
    "prompt": "what the runtime should do",
    "artifacts": ["patch", "test-report", "summary.json"]
  },
  "caller": {
    "source": "external-repo-name",
    "requestedBy": "human-or-agent",
    "sessionId": "optional-session-id",
    "callback": {
      "kind": "poll",
      "target": "joelclaw jobs status"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "dryRun": false,
    "createdAt": "2026-03-08T05:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Required semantics

• idempotencyKey must be stable for the same intended work request
• baseSha must reflect the code the sandbox should start from
• prompt must say what success looks like
• artifacts must list what the caller expects back
• caller.source must identify who emitted the request

Emission pattern

The wrapper should construct JSON, then call the CLI.

Example pattern:

joelclaw queue emit <event-family> --data '<json>'

Example Node/Bun sketch:

import { spawn } from "node:child_process";

export async function requestWorkflow(
  event: string,
  payload: unknown,
  dryRun = false,
) {
  const data = JSON.stringify(payload);

  if (dryRun) {
    return {
      ok: true,
      mode: "dry-run",
      event,
      payload,
    };
  }

  return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    const child = spawn("joelclaw", ["queue", "emit", event, "--data", data], {
      stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
    });

    let stdout = "";
    let stderr = "";

    child.stdout.on("data", (chunk) => {
      stdout += chunk.toString();
    });

    child.stderr.on("data", (chunk) => {
      stderr += chunk.toString();
    });

    child.on("close", (code) => {
      if (code === 0) {
        resolve({ ok: true, mode: "live", event, payload, stdout });
        return;
      }
      reject(
        new Error(`joelclaw queue emit failed (${code}): ${stderr || stdout}`),
      );
    });
  });
}

Family selection

Do not hijack an unrelated proof family just because it exists.

Rules:

• content/updated is a dogfood family, not a generic bucket for outside repos
• if a verified workflow request family already exists, use it
• if no family exists, document the proposed name and payload contract in the repo instead of guessing

A good stop-and-document line is:

No canonical workflow-request family was verified in the target runtime. This repo now emits a validated payload object locally and documents the proposed sandbox/work.requested contract, but does not enqueue live requests until the runtime family is confirmed.

That is honest. Honesty beats fake integration.

Required wrapper features

1. Dry-run mode

The command must be able to print the exact event + payload without sending it.

Dry-run output should be parseable JSON, for example:

{
  "ok": true,
  "mode": "dry-run",
  "event": "sandbox/work.requested",
  "payload": { "...": "..." }
}

2. Clear errors

Handle these explicitly:

• joelclaw binary missing
• invalid JSON/payload serialization
• command non-zero exit
• caller omitted baseSha, prompt, or idempotencyKey

3. Machine-readable success output

Return stable JSON on success, not prose.

At minimum:

{
  "ok": true,
  "mode": "live",
  "event": "sandbox/work.requested",
  "idempotencyKey": "...",
  "stdout": "raw joelclaw output"
}

4. Local tests

Tests should verify:

• payload construction
• idempotency key stability
• dry-run behavior
• CLI invocation shape
• failure handling

Mock the CLI process if needed. Do not require the real runtime for unit tests.

README contract

Document these four things in the calling repo:

1. what command submits work
2. what event family it emits
3. what payload fields are required
4. how to verify the request from joelclaw surfaces

Minimum verification section:

joelclaw jobs status --hours 1 --count 10
joelclaw queue observe --hours 1

If there is a known workflow ID or downstream surface, include it.

Anti-patterns

Do not do this:

• writing directly to Redis
• importing joelclaw monorepo code into the external repo
• hiding event-family uncertainty behind vague names like task/run
• omitting baseSha for code-changing work
• printing unstructured human-only output from the wrapper
• building a wrapper with no dry-run or no tests
• pretending Restate-native execution is already wired if the current path is still transitional

Recommended deliverables

When asked to implement this integration in another repo, deliver:

1. the wrapper command/module
2. payload contract documentation
3. example invocation
4. verification steps
5. tests

Short prompt for another agent

Paste this:

Use /skill:restate-workflows. Add a thin wrapper in this repo around joelclaw queue emit so it can submit work into joelclaw without talking to Redis or private joelclaw internals. Check joelclaw queue emit --help first. Emit machine-readable JSON with requestId, idempotencyKey, repo url/branch/baseSha, task prompt, expected artifacts, and caller metadata. Support --dry-run, add a README example and tests, and if the canonical event family is not verified, stop and document the proposed family instead of guessing.