Every Workflow Pattern Your Business Needs
Sequential, parallel, conditional, supervisor, looping, and event-driven — six production-ready orchestration patterns built into the runtime, composable without limits.
Six Patterns, Infinite Possibilities
The OrchStack Runtime supports six core orchestration patterns. Each is production-hardened, fully traceable, and composable with any other pattern.
Sequential
Chain of AgentsSteps execute one after another in a deterministic order. The output of each step becomes the input of the next. Ideal for linear pipelines where every step depends on the previous result.
Use Case
Email intake: receive message, classify intent, extract entities, generate reply, send response.
Parallel
Fan-out / MergeMultiple steps execute simultaneously and their results are merged when all complete. Dramatically reduces latency when steps are independent of each other.
Use Case
Lead enrichment: simultaneously query CRM, check social profiles, run credit score, and verify email — then merge all data into a single lead profile.
Conditional
Branch by OutcomeRoutes execution to different paths based on the output of a previous step — classification, sentiment, extracted value, or any custom condition. Supports if/else, switch, and weighted routing.
Use Case
Support ticket routing: classify sentiment and urgency, then branch to VIP handler, standard queue, or auto-resolve based on the result.
Supervisor with Skill Graph
Adaptive OrchestrationA supervisor agent reasons about which specialist skill to invoke next based on context, not a fixed script. The skill graph exposes available capabilities and the supervisor dynamically plans its execution path. This is the key differentiator from static workflow engines.
Use Case
Customer onboarding: the supervisor dynamically selects identity verification, plan recommendation, payment setup, or welcome messaging based on what has already been completed and what the customer needs next.
Looping
Retry / Iterate Until DoneRepeats a step or sub-workflow until a condition is satisfied — a quality threshold is met, a validation passes, or a maximum iteration count is reached. Supports both fixed-count and condition-based loops.
Use Case
Content generation: draft copy, run quality checks, refine based on feedback — loop until the quality score exceeds the threshold or 5 iterations are reached.
Event-Driven
React to the WorldWorkflows trigger in response to external events — incoming messages, database changes, webhook calls, scheduled cron jobs, or manual invocations. The runtime subscribes to event sources and starts workflows automatically.
Use Case
Real-time alerting: when a database row changes status to 'critical', automatically trigger an investigation workflow that analyzes logs, drafts an incident report, and notifies the on-call team.
Supervisor with Skill Graph
Unlike static workflow engines, OrchStack's supervisor pattern does not follow a fixed script. It reasons about which skill to invoke based on context, adapting in real-time to changing conditions.
No fixed script. No static DAG.
Traditional workflow engines require you to predefine every path. The supervisor pattern breaks this constraint. The supervisor agent has access to a skill graph — a registry of available capabilities — and dynamically decides which skill to invoke next based on the current state of the conversation, previous results, and the user's goal.
Adaptive Routing
The supervisor reasons about which skill to call next. Add a new skill to the graph, and the supervisor can start using it immediately — no workflow edits needed.
Context-Aware Decisions
Routing decisions are based on the full conversation context, not just the last output. The supervisor considers history, user profile, and intermediate results.
Composable Skills
Skills are self-contained capability modules. Each skill has a clear interface, handles its own errors, and can be tested independently.
Why This Matters
Static workflows break when requirements change. The supervisor pattern lets your workflows evolve without re-engineering the orchestration logic. Add skills, remove skills, update capabilities — the supervisor adapts automatically.
Five Ways to Trigger a Workflow
Workflows start in response to real-world events. The runtime subscribes to event sources and executes the right workflow automatically.
Message
WhatsApp, SMS, email, Slack, or any messaging channel
Database Change
Row insert, update, or delete in Postgres, MySQL, or MongoDB
Webhook
HTTP POST from any external service or integration
Schedule
Cron-based scheduling with timezone support
Manual
Trigger from the Studio UI, API call, or CLI command
Combine Patterns in Real Workflows
Real business workflows rarely use a single pattern. OrchStack lets you compose patterns freely — nest parallel inside sequential, branch into supervisors, loop within conditionals.
Salon Booking Assistant
Composed Workflow — 6 patterns in one flow
Event Trigger
Event-DrivenWhatsApp message arrives
Intent Classification
SequentialClassify intent and extract entities
Route by Intent
ConditionalBranch to booking, FAQ, or complaint
Handle Booking
SupervisorSupervisor selects availability check, payment, or confirmation skill
Enrich Customer Data
ParallelFan-out to CRM, loyalty, and preference systems simultaneously
Quality Assurance
LoopingValidate response quality, retry if below threshold
Every combination is supported. No pattern limits, no depth restrictions.
Built for Production Orchestration
Every pattern is backed by the OrchStack Runtime — with built-in error handling, tracing, retry logic, and composability.
Declarative Pattern API
Define orchestration patterns in code or on the canvas. The runtime compiles them into optimized execution graphs with built-in error handling and retry logic.
Pattern Composition
Nest patterns inside patterns. A sequential chain can contain a parallel fan-out, which itself can branch conditionally. No depth limits.
Adaptive Routing
Supervisor agents dynamically choose which skill to invoke based on context, input classification, and previous outcomes — no fixed script required.
Built-in Retry & Recovery
Every pattern supports configurable retry policies, exponential backoff, dead-letter queues, and graceful degradation on failure.
Timeout & Circuit Breaker
Set per-step and per-pattern timeouts. Circuit breakers prevent cascading failures when downstream services are unresponsive.
Full Execution Tracing
Every pattern execution is traced end-to-end. View step timings, input/output at each node, branch decisions, and retry attempts in the execution log.
Workflow Patterns FAQ
Orchestrate Any Workflow
Start with a single pattern or compose all six. The runtime handles the rest.
All patterns available on free tier -- no limits