Workflow Executor Inline (v0.6.6)

Execute looplia workflows without Task subagents. This skill is specifically designed for proxy providers (ZenMux, custom) where the Claude Agent SDK's subagent spawning doesn't work due to model name incompatibility.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• The system has injected a hint to use inline execution
• Running workflows via ZenMux or other proxy providers
• Task subagents fail with "invalid_model" errors

CRITICAL: Inline Execution (No Subagents)

DO NOT spawn Task subagents. Execute all workflow steps directly in the main context.

For each workflow step:

1. Read the skill definition using Skill tool: Skill("{step.skill}")
2. Read input file(s) if specified using Read tool
3. Execute the mission following skill instructions
4. Write JSON output to specified path using Write tool
5. Validate output (if validation rules defined)
6. Proceed to next step

---

Execution Protocol

Phase 1: Sandbox Setup

Same as standard workflow-executor:

1. Generate sandbox ID:

   {first-input-name}-{YYYY-MM-DD}-{random4chars}
   Example: video-transcript-2025-12-18-xk7m
   

2. Create folder structure:

   sandbox/{sandbox-id}/
   ├── inputs/
   │   └── {input-files}.md
   ├── outputs/
   ├── logs/
   └── validation.json
   

3. Copy input files to inputs/

Phase 2: Workflow Parsing

1. Read workflow file: workflows/{workflow-id}.md
2. Parse YAML frontmatter for steps
3. Validate each step has skill: and mission: fields
4. Build dependency graph from needs: fields

Phase 3: Inline Step Execution

Execute steps ONE AT A TIME, INLINE (no Task tool):

FOR EACH step in dependency order:
    │
    ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. INVOKE skill: Skill("{step.skill}")  │
│    → This loads skill context           │
│                                         │
│ 2. READ input file (if provided)        │
│    → Use Read tool                      │
│                                         │
│ 3. EXECUTE mission                      │
│    → Follow skill instructions          │
│    → Generate JSON output               │
│                                         │
│ 4. WRITE output file                    │
│    → Use Write tool                     │
│    → Output to step.output path         │
│                                         │
│ 5. VALIDATE output                      │
│    → Check required_fields              │
│    → Retry if failed (max 2x)           │
│                                         │
│ 6. UPDATE validation.json               │
│    → Mark step as validated: true       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │
         ▼
    NEXT STEP

Example: Inline Execution

For step:

- id: analyze-content
  skill: media-reviewer
  mission: |
    Deep analysis of video transcript. Extract key themes,
    important quotes, and narrative structure.
  input: ${{ sandbox }}/inputs/content.md
  output: ${{ sandbox }}/outputs/analysis.json
  validate:
    required_fields: [contentId, headline, keyThemes]

Inline execution sequence:

1. Invoke skill:

   Skill("media-reviewer")
   

2. Read input:

   Read("sandbox/video-2025-12-18-xk7m/inputs/content.md")
   

3. Execute mission:

   • Follow media-reviewer skill instructions
   • Analyze the content
   • Generate structured JSON output

4. Write output:

   Write("sandbox/video-2025-12-18-xk7m/outputs/analysis.json", jsonContent)
   

5. Validate:

   • Check contentId, headline, keyThemes exist
   • Update validation.json

6. Proceed to next step

---

Anti-Patterns

❌ WRONG - Spawning Task subagents:

{
  "subagent_type": "workflow-step",
  "description": "Execute step...",
  "prompt": "..."
}

Task subagents don't work with proxy providers.

❌ WRONG - Batching all steps: Execute all steps at once without validation between them.

✅ CORRECT - Inline step-by-step:

1. Skill("media-reviewer")
2. Read input
3. Execute mission
4. Write output
5. Validate
6. Proceed to next

---

Variable Substitution

Same as standard workflow-executor:

Variable	Resolution
${{ sandbox }}	sandbox/{sandbox-id}
${{ inputs.{name} }}	sandbox/{id}/inputs/{name}.md
${{ steps.{id}.output }}	Output path of step {id}

---

Error Handling

Scenario	Action
Workflow not found	Error with available workflows
Step missing skill:	Error: "Step missing required 'skill' field"
Step missing mission:	Error: "Step missing required 'mission' field"
Validation fails	Retry inline with feedback (max 2 retries)
Max retries exceeded	Report failure with details

---

Key Differences from Standard workflow-executor

Aspect	workflow-executor	workflow-executor-inline
Execution	Task subagent per step	Inline in main context
Context	Isolated per step	Shared main context
Provider Support	Anthropic Direct only	All providers
Use Case	Production (Anthropic)	Proxy providers (ZenMux)

---

Version History

• v0.6.6: Created for ZenMux cross-provider compatibility