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Validate and test workflows

Prerequisites

  • A reachable Conductor server.
  • A workflow definition saved as workflow.json.
  • Real workers and external dependencies only for the final execution layer.

1. Validate the definition

Validation checks metadata and graph rules but does not prove that a worker is polling or an external endpoint is reachable.

curl -i -X POST '<YOUR-CLUSTER-URL>/api/metadata/workflow/validate' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-binary @workflow.json

Success is an empty 200 OK response. Fix validation errors before registration.

2. Test orchestration with mocked tasks

POST /api/workflow/test executes the decision logic with task outputs supplied by reference name. Each reference maps to a list because loops or retries can consume multiple mocks.

{
  "name": "input_param_demo_workflow",
  "version": 1,
  "input": {
    "_scheduledTime": 1760000000000,
    "_executedTime": 1760000000100
  },
  "workflowDef": {
    "name": "input_param_demo_workflow",
    "version": 1,
    "schemaVersion": 2,
    "tasks": [
      {
        "name": "compute_report_window",
        "taskReferenceName": "compute_report_window",
        "type": "INLINE",
        "inputParameters": {
          "scheduledTime": "${workflow.input._scheduledTime}",
          "executionTime": "${workflow.input._executedTime}",
          "evaluatorType": "javascript",
          "expression": "({scheduledAt: $.scheduledTime, triggeredAt: $.executionTime})"
        }
      }
    ],
    "outputParameters": {
      "scheduledAt": "${compute_report_window.output.result.scheduledAt}"
    }
  },
  "taskRefToMockOutput": {
    "compute_report_window": [
      {
        "status": "COMPLETED",
        "output": {
          "result": {
            "scheduledAt": 1760000000000,
            "triggeredAt": 1760000000100
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

curl -sS -X POST '<YOUR-CLUSTER-URL>/api/workflow/test' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-binary @workflow-test.json

Success is a simulated execution whose task states and workflow output match the expected branch. executionTime and queueWaitTime on a mock can exercise timeout behavior. Nested SUB_WORKFLOW tests use subWorkflowTestRequest.

3. Run the real boundaries

Register the definition, start it, and inspect the returned workflow ID.

conductor workflow create workflow.json
conductor workflow start -w order_workflow -i '{"orderId":"order-123"}'
conductor workflow get-execution <workflow-id> -c

Success is a terminal status you expect and verified task output. A SIMPLE task without a registered task definition and polling worker remains queued; mock testing cannot detect that deployment gap.

Limitations

Mock testing does not call workers, brokers, databases, or HTTP endpoints and cannot establish their authentication, latency, or retry behavior. Keep a real integration or smoke test for each production boundary.

Next, add reliability policies with Reliability and error handling and rehearse recovery with Debug and recover.