node-workflow-engine

🌊 Flow Engine

Simple workflow framework for Node.js backends

Replace complex controller logic with easy-to-use workflow steps. Integrates seamlessly with Express, Fastify, Koa, and any Node.js framework.

✨ Features

• 🎯 Super Easy - Just create a flow and add steps
• 🔗 Framework Agnostic - Works with Express, Fastify, Koa, or standalone
• 📦 Common Payload - Share data across all steps automatically
• 🔄 Retry Logic - Built-in retry with exponential backoff
• ⏱️ Timeout Support - Prevent hanging operations
• 📊 Step Tracking - Know exactly which steps executed
• 🔧 TypeScript Ready - Full TypeScript support

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

npm install node-workflow-engine
# or
yarn add node-workflow-engine

Basic Usage

import { createFlow } from 'node-workflow-engine';

// Create a simple workflow
const flow = createFlow()
  .setCommonPayload({ apiKey: 'your-api-key' })
  .step('validate', async (data) => {
    if (!data.email) throw new Error('Email required');
    return { isValid: true };
  })
  .step('process', async (data) => {
    // Your processing logic here
    return { processed: true };
  });

// Execute the workflow
const result = await flow.execute({ email: '[e-mail]' });
console.log(result.success); // true
console.log(result.data); // { isValid: true, processed: true }

🔗 Framework Integration

Express.js Integration

import express from 'express';
import { createFlow, expressFlow } from 'node-workflow-engine';

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

// Create user registration flow
const userFlow = createFlow()
  .setCommonPayload({ timestamp: new Date().toISOString() })
  .step('validate', async (data) => {
    if (!data.email || !data.password) {
      throw new Error('Email and password required');
    }
    return { isValid: true };
  })
  .step('createUser', async (data) => {
    // Your user creation logic
    const user = { id: 1, email: data.email };
    return { user };
  })
  .step('sendEmail', async (data) => {
    // Send welcome email
    console.log(`Welcome email sent to ${data.user.email}`);
    return { emailSent: true };
  });

// Use as Express middleware
app.post('/api/users', expressFlow(userFlow), (req, res) => {
  res.json({
    success: true,
    user: req.flowResult.data.user
  });
});

app.listen(3000);

Fastify Integration

import Fastify from 'fastify';
import { createFlow } from 'node-workflow-engine';

const fastify = Fastify();

const orderFlow = createFlow()
  .setCommonPayload({ currency: 'USD' })
  .step('validateOrder', async (data) => {
    if (!data.items?.length) throw new Error('No items');
    return { valid: true };
  })
  .step('calculateTotal', async (data) => {
    const total = data.items.reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.price, 0);
    return { total };
  })
  .step('processPayment', async (data) => {
    // Payment processing logic
    return { paymentId: 'pay_123' };
  });

fastify.post('/api/orders', async (request, reply) => {
  const result = await orderFlow.execute(request.body);
  
  if (result.success) {
    return { order: result.data };
  } else {
    reply.code(400);
    return { error: result.error };
  }
});

Koa Integration

import Koa from 'koa';
import Router from 'koa-router';
import { createFlow } from 'node-workflow-engine';

const app = new Koa();
const router = new Router();

const authFlow = createFlow()
  .step('validateCredentials', async (data) => {
    if (!data.email || !data.password) {
      throw new Error('Invalid credentials');
    }
    return { valid: true };
  })
  .step('generateToken', async (data) => {
    const token = `jwt_${Math.random().toString(36).substr(2, 9)}`;
    return { token };
  });

router.post('/api/auth', async (ctx) => {
  const result = await authFlow.execute(ctx.request.body);
  
  if (result.success) {
    ctx.body = { token: result.data.token };
  } else {
    ctx.status = 401;
    ctx.body = { error: result.error };
  }
});

🛠️ Advanced Features

Middleware Support

const flow = createFlow()
  .setCommonPayload({ apiKey: process.env.API_KEY })
  .use(async (data, context) => {
    // Authentication middleware
    if (!data.apiKey) throw new Error('Unauthorized');
    context.metadata.userId = 'user_123';
  })
  .use(async (data, context) => {
    // Logging middleware
    console.log(`Processing request: ${context.executionId}`);
  })
  .step('process', async (data) => {
    return { processed: true };
  });

Retry Logic & Timeouts

const flow = createFlow()
  .step('externalAPI', async (data) => {
    // This step will retry 3 times with exponential backoff
    const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
    return { data: await response.json() };
  }, { 
    retries: 3, 
    timeout: 10000 // 10 second timeout
  });

Step Dependencies

const flow = createFlow()
  .step('fetchUser', async (data) => {
    return { user: await getUser(data.userId) };
  })
  .step('fetchOrders', async (data) => {
    return { orders: await getOrders(data.user.id) };
  }, { dependencies: ['fetchUser'] }) // This step waits for fetchUser
  .step('calculateTotal', async (data) => {
    const total = data.orders.reduce((sum, order) => sum + order.amount, 0);
    return { total };
  }, { dependencies: ['fetchOrders'] });

📊 Result Object

Every flow execution returns a detailed result:

interface FlowResult {
  success: boolean;           // Whether the flow completed successfully
  data: any;                 // All data from all steps
  error?: string;            // Error message if failed
  executionTime: number;      // Total execution time in ms
  steps: string[];           // Array of executed step IDs
  metadata: Record<string, any>; // Custom metadata
}

// Example result
{
  success: true,
  data: {
    email: '[e-mail]',
    isValid: true,
    user: { id: 1, email: '[e-mail]' },
    emailSent: true
  },
  executionTime: 245,
  steps: ['validate', 'createUser', 'sendEmail'],
  metadata: { requestId: 'exec_123', userId: 'user_123' }
}

🎯 Real-World Examples

E-commerce Order Processing

const orderFlow = createFlow()
  .setCommonPayload({ 
    currency: 'USD',
    taxRate: 0.08,
    shippingRate: 5.99
  })
  .step('validateOrder', async (data) => {
    if (!data.items?.length) throw new Error('No items in order');
    if (!data.customerId) throw new Error('Customer ID required');
    return { orderValid: true };
  })
  .step('checkInventory', async (data) => {
    for (const item of data.items) {
      const available = await checkStock(item.productId);
      if (available < item.quantity) {
        throw new Error(`Insufficient stock for ${item.productId}`);
      }
    }
    return { inventoryChecked: true };
  })
  .step('calculatePricing', async (data) => {
    const subtotal = data.items.reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.price, 0);
    const tax = subtotal * data.taxRate;
    const shipping = subtotal > 50 ? 0 : data.shippingRate;
    const total = subtotal + tax + shipping;
    
    return { subtotal, tax, shipping, total };
  })
  .step('processPayment', async (data) => {
    const payment = await stripe.charges.create({
      amount: Math.round(data.total * 100),
      currency: data.currency,
      source: data.paymentToken
    });
    return { paymentId: payment.id };
  })
  .step('createOrder', async (data) => {
    const order = await db.orders.create({
      customerId: data.customerId,
      items: data.items,
      total: data.total,
      paymentId: data.paymentId,
      status: 'confirmed'
    });
    return { order };
  })
  .step('sendConfirmation', async (data) => {
    await emailService.send({
      to: data.customer.email,
      template: 'order-confirmation',
      data: { order: data.order }
    });
    return { emailSent: true };
  });

// Use in Express route
app.post('/api/orders', expressFlow(orderFlow), (req, res) => {
  res.json({ order: req.flowResult.data.order });
});

User Authentication & Authorization

const authFlow = createFlow()
  .setCommonPayload({ 
    jwtSecret: process.env.JWT_SECRET,
    tokenExpiry: '24h'
  })
  .step('validateCredentials', async (data) => {
    if (!data.email || !data.password) {
      throw new Error('Email and password required');
    }
    return { credentialsValid: true };
  })
  .step('findUser', async (data) => {
    const user = await db.users.findOne({ email: data.email });
    if (!user) throw new Error('User not found');
    return { user };
  })
  .step('verifyPassword', async (data) => {
    const isValid = await bcrypt.compare(data.password, data.user.passwordHash);
    if (!isValid) throw new Error('Invalid password');
    return { passwordValid: true };
  })
  .step('generateTokens', async (data) => {
    const accessToken = jwt.sign(
      { userId: data.user.id, email: data.user.email },
      data.jwtSecret,
      { expiresIn: data.tokenExpiry }
    );
    
    const refreshToken = jwt.sign(
      { userId: data.user.id },
      data.jwtSecret,
      { expiresIn: '7d' }
    );
    
    return { accessToken, refreshToken };
  })
  .step('updateLastLogin', async (data) => {
    await db.users.update(data.user.id, { 
      lastLoginAt: new Date() 
    });
    return { lastLoginUpdated: true };
  });

🚀 Performance Benefits

• ⚡ Fast Execution - Steps run in sequence with optimized data passing
• 🔄 Built-in Retries - Automatic retry with exponential backoff
• ⏱️ Timeout Protection - Prevent hanging operations
• 📊 Execution Tracking - Know exactly what happened and when
• 💾 Memory Efficient - Only loads data when needed

🔧 API Reference

createFlow()

Creates a new workflow instance.

const flow = createFlow();

.setCommonPayload(payload)

Sets data available to all steps.

flow.setCommonPayload({ apiKey: 'your-key', version: '1.0' });

.use(middleware)

Adds middleware that runs before each step.

flow.use(async (data, context) => {
  console.log(`Executing step with data:`, data);
});

.step(id, handler, options?)

Adds a step to the workflow.

flow.step('process', async (data) => {
  return { processed: true };
}, { retries: 3, timeout: 5000 });

.execute(inputData)

Executes the workflow with input data.

const result = await flow.execute({ email: '[e-mail]' });

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🌊 Flow Engine - Simple workflow framework for Node.js backends

Documentation • GitHub • NPM