Workflows, processes, and jobs¶

A workflow, a process, and a job refer to different stages of the same processing activity. They are not interchangeable names for a running program.

Workflow: the definition¶

A workflow describes tools, their inputs and outputs, and the dependencies between processing steps. In AntFlow, authors describe this work in CWL and keep the application package in GitLab.

Changing the definition changes the workflow revision. A branch can move to new commits; a commit reference identifies a particular repository revision. Recording that revision helps explain which definition a job used.

Process: the available interface¶

AntFlow discovers workflows from accessible GitLab projects and exposes process descriptions. A description tells users what inputs to supply and what outputs to expect. AntFlow also adds deployment-specific execution choices, such as eligible launchers.

A display label is not a process identifier. API clients should use the ID returned by process discovery and inspect that process's description. Discovery depends on repository access, project topics, and the selected Git reference; see Authentication and project access.

Job: one execution¶

Submitting a process with input values creates a job with its own identifier and status. Running the same process twice creates separate jobs, even if the inputs are identical.

An accepted job may be waiting for a launcher rather than executing. A running job is being processed; a successful or failed job has reached an outcome. Job status, logs, and results answer different questions: status summarizes the execution, logs help explain its behavior, and result links locate published outputs.

For example, the calculator process can accept [3, 2] in one job and [10, 4] in another. The process interface stays the same while the inputs, job IDs, and output files differ.

Publication has two meanings¶

Making a workflow discoverable exposes its definition as a process. An administrator can also publish a GitLab project in AntFlow for users of the server's GitLab token. Neither action executes the workflow or changes its GitLab visibility automatically.

Result publication happens after processing: output files are archived and can be cataloged in STAC. Disabling cataloging does not by itself disable file uploads. See Results and publication.

Repeating and retrying¶

Submitting edited inputs creates a new job. Retrying a failed job through AntFlow's retry operation reuses its job ID and execution content, subject to the configured retry window. It is not a way to edit a previous job's inputs. See Job retries.

To follow one execution from input selection to result retrieval, use Run a workflow.