Intro to Workflows

A Workflow is a easily configurable "Run" button that can run any command(s) you'd like.

It is a reusable, customizable sequence of steps that can be executed within your repl. They can be as simple as running python main.py or as complex as executing a multi-step procedure.

Example Use Cases:

• Run multiple services in parallel (e.g., frontend + backend)
• Execute files or commands sequentially (e.g., run linter → run tests, compile → execute code)

To start creating workflows, go to the Workflows pane by using the tools sidebar menu, or search for the Workflows pane using Command + K.

Available Task Types

There are current 2 type of tasks available, Execute Shell Command and Install Packages.

Execute Shell Command

Execute Shell Command stores a shell command and executes it using the same environment as the Shell pane. This task type offers a wide range of use-cases, from running individual files:

python main.py

to executing complex stored database query commands:

psql -h 0.0.0.0 -U your_username -d your_database -c "SELECT * FROM your_table;"

Example use case:

Install Packages

Install Packages utilizes replit's built-in dependency management system, automatically detecting your project dependencies and installing the necessary packages for your project. See Dependency Management for more details on how UPM guesses packages to install for your project under the hood.

Example use case:

Workflow Execution Mode

Workflows offer two different modes of execution: sequential and parallel.

Sequential

Sequential execution will run each task in the defined order, waiting for each task to finish before moving on to the next step, and stopping execution of the sequence if a task within the workflow failed.

An example of using this mode is for defining commands that are logically connected, such as git commands for fetching the latest changes from your main branch, then rebasing your current branch on the main branch:

Parallel

Parallel execution will run each task in parallel, such that each task is started and runs independently of other tasks within the workflow. One task failing does not stop the execution of other tasks.

An example of using this mode is running a fullstack project that needs to start both the frontend and the backend server:

Creating Workflows

Workflows can be created using the workflows pane by clicking on the + New Workflow button. Start by giving your workflow a descriptive name, chose a suitable mode of execution, and start adding tasks. Tasks can be re-ordered by dragging and dropping them into the desired order.

Assign Workflow to Run Button

A workflow can also be assigned to the run button to replace the default run button behavior (see Configure a Repl). To keep the default run command configured within .replit, select the default "Run Repl" option within the dropdown.

The selected workflow within the dropdown menu next to the run button will be run when the run button is clicked. Click on your desired workflow within the dropdown menu to change which workflow should be run by the run button.

Viewing Workflow Outputs

Workflow outputs will be displayed in the Console pane. You can toggle the display to only display latest outputs and clear the console altogether.