User guide¶
Use AntFlow to run scientific workflows, inspect results, and publish workflows for others to use. You need the address of your AntFlow website and an account with access to the projects you want to use.
Run a workflow¶
Follow Run a workflow to choose a workflow, enter its input data, choose where it will run, and start it. Each run is called a job. The guide also covers checking progress, retrieving results, and reusing inputs from a previous run. You do not need to write code or install AntFlow.
Access the API¶
The API lets you use AntFlow from scripts instead of the web interface. This optional path uses a terminal and command-line tools.
Follow Access the API to set the server address and a token that authorizes your requests, then verify access. Next, run a workflow through the API from the same terminal session. Use the API reference to look up requests, responses, and their fields.
Manage workflow secrets¶
Some workflows need a password or access token for another service. On instances using Keycloak, manage workflow secrets to store these values in your profile's encrypted secret store, called the vault. Select an entry's name when running a workflow instead of entering the secret value in the form.
Publish a workflow¶
If you want to make your own workflow available to others, follow Publish a workflow to validate a CWL application package, prepare its runtime images, choose an execution environment, and make the project discoverable in AntFlow.
You need working knowledge of CWL and containers and permission to push to a GitLab project. Ask your platform administrator which GitLab instance, project topic, and execution environments to use.
Tutorials¶
- Create your first workflow: turn a Python calculator into a CWL process and run it through AntFlow.
- Keep workflow results on your machine: use a local launcher without uploading result files or job logs.
- Use a secret input: check a vault credential without including its value in a result.
Access and available features¶
Your administrator decides how you sign in, which GitLab projects you can access, where workflows can run, and where results are stored. Ask them whether your instance supports workflow secrets if you need that feature.
Workflow authors maintain the package and runtime images; administrators configure repository access, result storage, and launchers. Coordinate with them when a workflow needs private images, secrets, external services, or resources not available on the platform.
Making a workflow discoverable does not require making its GitLab repository public. Publishing a project in AntFlow is a separate administrator action; see project access and publication.
If you cannot access a project or an execution environment, contact your platform administrator. To deploy or configure the platform yourself, use the Operator manual.