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|
-- subagents/workflow.lua
--
-- The callback-based Lua workflow API. `M.workflow(fn)` wraps a
-- `function(ctx, input)` in a tagged table; `M.execute(wf, input, opts)` runs
-- it and returns whatever the callback returned. Human-authored panto
-- extensions require this module directly; the restricted `subagents.lua` tool
-- (subagents/luatool.lua) and the TOML DAG lowering
-- (subagents/toml_workflows.lua) are both built on the same primitives.
--
-- ctx surface:
-- ctx:agent{ agent=, prompt=, model?, reasoning?, output? } -> handle
-- handle:await() -> one settled result
-- ctx:await(handles, "all") -> array of settled results in input order
-- ctx:await(handles, "first") -> first settled result, remaining handles
--
-- Profile resolution and spawn-spec construction are NOT duplicated here: both
-- come from subagents/spawn.lua (`build_spec(input, profiles)` / `spawn(spec)`)
-- so the tool > profile > primary precedence lives in exactly one place. The
-- only thing this file adds to the spec is the synthetic structured-output
-- tool, which it normalizes to { name, description, schema } (defaulting the
-- name to "emit_result") so the host seam always sees the same shape.
--
-- Edge cases and deliberate policies:
--
-- * Child failures are values, never errors. A rejected spawn produces a
-- pre-settled handle with status "failed" so a workflow can branch on it;
-- execute() only raises for programmer/guest errors (bad arguments, an
-- exceeded job budget, an error thrown by the callback itself).
-- * The callback runs on the caller's own coroutine — the tool handler's —
-- because `subagents.jobs.await` parks the running coroutine and resumes that
-- exact coroutine from the uv callback that saw the child settle. Wrapping the
-- callback in a nested coroutine would park the wrong thread and wedge the
-- handler. opts.on_resume/opts.on_yield bracket the callback with that
-- coroutine so a caller can arm a guard on it (the instruction budget the
-- sandbox needs); trusted callers just omit them.
-- * "first" mode may settle several jobs at once. Extra results are cached on
-- their handles rather than dropped, and a handle that already holds a
-- result is served from that cache without re-entering the host, so no
-- settled result is ever lost between awaits.
-- * Handles the callback never awaited are awaited ("all") after it returns,
-- purely so no child is orphaned; those results are discarded.
-- * Structured output is decoded from result.structured_json and validated
-- against output.schema by the one validator below: the JSON Schema subset
-- a child's output tool actually uses, ignoring keywords it does not know.
-- There is deliberately no second, rock-dependent path -- `jsonschema` needs
-- lrexlib-pcre and a system PCRE that stock macOS lacks, so it is not a
-- declared dependency, and a validator picked by whether a rock happens to
-- be installed would make the same output pass here and fail there. A
-- validation failure turns the result into status "failed"; it is never
-- reported as a successful structured result.
-- * The host seam is reached through `require("panto").ext` at call time, not
-- aliased at load time, matching subagents/spawn.lua so a test can install a
-- fake `panto` module before the first call rather than before the require.
-- subagents.jobs is required the same way, so load order between the two
-- never matters.
local spawn = require("subagents.spawn")
local M = {}
local workflow_mt = { __name = "subagents.workflow" }
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Host seam access
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
local function host()
return require("panto").ext
end
-- The job machinery, resolved at call time for the same reason as the host seam.
local function jobs()
return require("subagents.jobs")
end
local function host_json()
local ok, ext = pcall(host)
if ok and type(ext) == "table" and type(ext.json) == "table" then
return ext.json
end
return nil
end
-- Decode a JSON document. Panto installs its own codec as `panto.ext.json`;
-- the dkjson fallback only matters for a bare `lua` process running the specs.
local function json_decode(text)
local json = host_json()
if json and json.decode then
return json.decode(text)
end
local ok, dkjson = pcall(require, "dkjson")
if ok and type(dkjson) == "table" and dkjson.decode then
local value, _, err = dkjson.decode(text)
if err then
error(err, 0)
end
return value
end
error("no JSON decoder available (panto.ext.json missing, dkjson not installed)", 0)
end
local function json_encode(value)
local json = host_json()
if json and json.encode then
local ok, encoded = pcall(json.encode, value)
if ok then
return encoded
end
end
local ok, dkjson = pcall(require, "dkjson")
if ok and type(dkjson) == "table" and dkjson.encode then
local encoded_ok, encoded = pcall(dkjson.encode, value)
if encoded_ok then
return encoded
end
end
return tostring(value)
end
M.json_encode = json_encode
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Schema validation
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- The validator: the JSON Schema subset that structured child output actually
-- uses. Anything it does not understand is ignored rather than rejected, so an
-- unrecognized keyword never fails a legitimate result.
local function is_array_like(value)
local count = 0
for key in pairs(value) do
if type(key) ~= "number" then
return false
end
count = count + 1
end
return count == #value
end
local function type_matches(value, expected)
if expected == "object" then
return type(value) == "table"
elseif expected == "array" then
return type(value) == "table" and is_array_like(value)
elseif expected == "string" then
return type(value) == "string"
elseif expected == "number" then
return type(value) == "number"
elseif expected == "integer" then
return type(value) == "number" and value == math.floor(value)
elseif expected == "boolean" then
return type(value) == "boolean"
elseif expected == "null" then
return value == nil or type(value) == "userdata"
end
return true
end
local function check_schema(value, schema, path)
if type(schema) ~= "table" then
return true
end
local expected = schema.type
if type(expected) == "string" then
if not type_matches(value, expected) then
return false, string.format("%s: expected %s, got %s", path, expected, type(value))
end
elseif type(expected) == "table" then
local any = false
for _, candidate in ipairs(expected) do
if type_matches(value, candidate) then
any = true
break
end
end
if not any then
return false, string.format("%s: no listed type matched %s", path, type(value))
end
end
if type(schema.enum) == "table" then
local found = false
for _, allowed in ipairs(schema.enum) do
if allowed == value then
found = true
break
end
end
if not found then
return false, string.format("%s: value is not one of the enumerated options", path)
end
end
if type(value) == "string" then
if type(schema.minLength) == "number" and #value < schema.minLength then
return false, string.format("%s: shorter than minLength %d", path, schema.minLength)
end
if type(schema.maxLength) == "number" and #value > schema.maxLength then
return false, string.format("%s: longer than maxLength %d", path, schema.maxLength)
end
end
if type(value) == "number" then
if type(schema.minimum) == "number" and value < schema.minimum then
return false, string.format("%s: below minimum %s", path, tostring(schema.minimum))
end
if type(schema.maximum) == "number" and value > schema.maximum then
return false, string.format("%s: above maximum %s", path, tostring(schema.maximum))
end
end
if type(value) ~= "table" then
return true
end
if type(schema.required) == "table" then
for _, key in ipairs(schema.required) do
if value[key] == nil then
return false, string.format("%s: missing required property '%s'", path, tostring(key))
end
end
end
if type(schema.properties) == "table" then
for key, sub in pairs(schema.properties) do
if value[key] ~= nil then
local ok, err = check_schema(value[key], sub, path .. "." .. tostring(key))
if not ok then
return false, err
end
end
end
if schema.additionalProperties == false then
for key in pairs(value) do
if schema.properties[key] == nil then
return false, string.format("%s: unexpected property '%s'", path, tostring(key))
end
end
end
end
if type(schema.items) == "table" then
if type(schema.minItems) == "number" and #value < schema.minItems then
return false, string.format("%s: fewer than minItems %d", path, schema.minItems)
end
if type(schema.maxItems) == "number" and #value > schema.maxItems then
return false, string.format("%s: more than maxItems %d", path, schema.maxItems)
end
for index, item in ipairs(value) do
local ok, err = check_schema(item, schema.items, string.format("%s[%d]", path, index))
if not ok then
return false, err
end
end
end
return true
end
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Result shaping
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
local function copy_result(result)
local shaped = {}
if type(result) == "table" then
for key, value in pairs(result) do
shaped[key] = value
end
end
if shaped.status == nil then
shaped.status = "failed"
shaped.error = shaped.error or "the host returned no result for this job"
shaped.resumable = false
end
return shaped
end
local function fail(shaped, message)
shaped.status = "failed"
shaped.error = message
shaped.output = nil
return shaped
end
-- Turn a host result into the value a workflow callback sees. Only handles
-- carrying an output schema decode structured JSON; everything else passes
-- through untouched.
local function shape_result(result, handle)
local shaped = copy_result(result)
local schema = handle and handle.output_schema
if schema == nil or shaped.status ~= "completed" then
return shaped
end
-- An empty tool input is a real provider case (a chat-style provider
-- finalizes an argument-less call with ""), and it is not a validation
-- failure: nothing was produced to validate.
local raw = shaped.structured_json
if raw == nil or raw == "" then
return fail(shaped, "structured output missing: the child produced no structured result")
end
local decoded_ok, decoded = pcall(json_decode, raw)
if not decoded_ok then
return fail(shaped, "structured output failed validation: " .. tostring(decoded))
end
local valid, message = check_schema(decoded, schema, "output")
if not valid then
return fail(shaped, "structured output failed validation: " .. tostring(message or "schema mismatch"))
end
shaped.output = decoded
return shaped
end
-- The host may hand back a single result table or an array of them; both are
-- normalized to an array here. A result always carries `status`, which is what
-- distinguishes the two shapes.
local function as_result_array(value)
if type(value) ~= "table" then
return {}
end
if value.status ~= nil then
return { value }
end
return value
end
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Handles and context
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
local handle_mt = {}
handle_mt.__index = handle_mt
handle_mt.__name = "subagents.handle"
function handle_mt:await()
return self.ctx:await({ self }, "all")[1]
end
local ctx_mt = {}
ctx_mt.__index = ctx_mt
ctx_mt.__name = "subagents.ctx"
-- Per-run state lives here, not on ctx: the sandboxed guest holds the ctx table
-- and would otherwise be able to raise its own job cap (`ctx.max_jobs = nil`),
-- reset the counter, or read the profile set. ctx itself is an empty table
-- exposing only `agent` and `await`. Weak keys so a finished run is collectable.
local state = setmetatable({}, { __mode = "k" })
-- The started job stays off the handle for the same reason: a subagents.jobs
-- handle owns the child's agent and job userdata, so a guest holding a workflow
-- handle would otherwise reach `agent:run_async` directly and start children
-- outside the job cap. The guest sees only `result` and `await`.
local job_of = setmetatable({}, { __mode = "k" })
function ctx_mt:agent(input)
if type(input) ~= "table" then
error("ctx:agent expects a table of { agent =, prompt =, ... }", 2)
end
local s = state[self]
if not s then
error("ctx:agent must be called on a workflow context (use ctx:agent{...})", 2)
end
if s.max_jobs and s.job_count >= s.max_jobs then
error(string.format("workflow job limit exceeded (max %d)", s.max_jobs), 2)
end
-- spawn.build_spec owns profile lookup, model/reasoning precedence, the
-- child-role system messages, and the synthetic output tool. A nil profile
-- set means "use the cached discovery", which is what it already does.
local spec, spec_err = spawn.build_spec(input, s.profiles)
if not spec then
error(tostring(spec_err), 2)
end
local output_schema = nil
if type(spec.output) == "table" then
output_schema = spec.output.schema
end
local handle = setmetatable({
ctx = self,
spec = spec,
output_schema = output_schema,
result = nil,
}, handle_mt)
local job, job_err = spawn.spawn(spec)
if not job then
-- A rejected spawn is a child failure, not a workflow error.
handle.result = {
id = nil,
status = "failed",
error = tostring(job_err or "the host refused to start the child"),
resumable = false,
}
else
job_of[handle] = job
end
s.job_count = s.job_count + 1
s.outstanding[#s.outstanding + 1] = handle
return handle
end
-- Pick the first handle (in input order) that already holds a settled result,
-- returning it with the remaining handles.
local function take_settled(handles)
for index, handle in ipairs(handles) do
if handle.result ~= nil then
local remaining = {}
for other_index, other in ipairs(handles) do
if other_index ~= index then
remaining[#remaining + 1] = other
end
end
return handle.result, remaining
end
end
return nil, nil
end
local function pending_handles(handles)
local pending, started = {}, {}
for _, handle in ipairs(handles) do
if handle.result == nil and job_of[handle] ~= nil then
pending[#pending + 1] = handle
started[#started + 1] = job_of[handle]
end
end
return pending, started
end
function ctx_mt:await(handles, mode)
mode = mode or "all"
if type(handles) ~= "table" then
error("ctx:await expects an array of handles", 2)
end
if getmetatable(handles) == handle_mt then
handles = { handles }
end
if mode ~= "all" and mode ~= "first" then
error("ctx:await mode must be \"all\" or \"first\"", 2)
end
if mode == "all" then
local pending, started = pending_handles(handles)
if #pending > 0 then
local results = as_result_array(jobs().await(started, "all"))
for index, handle in ipairs(pending) do
handle.result = shape_result(results[index], handle)
end
end
local out = {}
for index, handle in ipairs(handles) do
out[index] = handle.result or copy_result(nil)
end
return out
end
local ready, remaining = take_settled(handles)
if ready ~= nil then
return ready, remaining
end
local pending, started = pending_handles(handles)
if #pending == 0 then
return nil, {}
end
local results, still_pending = jobs().await(started, "first")
results = as_result_array(results)
-- Everything not listed as still-running has settled; pair those handles
-- with the returned results in order. The listed jobs are the very handles
-- that went in, so they match by identity.
local settled = pending
if type(still_pending) == "table" and #still_pending > 0 then
local still_running = {}
for _, job in ipairs(still_pending) do
still_running[job] = true
end
settled = {}
for _, handle in ipairs(pending) do
if not still_running[job_of[handle]] then
settled[#settled + 1] = handle
end
end
end
for index, result in ipairs(results) do
local handle = settled[index]
if handle then
handle.result = shape_result(result, handle)
end
end
ready, remaining = take_settled(handles)
if ready == nil then
-- The await returned without settling anything; treat the batch as
-- failed rather than spinning forever on the same handles.
local first = pending[1]
first.result = copy_result(nil)
return take_settled(handles)
end
return ready, remaining
end
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Workflow objects and execution
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
function M.workflow(fn)
if type(fn) ~= "function" then
error("subagents.workflow expects a function(ctx, input)", 2)
end
return setmetatable({ run = fn }, workflow_mt)
end
function M.is_workflow(value)
return type(value) == "table" and getmetatable(value) == workflow_mt
end
-- Settle any handle the callback left running so a returning workflow never
-- orphans a child. Results are intentionally discarded.
local function drain(ctx)
local pending = {}
for _, handle in ipairs(state[ctx].outstanding) do
if handle.result == nil then
pending[#pending + 1] = handle
end
end
if #pending == 0 then
return
end
pcall(function()
ctx:await(pending, "all")
end)
end
-- Run `wf` against `input`. opts:
-- max_jobs -- cap on ctx:agent calls (nil = unbounded; the sandbox passes 32)
-- profiles -- discovered profile set for spawn.build_spec (nil = discover)
-- on_resume -- called with the running coroutine before the callback starts
-- on_yield -- called with the same coroutine once it has finished
--
-- The callback runs on the CALLER's coroutine, never a nested one:
-- `subagents.jobs.await` parks whichever coroutine is running when it suspends
-- and resumes exactly that coroutine when the job settles. A nested coroutine
-- would be the thread parked and resumed, leaving the tool handler that yielded
-- around it suspended forever.
function M.execute(wf, input, opts)
if not M.is_workflow(wf) then
error("subagents.workflow.execute expects a workflow object", 2)
end
opts = opts or {}
local ctx = setmetatable({}, ctx_mt)
state[ctx] = {
profiles = opts.profiles,
max_jobs = opts.max_jobs,
job_count = 0,
outstanding = {},
}
local co = coroutine.running()
if opts.on_resume then
opts.on_resume(co)
end
-- pcall is yieldable in 5.4, so the callback may still await across it.
local packed = table.pack(pcall(wf.run, ctx, input))
if opts.on_yield then
opts.on_yield(co)
end
drain(ctx)
if not packed[1] then
error(packed[2], 0)
end
return table.unpack(packed, 2, packed.n)
end
-- A child's output text: a structured result decodes to a table, which is
-- re-encoded compactly so anything model-visible is still a string.
function M.output_text(result)
local output = result.output
if type(output) == "table" then
return json_encode(output)
end
if output == nil or output == "" then
return tostring(result.error or "")
end
return tostring(output)
end
return M
|