workflows-mcp-server

Overview

A declarative workflow library for LLM agents, backed by local YAML files. Store, list, and retrieve named, versioned multi-step playbooks — each a sequence of MCP server/tool calls — for permanent reuse or one-shot temporary runs. Runs as a stdio process or a local Streamable HTTP server; an in-memory index rebuilds automatically as files change.

Tools

Related MCP server: task-graph-mcp

Capability reference

workflow_list tool

• Optional keyword query filter (case-insensitive substring across workflow name and description)

• Optional category filter (case-insensitive substring match)

• Optional tag filter (case-insensitive AND match — all listed tags must be present)

• Filter values are trimmed of leading and trailing whitespace before matching; a blank query or category applies no filter

• Set includeTools: true to surface the unique server/tool pairs used across each workflow's steps

• Temporary workflows are excluded; results sorted by name, then by semver precedence descending (a release before its prereleases)

• Empty results echo the applied filters with a hint to broaden

workflow_get tool

• Semver-aware: omit version to get the highest available match; specify a version for an exact lookup

• A version that is not valid semver is rejected as invalid arguments before any lookup; a tolerated spelling (v1.0.0, surrounding whitespace, build metadata) resolves to its canonical form (1.0.0)

• name is trimmed before lookup, matching how the create tools store it; a blank name is rejected as invalid arguments

• Returns the full workflow YAML structure with all steps and metadata

• Injects the global_instructions.md content as globalInstructions — apply these when executing the workflow; null when the file is absent

• Temporary workflows are accessible here even though excluded from workflow_list

• Template placeholders ({{input.foo}}, {{steps.X.output.Y}}) are returned verbatim — the server never interpolates them

workflow_create tool

• Workflow stored at categories/<slugified-category>/<slugified-name>-<slugified-version>-<hash>-workflow.yaml, where <hash> is the first 8 hex characters of SHA-256 over name@version — one file per name@version, so multiple versions coexist and keys whose slugs coincide (Deploy / deploy, Café Plan / Caf Plan) never share a file

• Any name with visible content is accepted; one with no ASCII letters or digits (e.g. Рабочий процесс) uses workflow as the name part of its filename

• Rejects if name@version already exists, as a permanent workflow or a temporary draft — bump the version to create a new revision, or delete the draft with workflow_delete to store it permanently

• Concurrent creates of one name@version produce one workflow and one already_exists, even across categories

• version is stored in canonical semver form: a leading v, surrounding whitespace, and build metadata are dropped, so v1.0.0+build.5 is stored, keyed, and retrieved as 1.0.0

• Rejects a whitespace-only name, description, author, category, or step server/tool with invalid_input

• Rejects a name longer than 200 characters or a category longer than 255 characters after slugification with invalid_input, so every file and directory name fits the 255-byte limit

• Server stamps created_date and last_updated_date automatically

• Index and snapshot rebuilt after write; filesystem watcher also fires (idempotent, debounced)

• A filesystem failure is reported as write_failed with the error code and description only, never the absolute path

workflow_create_temp tool

• Writing a name@version that already has a draft overwrites that draft in place: status is "created" for a new draft and "overwritten" for a replaced one, and an overwrite keeps the draft's original created_date

• Rejects a name@version held by a permanent workflow with already_exists

• Stored under temp/ with the same filename scheme, canonical version storage, and whitespace-only field rejection as workflow_create

• Indexed and accessible via workflow_get but excluded from workflow_list results; a notice field saying so rides along in both structuredContent and the text output

• Drafts persist: a draft stays under temp/ across restarts until workflow_delete removes it — nothing expires drafts or cleans them up

• Useful for one-shot plans, scaffolding, or drafts not yet ready for the permanent library

workflow_delete tool

• Deletes permanent workflows and temporary drafts alike; the output's source ("permanent" or "temp") says which was removed

• Semver-aware: omit version to delete the highest available match across permanent workflows and drafts; specify a version to target one exactly

• Same version and name rules as workflow_get: non-semver input is rejected before anything is deleted, a tolerated spelling targets its canonical form, and a padded name is trimmed

• Asks the user first: the call returns a confirmation prompt naming the resolved name@version, its source, and its file path relative to WORKFLOWS_DIR, and deletes only when the user answers confirm: true. Answering false, declining, or cancelling fails with cancelled and deletes nothing

• The server keeps each prompt's record and hands the client only a random id for it. An answer must come back within 10 minutes and works once; an answer to a prompt the server never issued, already answered, or issued too long ago fails with confirmation_invalid and deletes nothing

• The file is deleted only if it is still the one the user saw: if the name resolves to a different workflow or file, or the file's content changed, by the time the answer arrives, the call fails with target_changed and deletes nothing

• Needs a client that can show the prompt (elicitation); a client without it cannot delete, and there is no way around the prompt

• Irreversible: the file is removed and the workflow no longer appears in workflow_list or workflow_get — unless another hand-authored file declares the same name@version. That copy then takes its place, and the result carries a notice naming its path relative to WORKFLOWS_DIR

• Deleting a draft frees its name@version, so workflow_create can then store it permanently

• Deleting the last workflow in a categories/<slug>/ directory removes that emptied directory; a directory still holding any file stays

Features

Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core: stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, pluggable auth (none / jwt / oauth), swappable storage (in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1), structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing.

Workflow library:

• YAML workflow files validated against a schema at index time; invalid files (including a whitespace-only name, description, author, category, or step server/tool) are skipped and logged, never crash the server

• Versions indexed in canonical semver form — a file authored as version: v1.0.0 indexes as name@1.0.0

• One index entry per name@version: a permanent workflow outranks a temporary draft with the same key (the draft is skipped with a warning naming both files), and two files of one kind that share a key log a duplicate warning, with the last one read winning

• In-memory index keyed by name@version, built at startup from workflows-yaml/categories/ and workflows-yaml/temp/ recursively, kept fresh by a debounced recursive filesystem watcher on any add/change/remove

• The index reads each workflow's identity from its file content, never its filename, so files named under any scheme — including the earlier <name>-<version>-workflow.yaml — are listed, retrieved, and deleted like any other

• Creates and deletes run one at a time within the server, so each one's existence check holds until its write lands

• Semver-aware lookup — latest version returned when version is omitted

• _index.json snapshot written on every rebuild for external tooling and debugging

• Configurable WORKFLOWS_DIR, GLOBAL_INSTRUCTIONS_PATH, and debounce interval

Agent-friendly output:

• Discriminated output — source: "permanent" | "temp" on every workflow_get response and typed reason codes (not_found, version_not_found, already_exists, cancelled, confirmation_invalid, target_changed, index_unavailable, …) on failures, so callers branch on data instead of parsing error strings

• No extra round trip — workflow_get always returns globalInstructions alongside the workflow definition in the same response

• Response shaping — workflow_list's optional includeTools flag pre-derives the unique server/tool pairs used by a workflow, and an empty result echoes the applied filters with a broadening hint instead of returning nothing

Getting started

No API keys required. The server reads from a local workflows-yaml/ directory by default.

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "workflows-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@cyanheads/workflows-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "WORKFLOWS_DIR": "/absolute/path/to/your/workflows-yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with npx (no Bun required):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "workflows-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/workflows-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "WORKFLOWS_DIR": "/absolute/path/to/your/workflows-yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with Docker:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "workflows-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
        "-v", "/absolute/path/to/your/workflows-yaml:/workflows-yaml",
        "-e", "WORKFLOWS_DIR=/workflows-yaml",
        "ghcr.io/cyanheads/workflows-mcp-server:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:

MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp

Seed workflows

The repository ships a workflows-yaml/ directory with example workflows organized under categories/. These are ready to use as a starting point. The workflows-yaml/global_instructions.md file contains instructions the server prepends to every workflow_get response — edit it to set global guidance for your agent.

Prerequisites

• Bun v1.4.0 or higher (or Node.js v24+).

• A local directory containing YAML workflow files (or use the bundled workflows-yaml/ seed).

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/workflows-mcp-server.git

2. Navigate into the directory:

cd workflows-mcp-server

3. Install dependencies:

bun install

4. Configure environment:

cp .env.example .env
# edit .env if needed — most settings have defaults

Configuration

See .env.example for the full list of optional overrides.

Running the server

Local development

• Build and run:

  # One-time build
  bun run rebuild
  
  # Run the built server
  bun run start:stdio
  # or
  bun run start:http

• Run checks and tests:

  bun run devcheck   # Lint, format, typecheck, security
  bun run test       # Vitest test suite
  bun run lint:mcp   # Validate MCP definitions against spec

Docker

docker build -t workflows-mcp-server .
docker run --rm \
  -v /path/to/workflows-yaml:/workflows-yaml \
  -e WORKFLOWS_DIR=/workflows-yaml \
  -p 3010:3010 \
  workflows-mcp-server

The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateful session mode (required — see MCP_SESSION_MODE above), and logs to /var/log/workflows-mcp-server. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with --build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false to omit them.

Project structure

Development guide

See CLAUDE.md for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:

• Handlers throw, framework catches — no try/catch in tool logic

• Use ctx.log for request-scoped logging

• Register new tools via the barrel in src/mcp-server/tools/definitions/index.ts

• Filesystem operations go through WorkflowIndexService, not directly in tool handlers

Contributing

Issues are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:

bun run devcheck
bun run test

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.