Adapters

Adapters make Workflow infrastructure-agnostic by providing standardised interfaces for different technology stacks. This guide explains how adapters work, which ones are available, and how to choose the right combination for your needs.

💡 Getting Started with SQL? Check out the Database Setup Guide for complete MariaDB/MySQL and PostgreSQL setup instructions with connection strings, schema creation, and performance tuning.

Adapter Architecture

Workflow uses the adapter pattern to decouple core workflow logic from infrastructure concerns. Each adapter type serves a specific purpose:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Workflow Core                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  EventStreamer  │  RecordStore  │ RoleScheduler │ TimeoutStore │
│     Interface   │   Interface   │   Interface   │   Interface  │
├─────────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼──────────────┤
│ • Kafka         │ • PostgreSQL  │ • Rink        │ • SQL        │
│ • Reflex        │ • MySQL       │ • etcd        │ • Redis      │
│ • Memory        │ • Memory      │ • Memory      │ • Memory     │
└─────────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┴──────────────┘

Core Adapter Types

EventStreamer

Purpose: Publish and consume workflow events for step coordination.

Interface:

type EventStreamer interface {
    NewSender(ctx context.Context, topic string) (EventSender, error)
    NewReceiver(ctx context.Context, topic string, name string, opts ...ReceiverOption) (EventReceiver, error)
}

type EventSender interface {
    Send(ctx context.Context, foreignID string, statusType int, headers map[Header]string) error
    Close() error
}

type EventReceiver interface {
    Recv(ctx context.Context) (*Event, Ack, error)
    Close() error
}

Available Adapters:

Adapter	Use Case	Install
kafkastreamer	Production event streaming	go get github.com/luno/workflow/adapters/kafkastreamer
reflexstreamer	Luno's Reflex event sourcing	go get github.com/luno/workflow/adapters/reflexstreamer
memstreamer	Development and testing	Built-in

Example:

// Kafka for production
kafkaConfig := sarama.NewConfig()
kafkaConfig.Producer.RequiredAcks = sarama.WaitForAll
streamer := kafkastreamer.New([]string{"kafka:9092"}, kafkaConfig)

// Memory for development
streamer := memstreamer.New()

RecordStore

Purpose: Persist workflow run state with transactional guarantees.

Interface:

type RecordStore interface {
    Store(ctx context.Context, record *Record) error
    Lookup(ctx context.Context, runID string) (*Record, error)
    Latest(ctx context.Context, workflowName, foreignID string) (*Record, error)
    List(ctx context.Context, workflowName string, offsetID int64, limit int, order OrderType, filters ...RecordFilter) ([]Record, error)

    // Outbox pattern support
    ListOutboxEvents(ctx context.Context, workflowName string, limit int64) ([]OutboxEvent, error)
    DeleteOutboxEvent(ctx context.Context, id string) error
}

Available Adapters:

Adapter	Use Case	Install
sqlstore	Production with SQL databases	go get github.com/luno/workflow/adapters/sqlstore
memrecordstore	Development and testing	Built-in

Requirements:

• ACID Transactions: Required for transactional outbox pattern
• Query Support: Must support filtering, sorting, and pagination
• Schema Management: Must handle workflow schema evolution

Example:

// PostgreSQL for production
db, err := sql.Open("postgres", "postgres://user:pass@host/db")
store := sqlstore.New(db, db, "workflow_records", "workflow_outbox")

// MariaDB/MySQL for production
db, err := sql.Open("mysql", "user:pass@tcp(localhost:3306)/workflow_db?parseTime=true")
store := sqlstore.New(db, db, "workflow_records", "workflow_outbox")

// Memory for development
store := memrecordstore.New()

RoleScheduler

Purpose: Coordinate distributed execution ensuring only one instance of each role runs at a time.

Interface:

type RoleScheduler interface {
    Await(ctx context.Context, role string) (context.Context, context.CancelFunc, error)
}

Available Adapters:

Adapter	Use Case	Install
rinkrolescheduler	Production distributed coordination	go get github.com/luno/workflow/adapters/rinkrolescheduler
memrolescheduler	Single-instance development	Built-in

Example:

// Rink for production distributed systems
rinkConfig := rink.Config{
    Endpoints: []string{"rink-1:8080", "rink-2:8080"},
}
scheduler := rinkrolescheduler.New(rinkConfig)

// Memory for single instance
scheduler := memrolescheduler.New()

TimeoutStore (Optional)

Purpose: Schedule durable timeouts that survive process restarts.

Interface:

type TimeoutStore interface {
    Store(ctx context.Context, timeout Timeout) error
    List(ctx context.Context, workflowName string, status Status) ([]Timeout, error)
    Complete(ctx context.Context, id string) error
}

Available Adapters:

Adapter	Use Case	Install
sqltimeout	Production durable timeouts	go get github.com/luno/workflow/adapters/sqltimeout
memtimeoutstore	Development and testing	Built-in

Example:

// SQL for production
timeoutStore := sqltimeout.New(db)

// Built with timeout support
wf := b.Build(
    eventStreamer, recordStore, roleScheduler,
    workflow.WithTimeoutStore(timeoutStore),
)

Deployment Patterns

Development

Goal: Fast feedback, easy debugging, minimal setup.

func NewDevelopmentWorkflow() *workflow.Workflow[Order, OrderStatus] {
    return b.Build(
        memstreamer.New(),
        memrecordstore.New(),
        memrolescheduler.New(),
        // No timeout store needed for development
    )
}

Characteristics:

• ✅ Zero infrastructure dependencies
• ✅ Fast startup/teardown
• ✅ Perfect for unit tests
• ❌ No persistence across restarts
• ❌ Single instance only

Staging

Goal: Production-like environment for integration testing.

func NewStagingWorkflow() *workflow.Workflow[Order, OrderStatus] {
    db := setupDatabase()

    return b.Build(
        kafkastreamer.New(kafkaBrokers, kafkaConfig),
        sqlstore.New(db, "workflow_records", "workflow_outbox"),
        rinkrolescheduler.New(rinkConfig),
        workflow.WithTimeoutStore(sqltimeout.New(db)),
    )
}

Characteristics:

• ✅ Full production adapters
• ✅ Persistent storage
• ✅ Multi-instance testing
• ⚠️ Shared infrastructure with other services

Production

Goal: Maximum reliability, scalability, and observability.

func NewProductionWorkflow() *workflow.Workflow[Order, OrderStatus] {
    // Production database with connection pooling
    db := setupProductionDB()

    // Kafka with optimal configuration
    kafkaConfig := &sarama.Config{
        Producer.RequiredAcks: sarama.WaitForAll,
        Producer.Retry.Max: 5,
        Consumer.Group.Rebalance.Strategy: sarama.BalanceStrategyRoundRobin,
    }

    return b.Build(
        kafkastreamer.New(kafkaBrokers, kafkaConfig),
        sqlstore.New(db, "workflow_records", "workflow_outbox"),
        rinkrolescheduler.New(rinkConfig),
        workflow.WithTimeoutStore(sqltimeout.New(db)),
        workflow.WithDefaultOptions(
            workflow.ParallelCount(5),
            workflow.ErrBackOff(time.Minute),
            workflow.PauseAfterErrCount(3),
        ),
    )
}

Adapter Testing

All adapter implementations should be tested using the provided adapter test suites:

EventStreamer Testing

func TestMyEventStreamer(t *testing.T) {
    streamer := myeventstreamer.New(config)
    adaptertest.TestEventStreamer(t, streamer)
}

RecordStore Testing

func TestMyRecordStore(t *testing.T) {
    store := myrecordstore.New(config)
    adaptertest.RunRecordStoreTest(t, store)
}

RoleScheduler Testing

func TestMyRoleScheduler(t *testing.T) {
    scheduler := myrolescheduler.New(config)
    adaptertest.RunRoleSchedulerTest(t, scheduler)
}

Building Custom Adapters

Custom EventStreamer

type MyEventStreamer struct {
    config Config
}

func (s *MyEventStreamer) NewSender(ctx context.Context, topic string) (workflow.EventSender, error) {
    return &MySender{
        client: s.client,
        topic:  topic,
    }, nil
}

func (s *MyEventStreamer) NewReceiver(ctx context.Context, topic string, name string, opts ...workflow.ReceiverOption) (workflow.EventReceiver, error) {
    return &MyReceiver{
        client:    s.client,
        topic:     topic,
        groupName: name,
    }, nil
}

type MySender struct {
    client MyClient
    topic  string
}

func (s *MySender) Send(ctx context.Context, foreignID string, statusType int, headers map[workflow.Header]string) error {
    return s.client.Publish(ctx, s.topic, foreignID, statusType, headers)
}

func (s *MySender) Close() error {
    return s.client.Close()
}

type MyReceiver struct {
    client    MyClient
    topic     string
    groupName string
}

func (r *MyReceiver) Recv(ctx context.Context) (*workflow.Event, workflow.Ack, error) {
    msg, err := r.client.PollMessage(ctx, r.topic, r.groupName)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, nil, err
    }

    event := &workflow.Event{
        ID:        msg.ID,
        ForeignID: msg.ForeignID,
        Type:      msg.Type,
        // ... map other fields
    }

    ack := func() error {
        return r.client.AckMessage(ctx, msg.ID)
    }

    return event, ack, nil
}

func (r *MyReceiver) Close() error {
    return r.client.Close()
}

Custom RecordStore

type MyRecordStore struct {
    db MyDatabase
}

func (s *MyRecordStore) Store(ctx context.Context, record *workflow.Record) error {
    tx, err := s.db.BeginTx(ctx)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer tx.Rollback()

    // Store the record
    if err := s.storeRecord(tx, record); err != nil {
        return err
    }

    // Store outbox events
    if err := s.storeOutboxEvents(tx, record.OutboxEvents); err != nil {
        return err
    }

    return tx.Commit()
}

func (s *MyRecordStore) Lookup(ctx context.Context, runID string) (*workflow.Record, error) {
    // Query record by run ID
    row := s.db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT ... FROM records WHERE run_id = ?", runID)
    return s.scanRecord(row)
}

// Implement other interface methods...

Performance Tuning

Kafka Configuration

kafkaConfig := &sarama.Config{
    // Producer settings
    Producer.RequiredAcks:        sarama.WaitForAll,  // Durability
    Producer.Retry.Max:           5,                   // Retries
    Producer.Flush.Frequency:     100 * time.Millisecond, // Batching
    Producer.Flush.Messages:      100,                // Batch size
    Producer.Compression:         sarama.CompressionSnappy, // Compression

    // Consumer settings
    Consumer.Offsets.Initial:     sarama.OffsetOldest, // Start from beginning
    Consumer.Fetch.Min:           1024,               // Min fetch size
    Consumer.Fetch.Max:           1024 * 1024,        // Max fetch size
    Consumer.Group.Heartbeat.Interval: 3 * time.Second, // Heartbeat
    Consumer.Group.Session.Timeout:    10 * time.Second, // Session timeout
}

Database Optimization

-- Indexes for workflow_records
CREATE INDEX idx_workflow_records_workflow_foreign ON workflow_records(workflow_name, foreign_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_workflow_records_status ON workflow_records(workflow_name, status);
CREATE INDEX idx_workflow_records_run_state ON workflow_records(run_state);
CREATE INDEX idx_workflow_records_updated_at ON workflow_records(updated_at);

-- Indexes for workflow_outbox
CREATE INDEX idx_workflow_outbox_workflow_created ON workflow_outbox(workflow_name, created_at);

-- Connection pool settings
max_connections = 100
shared_buffers = '256MB'
effective_cache_size = '1GB'

Memory Management

// Configure workflow options for memory efficiency
workflow.WithDefaultOptions(
    workflow.ParallelCount(5),                     // Don't over-parallelize
    workflow.PollingFrequency(500*time.Millisecond), // Reduce polling frequency
    workflow.ErrBackOff(time.Minute),             // Longer backoff reduces load
)

Monitoring Adapters

Some adapters provide additional monitoring capabilities:

WebUI Adapter

import "github.com/luno/workflow/adapters/webui"

// Add HTTP handlers for workflow monitoring
http.Handle("/", webui.HomeHandlerFunc(webui.Paths{
    List:       "/api/list",
    ObjectData: "/api/object",
}))
http.HandleFunc("/api/list", webui.ListHandlerFunc(recordStore))
http.HandleFunc("/api/object", webui.ObjectDataHandlerFunc(recordStore))

Logging Adapter

import "github.com/luno/workflow/adapters/jlog"

// Use structured logging
logger := jlog.New()
wf := b.Build(
    eventStreamer, recordStore, roleScheduler,
    workflow.WithLogger(logger),
)

Migration Between Adapters

Development to Production

1. Replace adapters in build configuration
2. Migrate data if needed (usually not, since development uses memory)
3. Update configuration for production settings
4. Test thoroughly with production-like load

Changing Event Streamers

1. Deploy new version with new adapter
2. Let existing events drain from old system
3. Switch traffic to new system
4. Decommission old system

Database Migration

1. Schema changes: Use migration scripts
2. Data migration: Export/import if changing database types
3. Zero-downtime: Use blue/green deployment pattern

Best Practices

1. Use production adapters in staging: Catch integration issues early
2. Test adapter combinations: Some combinations may have unexpected behavior
3. Monitor adapter performance: Each adapter adds latency and failure points
4. Keep adapters updated: Security and performance improvements
5. Implement health checks: Verify adapter connectivity and performance
6. Plan for failure: What happens if an adapter becomes unavailable?

Adapters are the foundation of Workflow's flexibility. Choose the right combination for your needs and scale them as your requirements grow.

Next Steps

• Configuration - Tune adapter and workflow performance
• Deployment - Production deployment patterns
• Monitoring - Monitor adapter health and performance