Slickflow

March 3, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

Current Version: NET8

1. ๐Ÿค– AI-Powered Workflow Automation

SlickFlow: Intelligent Workflow Automation with Large Language Models

Slickflow integrates cutting-edge Large Language Model (LLM) nodes directly into BPMN workflows, enabling advanced conversational reasoning, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), image understanding and other AI capabilities as first-class workflow steps.
This transforms traditional workflow systems into dynamic, AI-driven orchestration platforms.

1.1 Native LLM Node Integration

  • Add LLM / RAG / Agent nodes into your process diagrams as easily as traditional service tasks.
  • Orchestrate multi-step AI pipelines: prompt construction, tool calls, knowledge base retrieval, post-processing, persistence, notification, etc.

1.2 Multi-Provider LLM Support

Flexible integration with leading AI services:

  • OpenAI API (GPT-4, GPT-3.5, and beyond)
  • QianWen (Alibabaโ€™s large language model)
  • Extensible architecture for additional providers (DeepSeek, custom gateways, etc.)

1.3 Image Understanding & RAG

  • Image classification & analysis directly through LLM nodes
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): combine vector search / knowledge bases with LLM reasoning to provide grounded, up-to-date answers

1.4 AI Feature Reference

1.5 AI Demo (Key GIF)

AI Image Classification Process Demo
AI Image Classification Demo

2. ๐Ÿš€ Code-Defined Auto-Execution Engine

Besides designer-based processes, Slickflow provides a code-first auto-execution model based on Slickflow.Graph and WorkflowExecutor.
You can define workflows in C#, run them fully in memory, and let the engine automatically execute all steps without human interaction.

2.1 Code-First Workflow Definition

Use Slickflow.Graph.Model.Workflow to build BPMN-style flows programmatically:

using Slickflow.Graph.Model;

var wf = new Workflow("Order Process", "OrderProcess_Code");

wf.Start("Start")
  .ServiceTask("Validate Order", "Validate001", "ValidateOrder")   // LocalMethod
  .ServiceTask("Calculate Amount", "Calc001", "CalcAmount")       // LocalMethod
  .RagService("RAG Reply", "RAG001")                              // RAG AI node
  .LlmService("LLM Enrich", "LLM001")                             // General LLM node
  .ServiceTask<SaveOrderService>("Save Order", "Save001")         // Local service class
  .End("End");

Key points:

  • Workflow supports rich node types: Start, Task, ServiceTask, RagService, LlmService, Agent, Parallels, Branch, End, etc.
  • BuildInMemory() produces an in-memory ProcessEntity without touching the database.
  • WorkflowExecutorExtensions.UseProcess(Workflow) binds this in-memory model to the runtime engine and caches it by ProcessId:Version.

2.2 Auto-Execution with WorkflowExecutor

Auto-execution loop (conceptual):

  1. Start the process and create an instance.
  2. While there are executable activities:
    • Collect next activities.
    • Execute each activity (local method, service class, AI/RAG/LLM, external API, etc.).
    • Move the process forward to the next activity.
  3. Return execution result (status, message, variables, AI response, etc.).

Typical code pattern:

using Slickflow.Engine.Executor;
using Slickflow.Engine.Core.Result;

var result = await new WorkflowExecutor()
    .UseApp("OrderApp-001", "OrderApp")
    .UseProcess(wf)                      // Use code-defined workflow
    .AddVariable("OrderId", "ORD-2025-001")
    .AddVariable("Quantity", "3")
    .AddVariable("UnitPrice", "99.50")
    .Run();

This mode is ideal for:

  • ETL and data pipelines
  • Backend batch / microservice orchestration
  • AI agents and chat workflows
  • Unit tests and demos (no DB dependency)

2.3 Engine Capabilities (.NET8 Core)

  • .NET, cross-platform: works on Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • BPMN2-style diagrams with an HTML5 designer for visual modeling.
  • High performance with Dapper.NET micro-ORM.
  • Multi-database support: SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL and others (via Dapper / EF Core).

3. โœ… Human Approval Workflows (BPM)

On top of AI and auto-execution, Slickflow remains a full-featured human-centric workflow engine for traditional BPM scenarios: approvals, reviews, multi-level routing, etc.

3.1 Workflow Patterns (Key GIFs/Images)

Supported patterns (BPMN-style):

Workflow Pattern

  • Sequence โ€“ the most common pattern
  • Split / Merge โ€“ AND / OR gateways with conditions on transitions
  • Sub-process โ€“ start a child process from the main flow
  • Multi-instance โ€“ multiple performers handle the same task (sequence or parallel), with count/percentage thresholds

Multiple Instance Pattern

3.2 Core Human-Task Operations (Brief)

Slickflow manages human tasks with features such as:

  • Start / Run โ€“ launch and move a process instance to the next step
  • Withdraw โ€“ pull back a task you just sent to the next user
  • SendBack โ€“ send a task back to the previous step
  • Resend / Reverse / Jump โ€“ advanced control for exception handling and special routing

Code style (simplified):

// Start a process instance
IWorkflowService wfService = new WorkflowService();
var startResult = wfService.CreateRunner("10", "Jack")
    .UseApp("DS-100", "Book-Order", "DS-100-LX")
    .UseProcess("PriceProcessCode")
    .Start();

// Run to next step
var runResult = wfService.CreateRunner("10", "Jack")
    .UseApp("DS-100", "Book-Order", "DS-100-LX")
    .UseProcess("PriceProcessCode")
    .NextStepInt("20", "Alice")
    .Run();

3.3 Code-Style Modeling for Human Approval

You can also define simple approval processes purely in code (sequence example) using Workflow:

using Slickflow.Graph.Model;

// create a simple sequence process diagram by hand code rather than an HTML designer
var wf = new Workflow("simple-process-name", "simple-process-code");

wf.Start("Start")
  .Task("Task1")
  .Task("Task2")
  .End("End");

simple sequence diagram

This gives developers both designer-based and code-based options for modeling human approval workflows.

4. ๐Ÿ“ฆ Demos, Target Users and License

4.1 Demo Projects

  • WebDemo, MvcDemo, WinformDemo โ€“ example integration with different enterprise application types.

4.2 Target Users

  • Software teams or companies who want to embed a workflow engine into their products.
  • Developers who prefer combining AI orchestration, auto-execution, and human approval in one engine.

4.3 License & Support

  • License: Slickflow follows the MIT open source license and can be used in commercial projects.
  • Technical Support: Enterprise, Ultimate and Universe editions can be provided with technical support and upgrade services.

If you have any further inquiry, please feel free to contact:

5. ๐Ÿ“š Resources & Docker Deployment

5.1 Documentation

5.2 Wiki

5.3 CodeProject Articles

5.4 Official Website

5.5 Online Demo

5.6 Docker Hub

Pre-built Docker images are available on Docker Hub. Get started in minutes without building from source.

The easiest way to get started โ€“ pull one image and run all three services:

docker pull besley2096/slickflow-all:latest
docker run -d \
  -p 5000:5000 \
  -p 5001:5001 \
  -p 8090:8090 \
  -e WfDBConnectionType=PGSQL \
  -e WfDBConnectionString="Server=host.docker.internal;Port=5432;Database=wfdbbpmn2;User Id=postgres;Password=your-password;TimeZone=UTC;" \
  --name slickflow-all \
  besley2096/slickflow-all:latest

Access:

Docker Hub: https://hub.docker.com/r/besley2096/slickflow-all

Separate Images

For better isolation and scaling, use separate images:

Backend API

docker pull besley2096/slickflow-api:latest
docker run -d -p 5000:5000 \
  -e WfDBConnectionType=PGSQL \
  -e WfDBConnectionString="Server=host.docker.internal;Port=5432;Database=wfdbbpmn2;User Id=postgres;Password=your-password;TimeZone=UTC;" \
  --name slickflow-api \
  besley2096/slickflow-api:latest

Frontend Designer

docker pull besley2096/slickflow-designer:latest
docker run -d -p 8090:8090 \
  --name slickflow-designer \
  besley2096/slickflow-designer:latest

WebTest

docker pull besley2096/slickflow-webtest:latest
docker run -d -p 5001:5001 \
  -e WfDBConnectionType=PGSQL \
  -e WfDBConnectionString="Server=host.docker.internal;Port=5432;Database=wfdbbpmn2;User Id=postgres;Password=your-password;TimeZone=UTC;" \
  --name slickflow-webtest \
  besley2096/slickflow-webtest:latest

Docker Compose

Use docker-compose.hub.yml from this repository:

docker-compose -f docker-compose.hub.yml pull
docker-compose -f docker-compose.hub.yml up -d

Image Tags

Available tags for each image:

  • latest โ€“ Latest stable version
  • v3.5.0 โ€“ Version 3.5.0

Database Configuration

API and WebTest containers require database configuration. Supported databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle.

Database on Host Machine

-e WfDBConnectionString="Server=host.docker.internal;Port=5432;Database=wfdbbpmn2;User Id=postgres;Password=your-password;TimeZone=UTC;"

Database in Docker Container

-e WfDBConnectionString="Server=postgres;Port=5432;Database=wfdbbpmn2;User Id=postgres;Password=your-password;TimeZone=UTC;"

Remote Database

-e WfDBConnectionString="Server=192.168.1.100;Port=5432;Database=wfdbbpmn2;User Id=postgres;Password=your-password;TimeZone=UTC;"

6. ๐Ÿ“ž Contact & ๐Ÿ’ฐ Donation

6.1 Contact

6.2 Donation

Your donation will be used for the continuous research and development of the product and community building.
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