Dagu Workflow Authoring

This skill activates when creating or modifying Dagu workflow definitions, configuring workflow steps, scheduling, or composing complex workflows.

When to Use This Skill

Activate when:

• Writing Dagu workflow YAML files
• Configuring workflow steps and executors
• Setting up workflow scheduling with cron
• Defining step dependencies and data flow
• Implementing error handling and retries
• Composing hierarchical workflows
• Using environment variables and parameters

Basic Workflow Structure

Minimal Workflow

# hello.yaml
steps:
  - name: hello
    command: echo "Hello from Dagu!"

Complete Workflow Structure

name: my_workflow
description: Description of what this workflow does

# Schedule (optional)
schedule: "0 2 * * *"  # Cron format: daily at 2 AM

# Environment variables
env:
  - KEY: value
  - DB_HOST: localhost

# Parameters
params: ENVIRONMENT=production

# Email notifications (optional)
mailOn:
  failure: true
  success: false

smtp:
  host: smtp.example.com
  port: 587

errorMail:
  from: dagu@example.com
  to: alerts@example.com

# Workflow steps
steps:
  - name: step1
    command: echo "First step"

  - name: step2
    command: echo "Second step"
    depends:
      - step1

Steps

Basic Step

steps:
  - name: greet
    command: echo "Hello, World!"

Step with Script

steps:
  - name: process
    command: |
      echo "Starting processing..."
      ./scripts/process.sh
      echo "Done!"

Step with Working Directory

steps:
  - name: build
    dir: /path/to/project
    command: make build

Step with Environment Variables

steps:
  - name: deploy
    env:
      - ENVIRONMENT: production
      - API_KEY: $API_KEY  # From global env
    command: ./deploy.sh

Executors

Command Executor (Default)

steps:
  - name: shell_command
    command: ./script.sh

Docker Executor

steps:
  - name: run_in_container
    executor:
      type: docker
      config:
        image: alpine:latest
    command: echo "Running in Docker"

  - name: with_volumes
    executor:
      type: docker
      config:
        image: node:18
        volumes:
          - /host/path:/container/path
        env:
          - NODE_ENV=production
    command: npm run build

SSH Executor

steps:
  - name: remote_execution
    executor:
      type: ssh
      config:
        user: deploy
        host: server.example.com
        key: /path/to/ssh/key
    command: ./remote_script.sh

HTTP Executor

steps:
  - name: api_call
    executor:
      type: http
      config:
        method: POST
        url: https://api.example.com/webhook
        headers:
          Content-Type: application/json
          Authorization: Bearer $API_TOKEN
        body: |
          {
            "event": "workflow_complete",
            "timestamp": "{{.timestamp}}"
          }

Mail Executor

steps:
  - name: send_notification
    executor:
      type: mail
      config:
        to: user@example.com
        from: dagu@example.com
        subject: Workflow Complete
        message: |
          The workflow has completed successfully.
          Time: {{.timestamp}}

JQ Executor

steps:
  - name: transform_json
    executor:
      type: jq
      config:
        query: '.users[] | select(.active == true) | .email'
    command: cat users.json

Step Dependencies

Simple Dependencies

steps:
  - name: download
    command: wget https://example.com/data.zip

  - name: extract
    depends:
      - download
    command: unzip data.zip

  - name: process
    depends:
      - extract
    command: ./process.sh

Multiple Dependencies

steps:
  - name: fetch_data
    command: ./fetch.sh

  - name: fetch_config
    command: ./fetch_config.sh

  - name: process
    depends:
      - fetch_data
      - fetch_config
    command: ./process.sh

Parallel Execution

# These run in parallel (no dependencies)
steps:
  - name: task1
    command: ./task1.sh

  - name: task2
    command: ./task2.sh

  - name: task3
    command: ./task3.sh

  # This waits for all above to complete
  - name: finalize
    depends:
      - task1
      - task2
      - task3
    command: ./finalize.sh

Conditional Execution

Preconditions

steps:
  - name: deploy_production
    preconditions:
      - condition: "`echo $ENVIRONMENT`"
        expected: "production"
    command: ./deploy.sh

Continue On Failure

steps:
  - name: optional_step
    continueOn:
      failure: true
    command: ./might_fail.sh

  - name: cleanup
    depends:
      - optional_step
    command: ./cleanup.sh  # Runs even if optional_step fails

Error Handling and Retries

Retry Configuration

steps:
  - name: flaky_api_call
    command: curl https://api.example.com/data
    retryPolicy:
      limit: 3
      intervalSec: 10

Exponential Backoff

steps:
  - name: with_backoff
    command: ./external_api.sh
    retryPolicy:
      limit: 5
      intervalSec: 5
      exponentialBackoff: true  # 5s, 10s, 20s, 40s, 80s

Signal on Stop

steps:
  - name: graceful_shutdown
    command: ./long_running_process.sh
    signalOnStop: SIGTERM  # Send SIGTERM instead of SIGKILL

Data Flow

Output Variables

steps:
  - name: generate_id
    command: echo "ID_$(date +%s)"
    output: PROCESS_ID

  - name: use_id
    depends:
      - generate_id
    command: echo "Processing with ID: $PROCESS_ID"

Script Output

steps:
  - name: get_config
    script: |
      #!/bin/bash
      export DB_HOST="localhost"
      export DB_PORT="5432"
    output: DB_CONFIG

  - name: connect
    depends:
      - get_config
    command: ./connect.sh $DB_HOST $DB_PORT

Scheduling

Cron Schedule

# Daily at 2 AM
schedule: "0 2 * * *"

# Every Monday at 9 AM
schedule: "0 9 * * 1"

# Every 15 minutes
schedule: "*/15 * * * *"

# First day of month at midnight
schedule: "0 0 1 * *"

Start/Stop Times

# Only run during business hours
schedule:
  start: "2024-01-01"
  end: "2024-12-31"
  cron: "0 9-17 * * 1-5"  # Mon-Fri, 9 AM to 5 PM

Environment Variables

Global Environment

env:
  - ENVIRONMENT: production
  - LOG_LEVEL: info
  - API_URL: https://api.example.com

steps:
  - name: use_env
    command: echo "Environment: $ENVIRONMENT"

Step-Level Environment

steps:
  - name: with_custom_env
    env:
      - CUSTOM_VAR: value
      - OVERRIDE: step_value
    command: ./script.sh

Environment from File

env:
  - .env  # Load from .env file

steps:
  - name: use_env_file
    command: echo "DB_HOST: $DB_HOST"

Parameters

Defining Parameters

params: ENVIRONMENT=development VERSION=1.0.0

steps:
  - name: deploy
    command: ./deploy.sh $ENVIRONMENT $VERSION

Using Parameters

# Run with default parameters
dagu start workflow.yaml

# Override parameters
dagu start workflow.yaml ENVIRONMENT=production VERSION=2.0.0

Sub-Workflows

Calling Sub-Workflows

# main.yaml
steps:
  - name: run_sub_workflow
    run: sub_workflow.yaml
    params: PARAM=value

  - name: another_sub
    run: workflows/another.yaml

Hierarchical Workflows

# orchestrator.yaml
steps:
  - name: data_ingestion
    run: workflows/ingest.yaml

  - name: data_processing
    depends:
      - data_ingestion
    run: workflows/process.yaml

  - name: data_export
    depends:
      - data_processing
    run: workflows/export.yaml

Handlers

Cleanup Handler

handlerOn:
  exit:
    - name: cleanup
      command: ./cleanup.sh

steps:
  - name: main_task
    command: ./task.sh

Error Handler

handlerOn:
  failure:
    - name: send_alert
      executor:
        type: mail
        config:
          to: alerts@example.com
          subject: "Workflow Failed"
          message: "Workflow {{.Name}} failed at {{.timestamp}}"

steps:
  - name: risky_operation
    command: ./operation.sh

Success Handler

handlerOn:
  success:
    - name: notify_success
      command: ./notify.sh "Workflow completed successfully"

steps:
  - name: task
    command: ./task.sh

Templates and Variables

Built-in Variables

steps:
  - name: use_variables
    command: |
      echo "Workflow: {{.Name}}"
      echo "Step: {{.Step.Name}}"
      echo "Timestamp: {{.timestamp}}"
      echo "Request ID: {{.requestId}}"

Custom Templates

params: USER=alice

steps:
  - name: templated
    command: echo "Hello, {{.Params.USER}}!"

Common Patterns

ETL Pipeline

name: etl_pipeline
description: Extract, Transform, Load data pipeline

schedule: "0 2 * * *"  # Daily at 2 AM

env:
  - DATA_SOURCE: s3://bucket/data
  - TARGET_DB: postgresql://localhost/warehouse

steps:
  - name: extract
    command: ./extract.sh $DATA_SOURCE
    output: EXTRACTED_FILE

  - name: transform
    depends:
      - extract
    command: ./transform.sh $EXTRACTED_FILE
    output: TRANSFORMED_FILE

  - name: load
    depends:
      - transform
    command: ./load.sh $TRANSFORMED_FILE $TARGET_DB

  - name: cleanup
    depends:
      - load
    command: rm -f $EXTRACTED_FILE $TRANSFORMED_FILE

handlerOn:
  failure:
    - name: alert
      executor:
        type: mail
        config:
          to: data-team@example.com
          subject: "ETL Pipeline Failed"

Multi-Environment Deployment

name: deploy
description: Deploy application to multiple environments

params: ENVIRONMENT=staging VERSION=latest

steps:
  - name: build
    command: docker build -t app:$VERSION .

  - name: test
    depends:
      - build
    command: docker run app:$VERSION npm test

  - name: deploy_staging
    depends:
      - test
    preconditions:
      - condition: "`echo $ENVIRONMENT`"
        expected: "staging"
    executor:
      type: ssh
      config:
        user: deploy
        host: staging.example.com
    command: ./deploy.sh $VERSION

  - name: deploy_production
    depends:
      - test
    preconditions:
      - condition: "`echo $ENVIRONMENT`"
        expected: "production"
    executor:
      type: ssh
      config:
        user: deploy
        host: prod.example.com
    command: ./deploy.sh $VERSION

Data Backup Workflow

name: database_backup
description: Automated database backup workflow

schedule: "0 3 * * *"  # Daily at 3 AM

env:
  - DB_HOST: localhost
  - DB_NAME: myapp
  - BACKUP_DIR: /backups
  - S3_BUCKET: s3://backups/db

steps:
  - name: create_backup
    command: |
      TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
      pg_dump -h $DB_HOST $DB_NAME > $BACKUP_DIR/backup_$TIMESTAMP.sql
      echo "backup_$TIMESTAMP.sql"
    output: BACKUP_FILE

  - name: compress
    depends:
      - create_backup
    command: gzip $BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_FILE
    output: COMPRESSED_FILE

  - name: upload_to_s3
    depends:
      - compress
    command: aws s3 cp $BACKUP_DIR/$COMPRESSED_FILE.gz $S3_BUCKET/

  - name: cleanup_old_backups
    depends:
      - upload_to_s3
    command: |
      find $BACKUP_DIR -name "*.sql.gz" -mtime +30 -delete
      aws s3 ls $S3_BUCKET/ | awk '{print $4}' | head -n -30 | xargs -I {} aws s3 rm $S3_BUCKET/{}

handlerOn:
  failure:
    - name: alert_failure
      executor:
        type: mail
        config:
          to: dba@example.com
          subject: "Backup Failed"
  success:
    - name: log_success
      command: echo "Backup completed at $(date)" >> /var/log/backups.log

Monitoring and Alerts

name: health_check
description: Monitor services and send alerts

schedule: "*/5 * * * *"  # Every 5 minutes

steps:
  - name: check_web_service
    command: curl -f https://app.example.com/health
    retryPolicy:
      limit: 3
      intervalSec: 10
    continueOn:
      failure: true

  - name: check_api_service
    command: curl -f https://api.example.com/health
    retryPolicy:
      limit: 3
      intervalSec: 10
    continueOn:
      failure: true

  - name: check_database
    command: pg_isready -h db.example.com
    continueOn:
      failure: true

handlerOn:
  failure:
    - name: alert_on_failure
      executor:
        type: http
        config:
          method: POST
          url: https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK/URL
          headers:
            Content-Type: application/json
          body: |
            {
              "text": "⚠️ Service health check failed",
              "attachments": [{
                "color": "danger",
                "fields": [
                  {"title": "Workflow", "value": "{{.Name}}", "short": true},
                  {"title": "Time", "value": "{{.timestamp}}", "short": true}
                ]
              }]
            }

Best Practices

Workflow Organization

# Good: Clear, descriptive names
name: user_data_sync
description: Synchronize user data from CRM to database

# Good: Logical step names
steps:
  - name: fetch_from_crm
  - name: validate_data
  - name: update_database

# Avoid: Generic names
name: workflow1
steps:
  - name: step1
  - name: step2

Error Handling

# Always define error handlers for critical workflows
handlerOn:
  failure:
    - name: cleanup
      command: ./cleanup.sh
    - name: notify
      executor:
        type: mail
        config:
          to: team@example.com

# Use retries for flaky operations
steps:
  - name: api_call
    command: curl https://api.example.com
    retryPolicy:
      limit: 3
      intervalSec: 5
      exponentialBackoff: true

Environment Management

# Use parameters for environment-specific values
params: ENVIRONMENT=development

# Load environment from files
env:
  - config/$ENVIRONMENT.env

# Override in production
# dagu start workflow.yaml ENVIRONMENT=production

Modular Workflows

# Break complex workflows into sub-workflows
steps:
  - name: data_ingestion
    run: workflows/ingestion.yaml

  - name: data_transformation
    run: workflows/transformation.yaml
    depends:
      - data_ingestion

Key Principles

• Keep workflows focused: One workflow per logical task
• Use dependencies wisely: Parallelize when possible
• Handle errors explicitly: Define failure handlers
• Use retries for flaky operations: Network calls, external APIs
• Parameterize configurations: Make workflows reusable
• Document workflows: Add clear names and descriptions
• Test workflows: Start with small, focused workflows
• Monitor and alert: Use handlers to track workflow health