ncode Desktop Automation

Workflows

A workflow runs agents in a fixed, repeatable order: review from four angles, then verify each finding, then write a report. Unlike a swarm, where a lead decides the plan as it goes, a workflow's steps are written down in advance, so the same workflow runs the same way every time and a stopped run can resume exactly where it stopped.

Where to find them#

Click Workflows in the rail. The sidebar becomes the workflow cockpit:

four counters at the top: Live (runs going now), Need you (runs waiting at a question or paused), Week (runs started since Monday) and Spend (what this month's workflow runs cost);
the runs, newest first, each with its phase and progress;
the library of workflows you can run, grouped by where they come from, for the project you pick at the top;
a + button to create a new one.

The main area shows the selected run as a board of phases and agents, or the selected workflow's details: its description, arguments, the shape the smoke check found, and its source.

Built-in workflows#

Workflow	What it does
`review-changes`	reviews the uncommitted changes from several angles (correctness, security, performance, maintainability, one agent each), keeps only findings that survive a second agent's attempt to refute them, and writes `review.md`
`research`	a one-pass research inside the conversation: sweeps a few angles, reads the best pages and writes `research.md` into the project

Running a workflow#

From the library: select a workflow and click Run ▸. A form asks for its arguments, with their defaults filled in; click Run ▸ again.

From a conversation: type /workflow <name>, with arguments as key=value:

text

/workflow review-changes base=main

Saved workflows also appear in the / list under their own name.

A workflow run shows as a card in the conversation and in the cockpit. Its agents appear in the agents pane like any others.

Pause, resume, stop#

A running workflow's card has Pause and Stop; a paused one has Resume. From the composer, /workflow pause <run>, /workflow resume <run> and /workflow stop <run> do the same.

Every read a workflow makes is recorded, so resuming replays the finished part instantly and continues with the next step. A workflow can also stop on purpose to ask you something; it waits under Need you until you answer.

Quitting ncode pauses running workflows; they resume where they stopped.

Writing a new workflow#

You do not need to write code yourself:

Type /create-workflow followed by what it should do, pick Workflow in the mode pill, or click + (New workflow) in the cockpit. The assistant writes the workflow, checks it and launches it.
To start from a skeleton instead, use the new-workflow menu on the Workflows page and choose Blank template (its other choice, Describe it to the assistant, is the same as above).
/workflow save <run> as <new-name> saves the workflow of a run you liked under a new name, in this project; add scope=user to save it for every project instead.

Before any workflow is saved or run, a smoke check parses it and runs it once with stand-in agents, so mistakes show up before they cost anything. See Workflow language.

Ultra mode#

In Ultra mode (pick it in the mode pill or type /ultra), the assistant handles big requests by writing and running workflows itself, and reports back when they are done.

Where workflows live#

Scope	Folder	Seen in
Built-in	inside the app	every project; cannot be edited, but Duplicate to project makes an editable copy
Yours	`workflows` inside `~/Library/Application Support/SwarmCode`	every project
Project	`.swarm_code/workflows/` in the project	that project; commit it to share with your team

If two workflows share a name, the built-in one wins, then the project's, then yours: pick a new name for your own. Reports a run writes go to .swarm_code/workflows/runs/<run>/ in the project.

Budgets#

A workflow's budget sets how many agents one run may start in total (the built-in review-changes allows 48), and its max_live how many work at the same time. A workflow that sets neither uses Workflow agent budget (128) and Max live workflow agents (16) from Settings → Limits.