Lifecycle

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A TriggerFlow execution moves through three states. Five entry APIs let you control how it starts and ends.

Three states

   open  ──seal()──►  sealed  ──close()──►  closed
    │                                            │
    └─── (auto_close fires after idle timeout) ──┘

State	What it accepts	What still runs
open	new external events (emit, continue_with)	everything: chunks, runtime stream, registered tasks
sealed	nothing new from outside	already-accepted events, internal emit chains, registered tasks continue to drain
closed	nothing	runtime stream is closed; close snapshot is frozen

Key distinction: seal() stops external input but lets in-flight work finish. close() does seal first, then drains and freezes.

Five entry APIs

API	Purpose	Returns
flow.start(...) / flow.async_start(...)	hidden-execution sugar; create + start + wait + close	close snapshot
flow.start_execution(...) / flow.async_start_execution(...)	explicit launch; you keep the execution handle	execution
execution.start(...) / execution.async_start(...)	start an execution you already created	close snapshot if auto_close=True; execution if auto_close=False
execution.seal() / execution.async_seal()	runtime seal	—
execution.close() / execution.async_close()	finalize	close snapshot

flow.start(...) — hidden sugar

snapshot = await flow.async_start("input value")

What it does internally: create_execution(auto_close=True, auto_close_timeout=0.0), start, wait until close, return snapshot.

Rules:

• auto_close=False is illegal here — raises immediately.
• wait_for_result= value is ignored with a warning. Return type is fixed to the close snapshot.
• timeout= is treated as auto_close_timeout — how long to wait after the last activity before auto-closing.
• If your flow uses pause_for(...), do not use flow.start() — there is no handle for the outside to resume against. TriggerFlow fails fast when hidden execution sugar reaches pause_for(...). Use flow.start_execution(...) or flow.create_execution(...).

flow.start_execution(...) — explicit launch

execution = await flow.async_start_execution("input value")
# ... do something with the handle ...
snapshot = await execution.async_close()

Returns the execution. You decide when to close. Suited for services, SSE/WebSocket streams, human-in-the-loop, external emit() callers.

wait_for_result= is ignored here too.

execution.start(...) — start a pre-built execution

execution = flow.create_execution(auto_close=True)
snapshot = await execution.async_start("input")  # returns close snapshot

execution = flow.create_execution(auto_close=False)
exec2 = await execution.async_start("input")  # returns the execution
# ... do work, then ...
snapshot = await execution.async_close()

auto_close	async_start returns
True (default)	close snapshot
False	the execution itself

Sync start() only supports auto_close=True. If your execution must be manually closed, use await execution.async_start(...) instead.

The value passed to execution.async_start(value) is the execution's start input. It does not emit a custom event named by that value. Attach chunks that should run from the start boundary with flow.to(handler, name=...). If you want a custom event such as "start", start the execution and then call await execution.async_emit("start", payload).

execution.seal() — stop new input, let in-flight finish

await execution.async_seal()

After seal:

• New external emit() / continue_with() calls are rejected.
• Already-accepted events, internal emit chains, and registered tasks keep running.
• Runtime stream is not closed.
• Close snapshot is not frozen yet.

Use seal when you want to stop accepting new work but still finish what's in flight, and you'll close later (or let auto_close close it).

execution.close() — finalize and return snapshot

snapshot = await execution.async_close()

What close does, in order:

1. seal (if not already sealed)
2. drain pending tasks
3. close the runtime stream
4. freeze and return the close snapshot

timeout= on close is the drain timeout — the maximum wait for in-flight tasks before forcing the close. It is not the auto-close timer.

auto_close and auto_close_timeout

auto_close=True (the default for create_execution) means the execution will close itself after auto_close_timeout seconds of being idle — no chunks running, no events to process, no pending pause.

Source	Default auto_close_timeout
flow.create_execution(...)	10.0 seconds
flow.start(...) / flow.async_start(...) (hidden sugar)	0.0 seconds (close as soon as idle)

pause_for(...) pauses the auto-close timer. After continue_with(...), the idle timer starts fresh.

close() / async_close() reject pending interrupts by default. Resume them first, or explicitly cancel them with pending_interrupts="cancel" when shutdown should abandon the wait.

Close also releases execution-local transient aggregation state such as partial when(mode="and"), batch, collect, for_each, and match bookkeeping. These scratch keys are not part of the durable close snapshot.

auto_close_timeout=None disables auto-close — the execution stays alive until you call close() explicitly. Don't combine auto_close_timeout=None with hidden sugar — flow.start() would never return.

Execution snapshot and load

execution.save() returns a serializable execution snapshot. For restart-safe and host-managed recovery paths, that snapshot is the versioned top-level TriggerFlow recovery contract:

saved = execution.save()

The execution snapshot records:

• schema_version, kind, snapshot_id, and state_version.
• execution identity, flow name, run context, lifecycle/status, owner, heartbeat, and lease fields.
• runtime state, flow data, pending interrupts, intervention ledger, sub-flow frames, last signal, and compatible result state.
• durable_system_state: TriggerFlow-owned progress that must survive open/waiting execution load, such as partial when(mode="and") aggregation state.
• resource_requirements: live resource keys and execution-environment requirements needed before the restored graph can safely continue.
• resume_ledger: accepted continue_with(..., resume_request_id=...) requests so an external resume retry does not dispatch the graph twice.

Live resource objects are not serialized. runtime_resources, managed execution-environment handles, clients, callbacks, and other live objects remain outside the saved state. runtime_resources is only the mount point for live objects that the host has already created, restored, and validated.

Declare resources that a future resumed chunk will need. TriggerFlow can record resources that are already mounted, but it cannot infer a resource used only by a later branch unless you declare it:

flow.declare_resource_requirement("resume_service")

Workers that can import the same resource factory can persist a resolver descriptor instead of passing the live object manually on every restart:

flow.declare_resource_requirement(
    "resume_service",
    resolver="my_app.runtime_resources:create_resume_service",
    provider_kind="approval_router",
    config_ref="settings://approval-service",
    secret_ref="secret://approval-service",
    fail_policy="fail_closed",
)

The resolver receives a context dictionary with the resource key, requirement, execution id, snapshot, and execution handle. It should return the live resource or an envelope such as {"resource": service, "health": "healthy"}. If the resolver is missing, unhealthy, or policy-forbidden, inspect_load(...) reports typed diagnostics. fail_policy="fail_open" keeps the diagnostic as a warning; the default fail_closed blocks strict async_load(...).

Use inspect_load(...) or strict async_load(...) before resuming:

saved = execution.save()

report = restored.inspect_load(saved)
assert report["missing_resource_keys"] == ["resume_service"]

await restored.async_load(
    saved,
    runtime_resources={"resume_service": service},
)
await restored.async_continue_with(
    interrupt_id,
    {"approved": True},
    resume_request_id="webhook-42",
    actor="approval-service",
)

async_load(...) loads the snapshot, restores declared execution environment requirements, re-ensures managed execution environments, and fails before graph continuation if required resources are still missing. Use load(...) only when all required resources are already available in the current process and no async environment preparation is needed. Pass validate_resources=True for the same fail-fast resource check. Use async_load(...) for restart or worker-handoff paths that may need async resource resolution or managed environment setup before graph continuation. Production boundaries are covered in Distributed Pause and Resume Boundaries.

External execution snapshot stores can persist the same snapshot by exposing put_snapshot(run_id, state, step_id=...). Durable providers can additionally expose get_snapshot(run_id) for reading snapshot state, put_snapshot(..., expected_state_version=...), lease methods, and put_artifact_ref(...). A Workspace can be configured directly because it implements the same snapshot-store port:

execution = flow.create_execution(workspace=agent.workspace)
snapshot_ref = await execution.async_save(step_id="after-approval")

For shared task information, prefer a Workspace instance that the application creates and owns explicitly:

shared_workspace = Agently.create_workspace("./.agently/projects/issue-123")
execution = flow.create_execution(workspace=shared_workspace)

flow.create_execution() creates an execution-scoped lazy Workspace by default. Pass workspace=False to opt out, or pass a Workspace instance, path, or backend when the execution should use an application-owned shared Workspace. The resolved execution-local Workspace is available to TriggerFlow chunks as runtime_resources["workspace"] / data.require_resource("workspace").

It is a live resource, not serialized state. If a chunk needs an Agent to use the same information scope, bind that Agent or the single AgentExecution to the same Workspace in application code. If a flow needs to move data between two isolated Workspaces, do it explicitly in the flow's business logic with Workspace search(...), get(...), get_data(...), put(...), ingest(...), and link(...). Workspace itself does not provide a cross-space communication or replication protocol.

You can also pass a store through existing execution resources when a service does not use workspace=...:

execution = flow.create_execution(
    runtime_resources={"snapshot_store": agent.workspace}
)
snapshot_ref = await execution.async_save(step_id="after-approval")

To resume from a Workspace-backed snapshot, read the stored snapshot and pass it back to TriggerFlow's load API:

saved_state = await agent.workspace.get_snapshot(execution.run_context.run_id)
assert saved_state is not None

restored = flow.create_execution(workspace=agent.workspace)
await restored.async_load(saved_state, runtime_resources={"workspace": agent.workspace})
await restored.async_continue_with(
    "approval",
    {"approved": True},
    resume_request_id="approval-webhook-1",
    actor="reviewer",
)

This path preserves TriggerFlow-owned pause/resume ledgers, policy-approval waits, and when(..., mode="and") join progress while keeping Workspace as the snapshot provider.

For a runnable foundation check of this path, use examples/trigger_flow/durable_recovery.py. It writes a Workspace-backed snapshot, loads it in a fresh execution, resumes with a stable resume_request_id, and proves duplicate callback delivery does not execute the downstream chunk twice.

For a service-shaped provider replacement example, use examples/trigger_flow/fastapi_sqlite_exchange_provider.py. It keeps the flow definition in a module-level discount_approval_flow object with top-level .to(...) / .when(...) wiring, stores top-level execution snapshots in SQLite, publishes approval requests through a SQLite ExecutionExchangeProvider, and exposes the same start/resume path through FastAPI.

TriggerFlow carries owner/lease fields in the snapshot and exposes claim_lease(...) / heartbeat_lease(...) so a store can index and project distributed ownership. The store still owns cross-worker atomic writes, lease enforcement, access control, and conflict handling. Before continue_with(...) accepts a resume request, callbacks delivered to an execution whose execution-local lease has already expired fail fast without writing a resume ledger entry; a reclaimed worker should load or claim the execution first, then process the same stable resume_request_id.

Workspace-backed providers expose the corresponding lease port:

lease = await agent.workspace.claim_lease(
    execution.run_context.run_id,
    "worker-1",
    ttl=30.0,
    expected_state_version=snapshot_state_version,
)
await agent.workspace.heartbeat_lease(
    execution.run_context.run_id,
    "worker-1",
    lease["lease_token"],
)

When a service wants to use an execution snapshot for host-managed distributed recovery, request a fail-closed provider check:

await execution.async_save(
    step_id="after-approval",
    require_distributed_provider=True,
)

The selected snapshot provider must report CAS, lease, range-read, and retention capabilities and expose the matching snapshot, lease, and artifact methods. The execution must also have a RuntimeEvent store that reports event sequencing. The local Workspace backend passes this fail-closed provider check for single-node development and local restart recovery, but it is not a production cross-worker Redis/Postgres/object-storage backend.

For durable diagnostics, bind a RuntimeEvent store through execution resources:

execution = flow.create_execution(
    runtime_resources={"runtime_event_store": agent.workspace}
)
await execution.async_start(request)
events = await agent.workspace.query_runtime_events(execution.id)

TriggerFlow still owns event identity, pause/resume semantics, DAG readiness, and replay validation. Workspace stores the canonical RuntimeEvent records and snapshot refs; it does not become a workflow control plane.

Durable RuntimeEvent records include the execution-local sequence, state_version, parent event/signal lineage, aggregation scope, operator id, interrupt id, resume request id, actor id, lease owner id, snapshot ref, and artifact refs. pause_for(...) writes planned, persisted, and exposed interrupt phases; continue_with(..., resume_request_id=...) writes accepted, dispatched, completed, and dispatch_failed resume phases. Use a stable resume_request_id from the external callback, webhook, or approval request so retry delivery remains idempotent after restart.

pause_for(...) can also persist an ExternalWait template for external approval, webhook, or exchange-style waits:

await data.async_pause_for(
    type="exchange", exchange_kind="approval",
    payload={"question": "approve?"},
    interrupt_id="approval",
    resume_to="next",
    channel_id="ops-approval",
    provider_id="approval-router",
    wait_mode="connected_then_disconnected",
    hot_wait_timeout=30.0,
    cold_persistence_policy="persist",
    request_payload_schema={"type": "object"},
    response_payload_schema={"type": "object", "required": ["approved"]},
    audit_metadata={"exchange_id": "approval-exchange-1"},
)

The template is stored under interrupt.external_wait_request in the execution snapshot. If audit_metadata.exchange_id is present, TriggerFlow projects it onto durable RuntimeEvent records through Workspace or any compatible runtime event provider that accepts exchange_id.

When a host owns an approval router, queue, or exchange transport, bind an execution-local execution_exchange_provider. The provider publishes the same typed request after the interrupt is persisted and before it is marked exposed; TriggerFlow remains the lifecycle owner and resumes through continue_with(...):

class QueueExchangeProvider:
    async def publish_request(self, execution_id, request, *, interrupt):
        ticket = await queue.publish({
            "execution_id": execution_id,
            "request": request,
            "interrupt": interrupt,
        })
        return {
            "exchange_id": ticket["id"],
            "provider_metadata": {"queue": ticket["queue"]},
        }

execution = flow.create_execution(
    runtime_resources={"execution_exchange_provider": QueueExchangeProvider()}
)

The provider may return exchange_id, provider_metadata, and audit_metadata; those fields are merged into interrupt.external_wait_request and projected to durable RuntimeEvent records. If provider publishing fails, TriggerFlow records dispatch_state as exposure_failed and emits triggerflow.interrupt_exposure_failed.

For long-running executions, keep large payloads behind provider refs and store only compaction facts in the execution snapshot by configuring a host-owned reducer policy. The reducer receives the bounded RuntimeEvent records selected by TriggerFlow and returns serializable summary facts plus any large payload that should be stored behind a provider artifact ref:

async def compact_execution_state(context):
    records = context["records"]
    return {
        "summary": f"compacted {len(records)} runtime events",
        "artifact": {"event_ids": [record["event_id"] for record in records]},
        "retained_lineage_anchors": [{
            "anchor_id": "root-after-compaction",
            "sequence": context["sequence_from"],
            "event_id": records[0]["event_id"],
        }],
        "load_read_limit": 100,
    }

execution.set_compaction_policy(
    min_runtime_events=100,
    reducer=compact_execution_state,
    artifact_kind="snapshot_payload",
)
await execution.async_save(step_id="auto-compacted")

inspect_load(...) reports retained lineage anchor mismatches, missing required artifact refs, and invalid load read limits as snapshot diagnostics. TriggerFlow records the execution facts and provider refs; the Workspace or enterprise provider owns artifact storage, retention anchors, and bounded runtime-event reads.

execution.inspect_load(...) reports typed recovery diagnostics for invalid snapshots, missing resources, accepted-but-not-dispatched resume requests, dispatched-but-not-completed resume requests, expired lease warnings, active lease owner conflicts, DAG join state mismatches, TaskDAG graph fingerprint mismatch, and durable RuntimeEvent sequence or parent-signal lineage problems when event records are inspected.

Picking the right entry

Situation	Use
Quick script, all inputs known up front	flow.start(...) / flow.async_start(...)
Service that needs to keep emitting / consuming runtime stream	flow.start_execution(...)
Need pause_for(...) (human approval, async webhook)	flow.create_execution(auto_close=False) + execution.async_start(...) + manual close()
Need to save and resume across restarts	create_execution(...) + execution.save() / load()

A quick decision example

# This flow pauses for user input — DO NOT use flow.start()
flow = TriggerFlow(name="approval")
async def ask(data):
    return await data.async_pause_for(type="exchange", exchange_kind="approval", resume_to="next")
async def commit(data):
    await data.async_set_state("approved", data.input)
flow.to(ask).to(commit)

execution = flow.create_execution(auto_close=False)
await execution.async_start(None)
# ... wait for an external system to call execution.async_continue_with(...) ...
snapshot = await execution.async_close()

If you'd written await flow.async_start(None) instead, TriggerFlow would raise when pause_for(...) is reached because the hidden execution has no resumable handle.

If you need to stop a waiting execution without resuming it, make that explicit:

snapshot = await execution.async_close(pending_interrupts="cancel")

Compatibility parameters

Parameter	Status
wait_for_result=True / False	value is ignored, warning emitted; return type is governed by auto_close
set_result() / get_result() / .end()	deprecated; see Compatibility
runtime_data (get_runtime_data / set_runtime_data etc.)	deprecated alias of state; see State and Resources

See also

• State and Resources — what makes it into the snapshot
• Execution Result — reading snapshots, state, compatibility results, and metadata through one facade
• Pause and Resume — pause_for and continue_with
• Distributed Pause and Resume Boundaries — host-managed recovery and live object ownership
• Persistence and Blueprint — save / load
• Compatibility — migration from older APIs