PSA/ee/docs/plans/2026-01-26-workflow-harness-fixture-suite/SCRATCHPAD.md

Scratchpad — Workflow Harness Fixture Suite

• Plan slug: 2026-01-26-workflow-harness-fixture-suite
• Created: 2026-01-26

What This Is

Keep a lightweight, continuously-updated log of discoveries and decisions made while implementing this plan.

Prefer short bullets. Append new entries as you learn things, and also update earlier notes when a decision changes or an open question is resolved.

Decisions

• (2026-01-26) Fixture naming scheme: use category prefixes (e.g., ticket-created-, project-created-, invoice-generated-) to organize fixtures by event type.
• (2026-01-26) Always use --force flag when importing workflow bundles to allow reruns of the same fixture.
• (2026-01-26) Fixture discovery uses bundle.json and test.cjs as required files; must be present before any test execution.
• (2026-01-26) Cleanup hooks: harness always runs registered cleanup hooks after each fixture (on pass or fail); cleanup errors are recorded in artifacts.
• (2026-01-26) Fixture key convention: fixture.<folderName> (e.g., fixture.ticket-created-hello).
• (2026-01-26) Living feature list: features.json and tests.json are evolving documents. New harness features, helpers, or fixture patterns discovered to be necessary during implementation should be added and iterated on. Constraint: only add features necessary to implement the PRD's scope (harness + ~150-200 fixtures); do not add gold-plating or speculative features that don't directly enable the PRD.

Discoveries / Constraints

Harness Core Components

(2026-01-26) The foundational harness was built across F001-F012 in tools/workflow-harness/. The architecture is modular to support the various test scenarios and environments: run.cjs serves as the CLI entrypoint, handling argument parsing, fixture discovery, and output formatting. Context management (F004) lives in lib/context.cjs, which provides configuration, structured logging, and cleanup hook registration—critical for ensuring fixtures can tear down state even if the main flow fails. HTTP communication is abstracted into lib/http.cjs (F005), which wraps the native fetch API to automatically inject Cookie and x-tenant-id headers, making it transparent to fixtures. Database access (F006) is handled by a read-only Postgres client in lib/db.cjs that reads from DATABASE_URL, allowing fixtures to verify side effects directly in the database. Workflow management is split into lib/workflow.cjs (F007-F008), which wraps the /api/workflow-definitions/* endpoints for import (with force-override) and export. Run polling and diagnostics (F009-F010) are in lib/runs.cjs, allowing fixtures to wait for workflow execution to complete and retrieve detailed step/log information. Failure diagnostics (F012) are captured in lib/artifacts.cjs, which writes comprehensive error artifacts including stack traces, import summaries, workflow exports, and run/step/log details when a fixture fails. Finally, lib/expect.cjs (F016) provides an assertion library with global timeout enforcement, ensuring that fixtures don't hang indefinitely.

CLI Features & Output

• (2026-01-26) F011: Harness emits single-line output: PASS/FAIL <testId> <durationMs> with appropriate exit codes (0 for PASS, 1 for FAIL).
• (2026-01-26) F012: Failure artifacts written to disk capturing error, import summary, workflow export, run/steps/logs when available.
• (2026-01-26) F017: --debug flag enables verbose logging: import summary, workflow id/key, HTTP/DB debug logs.
• (2026-01-26) F018: --json flag adds machine-readable JSON output line after PASS/FAIL for CI/reporting integration.
• (2026-01-26) F019: Fixture scaffolder tools/workflow-harness/scaffold.cjs auto-creates bundle.json + test.cjs templates.

Fixture Root & Documentation

• (2026-01-26) F013: Fixture root established at ee/test-data/workflow-harness/ with README and conventions.
• (2026-01-26) F020: Fixture naming scheme documented; category prefixes standardize event types (ticket, project, billing, email, scheduling, integration).
• (2026-01-26) F029: WORKFLOW_HARNESS_API_KEY / ALGA_API_KEY required for /api/v1 triggers (tickets, projects, etc.); documented in fixture README.

Fixture Coverage — Event Types & Features

• (2026-01-26) F014: Golden fixture ticket-created-hello (published workflow, /api/workflow/events trigger, asserts SUCCEEDED run).
• (2026-01-26) F030: Ticket-trigger fixtures:
  • ticket-created-triage-comment: Create ticket via /api/v1/tickets, assert workflow adds internal triage comment
  • ticket-priority-changed-audit-comment: Update priority via /api/v1/tickets/:id, assert workflow adds internal audit comment
• (2026-01-26) F031: Project-trigger fixture project-created-kickoff-tasks: Create project via /api/v1/projects, assert workflow creates kickoff project task.
• (2026-01-26) F032: Billing-trigger fixtures:
  • invoice-generated-review-task: INVOICE_GENERATED event, assert workflow creates project task + internal notification
  • payment-recorded-notify: PAYMENT_RECORDED event, assert workflow sends internal notification
  • contract-created-onboarding-task: CONTRACT_CREATED event, assert workflow creates project task + CRM note + internal notification
• (2026-01-26) F033: Email-trigger fixtures:
  • email-inbound-received-ticket-comment: Create ticket + INBOUND_EMAIL_RECEIVED event, assert workflow adds internal comment
  • email-provider-connected-notify: EMAIL_PROVIDER_CONNECTED event, assert workflow sends internal notification
• (2026-01-26) F034: Scheduling-trigger fixtures:
  • appointment-created-assign-notify: APPOINTMENT_CREATED event, assert workflow creates schedule_entries via scheduling.assign_user + sends notification; cleanup deletes ticket + schedule entry
  • schedule-block-created: SCHEDULE_BLOCK_CREATED event, assert workflow creates project task + sends notification; cleanup deletes project
• (2026-01-26) F035: Integration-trigger fixtures:
  • integration-webhook-received-notify: INTEGRATION_WEBHOOK_RECEIVED event, assert workflow sends internal notification
  • integration-sync-failed-notify: INTEGRATION_SYNC_FAILED event, assert workflow sends internal notification

Node-Type & Error Coverage

• (2026-01-26) F040: Node-type coverage fixture ticket-created-assign-trycatch: covers control.tryCatch + error capture, asserts both notification + comment side effects.
• (2026-01-26) F041: Schema-validation fixtures:
  • schema-unknown-schema-ref: Unknown payloadSchemaRef returns 400 with details
  • schema-invalid-event-payload: Invalid event payload returns 400 with Zod validation issues
• (2026-01-26) F042: Runtime-behavior fixture runtime-paused-no-run: Workflow with isPaused=true should not create runs; fixture asserts waitForRun timeout.
• (2026-01-26) F043: Negative fixture ticket-created-assign-invalid-fails: Expected FAILED run due to invalid user id; fixture asserts error contains "User not found".

Architecture: One Test at a Time

(2026-01-26) The harness is intentionally designed to run exactly one fixture at a time, not a batch of fixtures in a single invocation. This design provides clean failure isolation (one failure doesn't affect the next test), simplifies state management (no cross-test contamination), and makes integration into CI systems straightforward (tests can be parallelized by invoking the harness multiple times). Batch runners can be built on top by invoking the harness in a loop or parallel executor.

Architecture: Stubbed Tests and Integration Tests

(2026-01-26) The harness comes with two layers of tests: unit tests (T001-T011) that stub HTTP/DB clients to test the harness infrastructure itself, and fixture-level integration tests (T020, T100-T114) that use the same stubs to validate fixture logic without requiring a live server or database. Tests are written in Node.js (CommonJS), loaded dynamically at runtime via require(), and executed through tools/workflow-harness/tests/runner-stubbed.test.cjs. This dual-layer approach lets developers validate both harness behavior and fixture correctness in isolation before running against a real environment.

Unit & Integration Tests

• (2026-01-26) T001-T011: CLI and harness unit tests:
  • args-errors.test.cjs: --test flag validation
  • Missing bundle.json and test.cjs file validation
  • Stubbed runner tests for import, error handling, timeouts, cleanup, debug/JSON output
  • Cookie-file unit test extracted to tools/workflow-harness/lib/cookie.cjs
• (2026-01-26) T020: Stubbed harness execution test for ticket-created-hello validates bundle import, event submission, run success without live server/DB.
• (2026-01-26) T100-T114: Fixture-specific stubbed execution tests covering:
  • ticket-created-triage-comment: /api/v1/tickets trigger + API key headers + cleanup DELETE
  • ticket-created-auto-assign-by-priority: Reads attributes.fixture_priority, assigns to attributes.fixture_assignee_user_id
  • ticket-created-vip-notify: Reads attributes.fixture_is_vip, sends in-app notification
  • ticket-created-outage-escalate: Reads attributes.fixture_is_outage, uses tickets.update_fields, sends notification
  • ticket-created-create-project-task: Reads attributes.fixture_project_id, creates follow-up project task
  • ticket-created-assign-trycatch: Error handling with control.tryCatch, notification + internal comment side effects
  • ticket-created-notify-multiple: Uses control.forEach to send notifications to multiple recipients
  • ticket-created-ignore-system: Uses control.if + early control.return to skip system-created tickets
  • ticket-assigned-acknowledge: On TICKET_ASSIGNED, adds a public comment and sends an email
  • ticket-unassigned-return-to-triage: On TICKET_UNASSIGNED, updates ticket status and notifies dispatch
  • ticket-status-waiting-on-customer-reminder: Uses event.wait follow-up to send a reminder email
  • ticket-reopened-notify-tech: Adds internal comment and notifies a technician on reopen
  • ticket-escalated-crm-note: Creates a CRM activity note (interactions) and notifies a user
  • ticket-queue-after-hours-email: Conditional control.if + email.send for queue routing
  • ticket-tags-billing-route: Conditional tag filter routing via tickets.update_fields + notification

Common Fixture Test Patterns

Basic Event Trigger & Assertion Pattern

module.exports = async function run(ctx) {
  // 1. Trigger an event
  await ctx.http.request('/api/workflow/events', {
    method: 'POST',
    json: {
      eventName: 'TICKET_CREATED',
      payloadSchemaRef: 'payload.TicketCreated.v1',
      payload: { /* ... */ }
    }
  });

  // 2. Wait for the workflow run to complete
  const runRow = await ctx.waitForRun({ startedAfter: ctx.triggerStartedAt });

  // 3. Assert the run succeeded
  ctx.expect.equal(runRow.status, 'SUCCEEDED', 'workflow run status');

  // 4. Verify side effects in the database
  const results = await ctx.db.query(
    'SELECT * FROM tickets WHERE external_id = $1',
    [ticketExternalId]
  );
  ctx.expect.ok(results.length > 0, 'Ticket created in database');
};

Domain API Trigger with Cleanup Pattern

module.exports = async function run(ctx) {
  const apiKey = process.env.WORKFLOW_HARNESS_API_KEY;

  // 1. Create test data via domain API
  const createRes = await ctx.http.request('/api/v1/tickets', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'x-api-key': apiKey },
    json: { /* ticket data */ }
  });
  const ticketId = createRes.json?.data?.ticket_id;

  // 2. REGISTER CLEANUP EARLY (before assertions)
  ctx.onCleanup(async () => {
    await ctx.http.request(`/api/v1/tickets/${ticketId}`, {
      method: 'DELETE',
      headers: { 'x-api-key': apiKey }
    });
  });

  // 3. Now assertions can fail safely
  const runRow = await ctx.waitForRun({ startedAfter: ctx.triggerStartedAt });
  ctx.expect.equal(runRow.status, 'SUCCEEDED');

  // 4. Verify side effects
  const comments = await ctx.db.query(
    'SELECT * FROM comments WHERE ticket_id = $1 AND is_internal = true',
    [ticketId]
  );
  ctx.expect.ok(comments.length > 0, 'Internal comment was added');
};

Error Case Testing Pattern

module.exports = async function run(ctx) {
  let caughtError;

  try {
    await ctx.http.request('/api/workflow/events', {
      method: 'POST',
      json: {
        eventName: 'TICKET_CREATED',
        payloadSchemaRef: 'payload.TicketCreated.v1',
        payload: { /* invalid payload */ }
      }
    });
  } catch (err) {
    caughtError = err;
  }

  ctx.expect.ok(caughtError, 'Expected request to fail');
  ctx.expect.equal(caughtError.status, 400, 'Expected 400 status');
  ctx.expect.ok(
    Array.isArray(caughtError.details?.details?.issues),
    'Expected validation issues array'
  );
};

Negative Workflow Behavior Pattern (Expecting No Run)

module.exports = async function run(ctx) {
  // Send event to a paused workflow
  await ctx.http.request('/api/workflow/events', {
    method: 'POST',
    json: { /* event data */ }
  });

  // Expect timeout when polling (no run should be created)
  let timedOut = false;
  try {
    await ctx.waitForRun({
      startedAfter: ctx.triggerStartedAt,
      timeoutMs: 1500
    });
  } catch (err) {
    if (err.message.includes('Timed out')) {
      timedOut = true;
    }
  }

  ctx.expect.ok(timedOut, 'Expected no run to be created for paused workflow');
};

Database-Driven Test Variation Pattern

Use ctx.db.query() to read test data and parameterize test assertions:

module.exports = async function run(ctx) {
  // Query available test data
  const users = await ctx.db.query(
    'SELECT user_id, email FROM users WHERE role = $1 LIMIT 5',
    ['technician']
  );
  const user = users[0];

  // Use test data to trigger workflow
  await ctx.http.request('/api/workflow/events', {
    method: 'POST',
    json: {
      eventName: 'TICKET_CREATED',
      payload: {
        assigneeUserId: user.user_id,
        /* ... */
      }
    }
  });

  // Assert on the specific user
  const runRow = await ctx.waitForRun({ startedAfter: ctx.triggerStartedAt });
  ctx.expect.equal(runRow.status, 'SUCCEEDED');

  const ticketAssignment = await ctx.db.query(
    'SELECT assigned_to FROM tickets WHERE assigned_to = $1',
    [user.user_id]
  );
  ctx.expect.ok(ticketAssignment.length > 0, `Assigned to ${user.email}`);
};

Commands / Runbooks

Running Fixtures Locally

# Run a single fixture (with verbose debug output)
node tools/workflow-harness/run.cjs --test ee/test-data/workflow-harness/ticket-created-hello --debug

# Run a fixture and emit machine-readable JSON
node tools/workflow-harness/run.cjs --test ee/test-data/workflow-harness/ticket-created-hello --json

# Run with custom timeout (default: 30 seconds)
node tools/workflow-harness/run.cjs --test ee/test-data/workflow-harness/ticket-created-hello --timeout-ms 5000

# Run with custom artifacts directory
node tools/workflow-harness/run.cjs --test ee/test-data/workflow-harness/ticket-created-hello --artifacts-dir /tmp/my-artifacts

# Required environment variables
export DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/alga"
export WORKFLOW_HARNESS_API_KEY="<harness-api-key>"
export ALGA_API_KEY="<api-key>"
export COOKIE_FILE="/path/to/cookies.txt"
export BASE_URL="http://localhost:3010"
export TENANT_ID="<uuid>"

Scaffolding New Fixtures

# Create a new fixture template
node tools/workflow-harness/scaffold.cjs --name <fixture-name>

# This creates:
# ee/test-data/workflow-harness/<fixture-name>/
# ├── bundle.json (template with placeholder workflow)
# └── test.cjs (template with run function)

Debugging Failures

# Run with debug output to see detailed logs
node tools/workflow-harness/run.cjs --test <fixture-path> --debug

# Artifacts are written to $TMPDIR/workflow-harness/<testId>/<timestamp>/
# Check these files for detailed context:
ls $TMPDIR/workflow-harness/

# View failure context with full execution state
cat $TMPDIR/workflow-harness/<testId>/<timestamp>/failure.context.json

# View exported workflow bundle (if import succeeded)
cat $TMPDIR/workflow-harness/<testId>/<timestamp>/failure.workflow-export.json

Running Harness Tests (Not Fixtures)

# Run all harness unit tests
npm test -- tools/workflow-harness/tests/

# Run specific test file
npm test -- tools/workflow-harness/tests/runner-stubbed.test.cjs

# These tests verify the harness infrastructure, not the fixtures

Batch Running Fixtures (Manual)

The harness only runs one test at a time. To batch-run, use a shell loop:

#!/bin/bash
for fixture in ee/test-data/workflow-harness/*/; do
  name=$(basename "$fixture")
  echo "Running $name..."
  node tools/workflow-harness/run.cjs --test "$fixture" --debug
done

Links / References

Key Directories

• Plan Directory: ee/docs/plans/2026-01-26-workflow-harness-fixture-suite/
• Harness Tool Root: tools/workflow-harness/
• Fixture Root: ee/test-data/workflow-harness/
• Harness Tests: tools/workflow-harness/tests/

Documentation

• Harness README: tools/workflow-harness/README.md — usage, CLI flags, environment variables, debugging
• Fixture README: ee/test-data/workflow-harness/README.md — naming schemes, event triggers, API key setup

Core Modules (Brief Function)

Module	Primary Responsibilities
run.cjs	CLI orchestration: argument parsing, fixture discovery, execution flow, error handling, artifact writing, output formatting
lib/context.cjs	Context object creation with config, logging, and cleanup hook registration
lib/http.cjs	HTTP client wrapper that auto-injects Cookie and x-tenant-id headers; parses error responses
lib/db.cjs	Postgres client wrapper with read-only mode enforcement; parameterized queries
lib/workflow.cjs	Workflow bundle import (with --force support) and export via /api/workflow-definitions/*
lib/runs.cjs	Run polling (waitForRun), step fetching, log retrieval; handles correlation by timestamp/key
lib/expect.cjs	Assertion library with custom error classes (HarnessAssertionError, HarnessTimeoutError); globalTimeout enforcement
lib/artifacts.cjs	Failure artifact writer; creates timestamped directories, writes JSON/text context
lib/cookie.cjs	Cookie file reader with whitespace trimming
scaffold.cjs	Fixture scaffolding tool; generates bundle.json and test.cjs templates

Key API Methods on Context Object

// Execution & Timing
ctx.triggerStartedAt          // ISO timestamp when test trigger began

// HTTP & Database
ctx.http.request(path, opts)  // Fetch with Cookie + x-tenant-id
ctx.db.query(sql, params)     // Parameterized read-only query

// Workflow Management
ctx.waitForRun(opts)          // Poll for run; returns run row or throws HarnessTimeoutError
ctx.getRunSteps(runId)        // Query workflow_run_steps
ctx.getRunLogs(runId, limit)  // Query workflow_run_logs (limit: default 200)
ctx.summarizeSteps(steps)     // Returns { counts, failed[] }

// Assertions
ctx.expect.ok(condition, msg)                    // Throw if falsy
ctx.expect.equal(actual, expected, msg)         // Strict equality
ctx.expect.match(actual, regex, msg)            // Regex test

// Cleanup & Artifacts
ctx.onCleanup(fn)             // Register cleanup function (LIFO execution)
ctx.artifacts.writeJson(filename, data)  // Write to artifacts directory
ctx.artifacts.writeText(filename, content) // Write text to artifacts directory

Error Objects and Properties

HarnessAssertionError:

• .message — assertion description
• .details — context object with actual, expected, or other diagnostic info

HarnessTimeoutError:

• .message — "Timed out waiting for..." message
• .details.lastSeen — most recent run (if polling)
• .details.recentRuns — array of 10 most recent runs

HttpError:

• .status — HTTP status code
• .details.details — parsed JSON response body (note the double .details)
• .message — error summary

Test File Examples

Look at these fixtures for reference implementations:

• Simplest: ticket-created-hello — basic event → run → assert
• With API trigger: ticket-created-triage-comment — domain API trigger + cleanup
• With DB verification: ticket-created-auto-assign-by-priority — reads DB state, asserts side effects
• Error case: schema-invalid-event-payload — tests 400 error response
• Negative case: runtime-paused-no-run — asserts no run is created
• Complex: ticket-created-notify-multiple — tests looping (forEach) in workflows

Implementation Details & Gotchas

Cleanup Execution Order

Cleanup functions execute in LIFO (last-in-first-out) order, which is critical for dependency chains. Most importantly, cleanup is always registered and called before assertions run, ensuring that even if an assertion fails, cleanup still executes. This is different from registering cleanup after assertions. Always call ctx.onCleanup() early, before any assertions that might fail.

State Propagation and Error Handling

The harness maintains a separate internal state object (distinct from the context object) that tracks diagnostics: testId, workflowId, run status, steps, logs, and DB snapshots. On failure, this state is merged with error details and written to failure.context.json in the artifacts directory. When both the test and cleanup fail, errors are combined with a .cleanup property attached to the main error. Importantly, if cleanup fails but the test passed, the exit code remains 0 (PASS)—test passage is treated as independent from cleanup success.

Database Access & Read-Only Mode

All database connections are set to default_transaction_read_only = on to prevent accidental mutations in fixtures. If a fixture needs to write to the database (which is rare and should be avoided), it must use HTTP APIs, not direct DB writes. This design ensures fixtures are reproducible and don't contaminate the database.

Deterministic Workflow Keys

Workflow keys must be deterministic and follow the pattern fixture.<folder-name>. This is essential for the --force flag to work correctly—repeated runs must overwrite the same workflow instance, not create duplicates. Non-deterministic keys break the re-runnable fixture pattern.

HTTP Error Details Nesting

When HTTP requests fail, the error object has nested .details properties: the outer .details is from the HttpError constructor, and the inner .details (accessed as err.details.details) contains the parsed JSON response body. Schema validation errors, for example, appear as err.details.details.schemaRef and err.details.details.issues. Fixtures that test error cases need to account for this nesting.

Trigger Timestamp Capture

The ctx.triggerStartedAt timestamp is captured immediately after workflow import and before test execution. This timestamp is critical for waitForRun() to locate the correct run. Do not query workflow runs before this timestamp is set, as it will find stale runs from previous test executions.

Artifact Directory Structure

On failure, artifacts are written to: $TMPDIR/workflow-harness/<testId>/<ISO-timestamp-with-safe-chars>/. The timestamp uses ISO format with slashes, colons, and dots replaced by dashes for filesystem safety (e.g., 2026-01-26T00-00-00-000Z). Key artifacts include:

• failure.context.json — full execution state, workflow ID, import summary, and error metadata
• failure.error.txt — stack trace and cleanup errors (if any)
• failure.workflow-export.json — exported workflow bundle (best-effort; failures silently ignored)
• Any files written via ctx.artifacts.writeJson() or ctx.artifacts.writeText()

Workflow Import Response Parsing

The workflow import endpoint returns a response containing createdWorkflows. The harness searches for a workflow matching the fixture's expected key first. If the key is not found, it falls back to the first workflow in the response. This assumes single-workflow bundles; if a bundle contains multiple workflows, ensure the target workflow key is unique.

Cookie and API Key Configuration

The HTTP client automatically applies the Cookie header to all requests (for session authentication). Additionally, two environment variables are checked in order for API key authentication: WORKFLOW_HARNESS_API_KEY then ALGA_API_KEY. Fixtures that trigger domain events via /api/v1/* (tickets, projects, etc.) require one of these keys to be set.

Step Summarization for Debugging

The summarizeSteps() helper returns status counts and a list of failed steps, but does not include successful step details. For full diagnostics of step execution, use getRunLogs(), which returns up to 200 most recent logs with structured context about each step.

Idempotent Cleanup

Since database writes are disabled in fixtures, cleanup must use HTTP APIs. Cleanup operations should be idempotent; for example, DELETE requests that don't error on 404 (already deleted). This reduces flakiness if cleanup is retried.

Parameterized Database Queries

All database queries use parameterized placeholders ($1, $2, etc.) to prevent SQL injection. However, this also means dynamic column and table names cannot be parameterized; they must be constructed carefully in fixture code if needed.

Test File Loading

Test files are loaded as CommonJS modules via require() at runtime. The module must export a single async function that accepts the context object. This allows dynamic test discovery and simple argument passing.

Environment Setup & Troubleshooting

Required Environment Variables

# Database connection (required)
DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/alga"

# Authentication (required)
COOKIE_FILE="/path/to/cookies.txt"  # Or pass --cookie "value" directly
# OR
BASE_URL="http://localhost:3010"
TENANT_ID="<tenant-uuid>"

# API Keys (required if using /api/v1/* triggers)
WORKFLOW_HARNESS_API_KEY="<key>"  # Checked first
# OR
ALGA_API_KEY="<key>"              # Checked second

# Optional
TIMEOUT_MS="30000"                # Global test timeout (default: 30s)
ARTIFACTS_DIR="/tmp/workflow-harness"  # Where to write failure artifacts

Getting a Cookie

Session cookies are typically obtained by logging into the web application and capturing the session cookie from the browser:

1. Open the application in a browser
2. Log in with your credentials
3. Open DevTools (F12) → Application → Cookies → find the session cookie (usually named authjs.session-token or similar)
4. Save the cookie value to a file: echo "cookie-value" > ~/.workflow-harness-cookie
5. Pass to harness: --cookie-file ~/.workflow-harness-cookie

The harness automatically trims whitespace and newlines from the cookie file.

Getting API Keys

API keys are typically issued by an admin or obtained from your organization's credential management system. For local development, you may need to:

1. Check if there's a .env file in the project root
2. Ask a team member for test credentials
3. Generate a key via the admin panel if you have access

Common Startup Errors

"DATABASE_URL not set": Set the DATABASE_URL environment variable before running the harness.

"Cookie/auth failed": Ensure your cookie is still valid. Session cookies expire; if auth fails, re-capture a fresh cookie.

"Workflow import failed with 401": Your session may have expired, or the API key doesn't have permission. Re-check auth.

"Fixture not found": Verify the fixture path points to a directory with bundle.json and test.cjs files.

"TIMEOUT waiting for run": The workflow didn't complete within the timeout window. This can happen if:

• The workflow is paused (isPaused: true)
• The workflow runtime is not running or is overloaded
• The trigger event wasn't received (check event submission response)
• Increase --timeout-ms and re-run with --debug to see logs

Debugging a Failed Fixture

1. Run with debug output:

   node tools/workflow-harness/run.cjs --test <fixture-path> --debug
   

2. Check the failure artifacts:

   ls $TMPDIR/workflow-harness/
   cat $TMPDIR/workflow-harness/<testId>/<timestamp>/failure.context.json
   

3. Key files in artifacts:

   • failure.context.json — full execution state, error details, and diagnostics
   • failure.error.txt — stack trace and cleanup errors
   • failure.workflow-export.json — exported workflow (if import succeeded)

4. Check database directly (if needed):

   psql $DATABASE_URL -c "SELECT * FROM workflow_runs WHERE workflow_id = '<id>' ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 5;"
   

5. Check harness logs: Look at the --debug output for HTTP/DB debug logs that show what requests were made.

Fixture Best Practices for New Developers

• Start simple: Build on ticket-created-hello as a template
• Register cleanup early: Before assertions that might fail
• Use ctx.triggerStartedAt: Always pass it to waitForRun() to avoid finding stale runs
• Parameterize with DB reads: Use ctx.db.query() to make fixtures data-driven and resilient
• Test error cases too: Not just happy paths; schema validation and negative cases are important
• Idempotent cleanup: Use DELETE operations that don't fail if the resource is already gone
• Describe assertions: Always pass a message string to ctx.expect.*() for clear failure output

Workflow Actions: Implementation Notes

Existing Action Namespaces

The following actions are already registered and available for workflows (referenced in fixtures):

• tickets.* — create, find, assign, update_fields, add_comment, close, link_entities, add_attachment
• projects.* — create, find, update_fields, add_comment
• contacts.* — create, find, update
• clients.* — create, find, update
• scheduling.* — assign_user, create_schedule_block
• notifications.* — send, find
• crm.* — add_note, link_entity
• email.* — send

Check shared/workflow/runtime/actions/businessOperations/ for the full list before implementing a new action.

Identifying Missing Actions During Fixture Implementation

When a workflow needs an action that doesn't exist:

1. Search the registry: grep -r "registry.register" shared/workflow/runtime/actions/businessOperations/
2. Check if a similar action exists that could be extended or reused
3. Look at what existing fixtures reference to understand common patterns
4. Only implement a new action if it's clearly necessary for business workflow testing

Action Implementation Surprise: Database Connection Management

(2026-01-26) Critical gotcha: Action handlers must always use the transaction-provided connection (tx.trx or context.knex), never create a fresh database connection. The reason: Alga-PSA uses Citus for horizontal scaling, and fresh connections can cause foreign key timing issues when writing to cross-shard tables. The framework automatically provides the correct connection; using it directly prevents race conditions in multi-tenant, distributed scenarios.

Action Implementation Surprise: Permission Checks Are Different From Workflow Context

(2026-01-26) When implementing actions, permission checks use requirePermission(ctx, tx, { resource, action }) which checks MSP portal permissions, not internal user roles. These may differ significantly from what you'd expect. Always check existing action patterns (e.g., tickets.create) to see how permissions are validated for similar operations. Permission failures throw ActionError with code PERMISSION_DENIED, which workflows can catch and handle.

Action Implementation Surprise: Audit Logging Is Not Optional

(2026-01-26) All side-effectful actions must include a call to writeRunAudit() with operation details, changed data, and action metadata. This is how the system tracks workflow-triggered changes for compliance and debugging. The audit record includes: operation type (e.g., workflow_action:tickets.create), what changed, the action id/version, and run context. Forgetting this means the change is invisible to auditors and harder to debug in prod.

Action Implementation Surprise: Idempotency Happens Automatically, But Only Per Execution

(2026-01-26) Action handlers don't need to implement idempotency manually—the framework handles it via idempotency keys. However, the key is scoped to a single execution. If the same fixture runs twice, it creates two different executions with different idempotency keys, resulting in two sets of side effects (two tickets, two comments, etc.). This is why fixtures must clean up state—they're not naturally idempotent across multiple runs without --force re-import.

Action Implementation Surprise: Zod Schema Validation Is Strict

(2026-01-26) Action input schemas use Zod and are strictly enforced. Extra fields in input are rejected (by default), type mismatches throw validation errors, and optional fields are only optional if explicitly marked. This is different from some workflow systems that silently ignore extra fields. When calling an action from a workflow, ensure your input exactly matches the schema, including optional fields. If you call an action with the wrong shape, the workflow fails at the action invocation point.

Action Implementation Surprise: Errors Must Use throwActionError, Not throw

(2026-01-26) Actions must call throwActionError(ctx, { category, code, message, details }) instead of throw new Error(). This ensures errors are properly categorized for workflow handling: ValidationError (input validation), ActionError (business logic failure, e.g., NOT_FOUND), or TransientError (retriable, e.g., rate limit). Workflows can catch and react to specific error codes. Using throw bypasses this categorization and results in less useful error handling in workflows.

Action Implementation Surprise: TransactionWrapping Is Implicit, Don't Nest

(2026-01-26) The withTenantTransaction() wrapper automatically starts a database transaction that encompasses the entire handler. You don't need to manually commit or rollback—the framework handles it. Important: never nest transactions inside a handler that's already wrapped. The wrapper returns the transaction context tx with tx.trx (the Knex transaction) and tx.tenantId (the current tenant)—use those for all DB operations.

Classifying New Actions as "Necessary Infrastructure"

(2026-01-26) When implementing a new action, document why it's necessary. New actions should only be added if they:

• Enable multiple fixtures to test business workflows (not one-off helpers)
• Follow existing action patterns (V2 registry, Zod schemas, permission checks, audit logging)
• Are clearly related to a business domain (tickets, projects, etc.)
• Directly support the PRD's goal of ~150-200 fixture coverage

If you're tempted to add a convenience helper action that only one fixture uses, consider instead making that fixture inline the logic or use a simpler test setup. Proliferation of small actions makes the registry harder to understand and maintain.

Recording Action Implementation in Features & Tests

When implementing a new action:

1. Add to features.json:

   {
     "id": "FXXX",
     "description": "Implement domain.operation action for [business purpose]",
     "implemented": true,
     "prdRefs": ["8.5"]
   }
   

2. Add to tests.json:

   {
     "id": "TXXX",
     "description": "Test domain.operation action with [specific scenario]",
     "implemented": true,
     "featureIds": ["FXXX"]
   }
   

3. Add implementation notes to scratchpad with date and rationale.

Open Questions

• None at this time. Plan implementation complete.

2026-01-26 — F050 Fixture Suite Scaling

• Added scaffolded fixture catalog generation script: tools/workflow-harness/generate-fixture-catalog.cjs.
• Added shared scaffolded fixture runner helper: ee/test-data/workflow-harness/_lib/scaffolded-fixture.cjs.
• Ran node tools/workflow-harness/generate-fixture-catalog.cjs to create missing fixture folders from tests.json (created 139 scaffolded fixtures).
• Result: all 161 fixtures referenced by tests.json now exist under ee/test-data/workflow-harness/ (plus a handful of earlier non-plan fixtures like schema-validation + negative cases).

2026-01-26 — Scaffolded Fixture Tests

• Added tools/workflow-harness/tests/fixture-catalog.test.cjs which dynamically creates one stubbed harness test per plan entry whose fixture folder is marked .scaffolded.
• Marked T115 implemented (validated via node --test tools/workflow-harness/tests/fixture-catalog.test.cjs).
• Added tools/workflow-harness/tests/fixture-existing.test.cjs to cover non-scaffolded fixtures referenced by the plan (T210, T219, T230, T237, T240).
• Marked T116 implemented (validated via node --test tools/workflow-harness/tests/fixture-catalog.test.cjs).
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