Workflow Orchestrator — AEM as a Cloud Service

Purpose

This is the master entry point for all AEM Workflow tasks on Cloud Service — spanning both development (building workflows) and production support (debugging and triaging workflow issues). Read this skill first. It classifies the user's request and routes to the right sub-skill.

How to Use This Skill

1. Read the user's request carefully
2. Classify it using the Task Classifier table below
3. Load the identified sub-skill's SKILL.md and its references
4. For development tasks, always load the workflow-foundation references alongside the sub-skill references
5. For production-support tasks, the debugging and triaging skills are self-contained

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Task Classifier

Development Skills

User Says / Asks	Sub-Skill to Load
"Create a workflow model", "Add steps to a workflow", "Design an OR split", "I need a parallel review"	workflow-model-design
"Implement a custom process step", "Write a WorkflowProcess", "Create a ParticipantStepChooser", "Dynamic participant"	workflow-development
"Start a workflow from code", "Trigger a workflow via API", "Use Manage Publication with a workflow", "HTTP REST API to start a workflow"	workflow-triggering
"Configure a launcher", "Auto-start on asset upload", "Launcher not firing", "cq:WorkflowLauncher", "Overlay an OOTB launcher"	workflow-launchers
"How do workflows work?", "Explain workflow architecture"	Load workflow-foundation references only

Production Support Skills

User Says / Asks	Sub-Skill to Load
"Workflow is stuck", "Why isn't my workflow advancing?", "No work item", "Workflow failed", "Step shows error"	workflow-debugging
"Task not in Inbox", "User can't see work item", "Permissions error on workflow"	workflow-debugging
"Thread pool exhausted", "Auto-advancement not working", "Queue backlog", "Sling Jobs stuck"	workflow-debugging
"Repository bloat", "Too many workflow instances", "Purge not working", "Stale workflows"	workflow-debugging
"What workflow errors on host X?", "Workflow activity for the past N hours", "What should I collect?"	workflow-triaging
"Classify this workflow ticket", "What Splunk query should I use?", "What logs do I need?"	workflow-triaging
"Why did workflow X fail? Show me the error.", "Failure details for model Y"	workflow-triaging

Routing heuristic:

• Building/implementing workflows → development skills (workflow-model-design, workflow-development, workflow-triggering, workflow-launchers)
• Deep troubleshooting (decision trees, config checks, thread analysis, remediation) → workflow-debugging
• Incident classification (symptom → runbook, log patterns, Splunk, data gathering) → workflow-triaging
• When both debugging and triaging apply, start with workflow-triaging to classify, then workflow-debugging for resolution

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Reference Loading Order

For every workflow task on Cloud Service, load in this order:

Step 1: Always load these foundation references

workflow-orchestrator/references/workflow-foundation/architecture-overview.md
workflow-orchestrator/references/workflow-foundation/api-reference.md
workflow-orchestrator/references/workflow-foundation/jcr-paths-reference.md
workflow-orchestrator/references/workflow-foundation/cloud-service-guardrails.md
workflow-orchestrator/references/workflow-foundation/quick-start-guide.md

Step 2: Load the sub-skill's SKILL.md

workflow-model-design/SKILL.md         ← for model design tasks
workflow-development/SKILL.md          ← for Java implementation tasks
workflow-triggering/SKILL.md           ← for start/trigger tasks
workflow-launchers/SKILL.md            ← for launcher config tasks
workflow-debugging/SKILL.md            ← for production debugging tasks
workflow-triaging/SKILL.md             ← for incident triage tasks

Step 3: Load the sub-skill's topic references

workflow-model-design:

workflow-model-design/references/workflow-model-design/step-types-catalog.md
workflow-model-design/references/workflow-model-design/model-xml-reference.md
workflow-model-design/references/workflow-model-design/model-design-patterns.md

workflow-development:

workflow-development/references/workflow-development/process-step-patterns.md
workflow-development/references/workflow-development/participant-step-patterns.md
workflow-development/references/workflow-development/variables-and-metadata.md

workflow-triggering:

workflow-triggering/references/workflow-triggering/triggering-mechanisms.md
workflow-triggering/references/workflow-triggering/programmatic-api.md

workflow-launchers:

workflow-launchers/references/workflow-launchers/launcher-config-reference.md
workflow-launchers/references/workflow-launchers/condition-patterns.md

workflow-debugging:

workflow-debugging/SKILL.md
workflow-debugging/reference.md

workflow-triaging:

workflow-triaging/SKILL.md

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Cloud Service Production Support Constraints

Constraint	Detail
No JMX	No retryFailedWorkItems, countStaleWorkflows, restartStaleWorkflows, purgeCompleted via JMX
Retry failed items	Inbox Retry only
Stale detection	Custom API/script only
Purge	Purge Scheduler (OSGi config in Git)
Log access	Cloud Manager → Environments → Logs (download / streaming)
Thread dumps	Developer Console or support request
Config changes	Code in Git + Cloud Manager pipeline deploy

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AEM Cloud Service Guardrails Summary

Before doing anything, apply these non-negotiable constraints:

Rule	Detail
/libs is immutable	Never write to /libs; use /conf/global/ or /apps/ overlays
Model design-time path	/conf/global/settings/workflow/models/<id>
Model runtime path (for API calls)	/var/workflow/models/<id>
Launcher config path	/conf/global/settings/workflow/launcher/config/
Service users	Always use workflow-process-service sub-service; never admin credentials
OSGi annotations	Use DS R6 (@Component, @Reference from org.osgi.service.component.annotations)
Deploy via	Cloud Manager pipeline — no Package Manager in production
No javax.jcr.Session.loginAdministrative	Use ResourceResolverFactory.getServiceResourceResolver()

Full detail: references/workflow-foundation/cloud-service-guardrails.md

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Quick Architecture Recap

Author tier
  │
  ├── Content Author
  │     └── triggers via: Timeline UI / Manage Publication
  │
  ├── Custom code (OSGi service / event handler / scheduler)
  │     └── triggers via: WorkflowSession.startWorkflow()
  │
  └── Workflow Launcher (cq:WorkflowLauncher)
        └── triggers via: JCR observation events
              ↓
        Granite Workflow Engine
              ↓
        Workflow Instance (/var/workflow/instances/)
              ↓
        Steps executed as Sling Jobs:
          - PROCESS step  → WorkflowProcess.execute()
          - PARTICIPANT step → inbox task for user/group
          - DYNAMIC_PARTICIPANT → ParticipantStepChooser.getParticipant()
          - OR_SPLIT → route expression evaluates to true/false
          - AND_SPLIT → parallel branches, AND_JOIN waits for all

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Common Task Patterns (End-to-End)

Pattern A: New custom approval workflow

1. Load workflow-model-design + workflow-development sub-skills
2. Design model: START → PARTICIPANT (reviewer) → PROCESS (approve/reject logic) → END
3. Implement WorkflowProcess for the approve/reject step
4. Deploy model XML to /conf/global/settings/workflow/models/
5. Deploy OSGi bundle with the process step

Pattern B: Auto-process content on upload

1. Load workflow-launchers sub-skill
2. Configure a cq:WorkflowLauncher for NODE_ADDED on the DAM path
3. Point it to your workflow model at /var/workflow/models/
4. Deploy launcher config to /conf/global/settings/workflow/launcher/config/

Pattern C: Programmatically batch-start workflows

1. Load workflow-triggering sub-skill
2. Implement WorkflowStarterService using ResourceResolverFactory + WorkflowSession
3. Map sub-service workflow-starter to workflow-process-service
4. Deploy and trigger from a Sling Scheduler or Servlet

Pattern D: "Workflow errors on host X for the past 4 hours"

1. Load workflow-triaging → classify as workflow_fails_or_shows_error
2. Suggest Splunk / Cloud Manager log search for Error executing workflow step on host + time range
3. If errors found, load workflow-debugging → map to runbook, walk decision tree
4. Return: symptom_id, runbook, evidence, remediation

Pattern E: "Workflow stuck — not advancing"

1. Load workflow-debugging → classify as workflow_stuck_not_progressing
2. Follow decision tree: check for work item → step type → specific checks
3. If thread pool suspected, guide thread dump analysis (Developer Console)
4. Return: root cause, config fix (via Git), remediation steps

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References in This Skill

references/workflow-foundation/architecture-overview.md
references/workflow-foundation/api-reference.md
references/workflow-foundation/jcr-paths-reference.md
references/workflow-foundation/cloud-service-guardrails.md
references/workflow-foundation/quick-start-guide.md