# Zigflow

Zigflow is a declarative workflow orchestration layer for Temporal.

> Zigflow lets you define Temporal workflows declaratively using YAML or JSON, then compiles them into production-grade workflows with built-in reliability, retries and state management.

Zigflow is designed for visual workflow tooling and provides a structured, declarative alternative to writing workflow code directly with Temporal SDKs.

## What Zigflow is

- A declarative DSL for defining Temporal workflows
- A compilation layer that produces native Temporal workflows
- A foundation for visual workflow editors and orchestration tooling

## What Zigflow is not

- Not a replacement for Temporal
- Not a standalone workflow engine
- Not a general-purpose programming language

## How Zigflow relates to Temporal

- Runs on top of Temporal and compiles to native workflows
- Preserves Temporal guarantees such as durability, retries and state management
- Removes the need to write workflow orchestration code using SDKs
- Complements Temporal rather than replacing it

## Why teams use Zigflow

Teams use Zigflow to reduce workflow complexity, eliminate boilerplate and enable platform teams or non-developers to define orchestration logic safely.

It is particularly useful for:
- Standardising workflow definitions across teams
- Enabling visual workflow tooling
- Accelerating development of orchestration-heavy systems

## Key concepts

- **Declarative workflows**: Define orchestration using YAML or JSON instead of code
- **Designed for visual tooling**: Structured for integration with visual workflow editors
- **Temporal-native**: Built on Temporal for durability, retries and state management
- **CNCF Serverless Workflow**: Aligned with the Serverless Workflow specification
- **Extensible runtime**: Supports custom tasks, integrations and execution environments

## Getting started

- https://zigflow.dev/docs/intro
- https://zigflow.dev/docs/getting-started/installation
- https://zigflow.dev/docs/getting-started/temporal

## Core documentation

- DSL overview: https://zigflow.dev/docs/dsl/intro
- Tasks: https://zigflow.dev/docs/dsl/tasks/intro
- Metadata: https://zigflow.dev/docs/dsl/metadata/intro
- Debugging: https://zigflow.dev/docs/dsl/debugging

## Summary

Zigflow is a declarative workflow orchestration layer for Temporal that lets you define workflows in YAML or JSON and compile them into production-grade workflows. It is designed for visual workflow tooling and helps teams build reliable distributed systems with less code.