Visibility and Search

Guidance for searching and filtering Temporal workflows using visibility features.

Visibility Overview

Temporal visibility allows searching workflows by:

• Standard attributes - Built-in fields (status, type, time)
• Custom search attributes - User-defined indexed fields

Visibility Stores

Store	Features	Use Case
Standard (SQL)	Basic queries	Development, small scale
Advanced (Elasticsearch)	Full queries, aggregations	Production, complex queries

Standard Attributes

Built-in searchable attributes:

Attribute	Type	Description
WorkflowId	Keyword	Workflow identifier
RunId	Keyword	Run identifier
WorkflowType	Keyword	Workflow function name
ExecutionStatus	Keyword	Running, Completed, Failed, etc.
StartTime	Datetime	When workflow started
CloseTime	Datetime	When workflow completed
ExecutionDuration	Int	Duration in milliseconds
TaskQueue	Keyword	Task queue name

Query Syntax

Basic Queries

-- By status
ExecutionStatus = 'Running'
ExecutionStatus = 'Failed'
ExecutionStatus = 'Completed'
ExecutionStatus = 'Terminated'
ExecutionStatus = 'TimedOut'

-- By workflow type
WorkflowType = 'OrderWorkflow'

-- By workflow ID
WorkflowId = 'order-12345'

-- By task queue
TaskQueue = 'order-processing'

Time-Based Queries

-- Started after date
StartTime > '2024-01-01T00:00:00Z'

-- Started within range
StartTime BETWEEN '2024-01-01' AND '2024-01-31'

-- Completed recently
CloseTime > '2024-01-15T00:00:00Z'

-- Long-running workflows
ExecutionDuration > 3600000  -- > 1 hour in ms

Compound Queries

-- AND conditions
WorkflowType = 'OrderWorkflow' AND ExecutionStatus = 'Failed'

-- OR conditions
ExecutionStatus = 'Failed' OR ExecutionStatus = 'TimedOut'

-- Complex combinations
(WorkflowType = 'OrderWorkflow' OR WorkflowType = 'PaymentWorkflow')
AND ExecutionStatus = 'Running'
AND StartTime > '2024-01-01'

ORDER BY

-- Order by start time (descending)
ORDER BY StartTime DESC

-- Multiple columns
ORDER BY WorkflowType ASC, StartTime DESC

CLI Usage

List with Query

# Running workflows
temporal workflow list --query "ExecutionStatus='Running'"

# Failed order workflows
temporal workflow list \
  --query "WorkflowType='OrderWorkflow' AND ExecutionStatus='Failed'"

# Recent failures
temporal workflow list \
  --query "ExecutionStatus='Failed' AND CloseTime > '2024-01-15'" \
  --limit 20

# With output format
temporal workflow list \
  --query "ExecutionStatus='Running'" \
  --output json

timelord CLI

timelord workflow list --query "ExecutionStatus='Failed'" --limit 10 --json

Custom Search Attributes

Creating Attributes

# Keyword (exact match)
temporal operator search-attribute create \
  --namespace default \
  --name CustomerId \
  --type Keyword

# Text (full-text search)
temporal operator search-attribute create \
  --namespace default \
  --name Description \
  --type Text

# Numeric types
temporal operator search-attribute create \
  --namespace default \
  --name OrderTotal \
  --type Double

temporal operator search-attribute create \
  --namespace default \
  --name ItemCount \
  --type Int

# Boolean
temporal operator search-attribute create \
  --namespace default \
  --name IsPriority \
  --type Bool

# Datetime
temporal operator search-attribute create \
  --namespace default \
  --name DueDate \
  --type Datetime

# Multiple values
temporal operator search-attribute create \
  --namespace default \
  --name Tags \
  --type KeywordList

Setting Attributes in Workflow

At workflow start:

options := client.StartWorkflowOptions{
    ID:        "order-12345",
    TaskQueue: "orders",
    SearchAttributes: map[string]interface{}{
        "CustomerId":  "cust-789",
        "OrderTotal":  99.99,
        "IsPriority":  true,
        "Tags":        []string{"electronics", "express"},
    },
}

we, err := c.ExecuteWorkflow(ctx, options, OrderWorkflow, order)

During workflow execution:

func OrderWorkflow(ctx workflow.Context, order Order) error {
    // Update search attributes
    err := workflow.UpsertSearchAttributes(ctx, map[string]interface{}{
        "OrderStatus": "processing",
        "ItemCount":   len(order.Items),
    })
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }

    // Continue workflow...
    return nil
}

Querying Custom Attributes

-- By customer
CustomerId = 'cust-789'

-- By price range
OrderTotal >= 100.00 AND OrderTotal < 500.00

-- By priority
IsPriority = true

-- By tags (KeywordList)
Tags = 'electronics'

-- Combining standard and custom
WorkflowType = 'OrderWorkflow'
AND CustomerId = 'cust-789'
AND ExecutionStatus = 'Running'

Common Query Patterns

Debugging Queries

-- All failed workflows today
ExecutionStatus = 'Failed'
AND CloseTime > '2024-01-15T00:00:00Z'

-- Stuck workflows (running for > 1 hour)
ExecutionStatus = 'Running'
AND StartTime < '2024-01-15T10:00:00Z'

-- Terminated workflows
ExecutionStatus = 'Terminated'
AND CloseTime > '2024-01-14'

Business Queries

-- High-value orders
OrderTotal > 1000 AND ExecutionStatus = 'Running'

-- Customer's workflows
CustomerId = 'cust-123'

-- Priority items due soon
IsPriority = true AND DueDate < '2024-01-16'

-- Orders by region
Region = 'US-WEST' AND WorkflowType = 'OrderWorkflow'

Operations Queries

-- Workflows on specific task queue
TaskQueue = 'critical-processing'

-- Long-running workflows
ExecutionDuration > 86400000  -- > 1 day

-- Workflows started by specific service
InitiatingService = 'api-gateway'

Elasticsearch Setup

Why Elasticsearch?

Feature	Standard SQL	Elasticsearch
Basic queries	✓	✓
ORDER BY	Limited	✓
COUNT queries	Limited	✓
Full-text search	✗	✓
Aggregations	✗	✓
Performance at scale	Limited	Excellent

Configuration

Helm values for Elasticsearch:

elasticsearch:
  enabled: true
  replicas: 3

server:
  config:
    persistence:
      advancedVisibilityStore: es-visibility

Verification

# Check visibility store
temporal operator cluster describe

# Verify search attributes
temporal operator search-attribute list

Best Practices

Search Attribute Design

Do	Don't
Index frequently queried fields	Index everything
Use appropriate types	Store JSON as Keyword
Plan attributes upfront	Add attributes ad-hoc
Keep names consistent	Use inconsistent naming

Query Optimization

Do	Don't
Use indexed fields	Scan all workflows
Add time bounds	Open-ended time queries
Limit results	Fetch unlimited rows
Use specific conditions	Use OR excessively

Naming Conventions

CustomerId       # Keyword - entity reference
OrderTotal       # Double - numeric value
IsPriority       # Bool - flag
ProcessingStage  # Keyword - enum value
Tags             # KeywordList - multiple values
Description      # Text - searchable content
DueDate          # Datetime - temporal value

Troubleshooting

Query Returns No Results

• Check attribute exists: temporal operator search-attribute list
• Verify attribute type matches query
• Check time zone in datetime queries
• Verify workflow actually set the attribute

Slow Queries

• Add time bounds to queries
• Reduce result limits
• Use more specific conditions
• Consider Elasticsearch for complex queries

Attribute Not Searchable

• Confirm attribute was created before workflow started
• Verify attribute name spelling
• Check namespace context

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For detailed search patterns, consult:

• references/query-examples.md - Common query patterns
• references/elasticsearch-setup.md - Advanced ES configuration