Reflow

Reflow runs email workflows that survive restarts, long waits, and retries.

You describe the flow. An MCP agent (or you, via CLI) creates templates, saves a graph, publishes it, and enrolls contacts. Temporal keeps each enrollment alive. Resend sends the mail.

There is no operator dashboard. CLI and MCP use the same operations.

What you need

• Node.js 22+

• pnpm 11+

• Docker Compose (Postgres + Temporal)

• A Resend API key if you want real email (optional for validate/simulate)

Related MCP server: Nitrosend

1. Start the stack locally

cp .env.dev.example .env
pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
make dev-infra
pnpm migrate
mkdir -p secrets
umask 077
openssl rand -base64 18 > secrets/admin_password
pnpm setup -- --email admin@example.com --name Admin --password-file ./secrets/admin_password

Start three host processes (keep each terminal open):

pnpm dev              # API :3000
pnpm dev:worker       # Temporal worker
pnpm dev:dispatcher   # Outbox / webhook side work

Local ports:

Stop infra with make dev-infra-down.

For production Compose with TLS, see docs/DEPLOYMENT.md.

2. Sign in

pnpm build
pnpm link --global   # once, so `reflow` is on your PATH

export REFLOW_URL=http://localhost:3000
reflow auth login --email admin@example.com --password-file ./secrets/admin_password
reflow workspace use

Your session is stored under ~/.config/reflow/. Later accounts need an admin (account.create). Open signup stays off unless ALLOW_REGISTRATION=true.

3. Send email (Resend)

Put your key in a secret file (do not commit it):

printf '%s' 're_...' > secrets/resend_api_key
chmod 600 secrets/resend_api_key

Add to .env or .env.local:

RESEND_API_KEY_FILE=./secrets/resend_api_key
REFLOW_FROM=Reflow <onboarding@resend.dev>

Restart pnpm dev and pnpm dev:worker so they reload the key.

With Resend’s test sender (onboarding@resend.dev), you can only send to the email on your Resend account. Use a verified domain for other recipients.

4. First project: welcome + nudge

A short worked example lives in examples/welcome-nudge/. It:

1. Creates and publishes two email templates

2. Publishes a workflow (welcome → wait → reminder or done)

3. Upserts a contact and enrolls them

4. Optionally emits product.activated so the reminder is skipped

Run it after the stack is up and you are logged in:

cd examples/welcome-nudge
./run.sh socialrobotio@gmail.com

Read that folder’s README for each step and the JSON shapes.

5. Day-to-day commands

reflow call system.capabilities
reflow call workflow.actions
reflow call template.list --input '{"workspaceId":"YOUR_WORKSPACE_ID"}'
reflow call workflow.list --input '{"workspaceId":"YOUR_WORKSPACE_ID"}'
reflow call message.list --input '{"workspaceId":"YOUR_WORKSPACE_ID"}'

MCP clients talk to http://localhost:3000/mcp with a session token or API key. Cursor can use .cursor/mcp.json.

Mental model

Installed actions today: email.send, contact.update. See docs/OPERATIONS.md.

Checks

make check

Docs