Durably execute workflows in Convex

workflowskillsetup L4★0

What it does

Durably execute long-lived workflows with pause/resume semantics

Best for

Building multi-step, asynchronous operations (onboarding, order fulfillment, polling) that can survive server restarts without consuming resources during wait periods.

Inputs

· Workflow handler function with step definitions
· Workflow arguments (type-safe)

Outputs

· Workflow completion result
· Step execution history
· Live reactive status query results

Requires

· Convex backend (database, queries, mutations, actions)
· @convex-dev/workflow package
· Workpool (parallelism control)

Preconditions

· Convex project initialized with workflow component installed
· Workflow handler defined with step.runQuery/runMutation/runAction/sleep/awaitEvent calls

Failure modes

· Step fails and no retry policy configured
· Non-deterministic code in handler (console.log patched, fetch blocked)
· Workflow exceeds resource limits during long sleep
· Event never arrives (awaitEvent blocks indefinitely)

Trust signals

· Determinism constraints documented (Date, crypto, fetch patched/blocked)
· Exactly-once mutation execution guarantee stated
· Step output carries through local variables and loops