The SveltyCMS Workflow Engine allows you to define complex, non-linear content lifecycles using a visual Finite State Machine (FSM) editor. This ensures strict governance and compliance across multi-stage editorial processes.

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🏗️ Core Concepts

States

A State represents a stage in the content lifecycle (e.g., Draft, Legal Review, Live).

• Start State: The initial state for all new entries.
• Terminal States: States from which no further transitions are possible (e.g., Archived).

Transitions

Transitions define the valid paths between states.

• Triggers: Actions that initiate a move (e.g., “Submit for Review”).
• Guards: Conditional logic that must pass for a transition to occur (e.g., “Requires valid SEO title”).
• Actions: Automated side effects (e.g., “Send notification to Legal team”).

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🎨 The Workflow Builder

Located at Config > Workflows, the builder provides a node-based interface for architecting your lifecycles.

Creating a Workflow

1. Click New Workflow and assign it to a collection.
2. Add States: Use the canvas to place nodes for each stage.
3. Connect Nodes: Drag from one state to another to create a transition.
4. Configure Details: Click a transition to define its label, color, and requirements.

Integration with Content Editor

Once active, the workflow replaces the standard “Publish” dropdown in the entry editor with a dynamic Action Hub matching the current state’s valid transitions.

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🔒 Governance & Security

Multi-Stage Review Pipeline

SveltyCMS supports non-binary editorial review pipelines beyond standard draft/published toggles:

[Draft] ──> [In Review] ──> [Approved] ──> [Scheduled] ──> [Published]
   │             │               │                              │
   └──<──────────┴───────<───────┴──────────────<───────────────┴──> [Archived]

Standard editorial stages include:

• draft: Initial authoring and scratch editing.
• in_review: Submitted for editorial or peer review.
• approved: Formally approved by editors/legal.
• scheduled: Queued for automated time-delayed release.
• published: Live in production and exposed to public readers.
• archived: Deprecated or unlisted historical content.

Role-Based Transition Gates

Stage changes are gated through the workflow:transition RBAC permission and stage-specific role constraints:

• Authors can submit content from draft $\to$ in_review.
• Only Senior Editors or Legal reviewers can transition from in_review $\to$ approved.
• Publishers can transition from approved $\to$ published.

Immutable Audit Trail & Editorial Comments

Every transition automatically creates an audit history record:

interface WorkflowHistoryEntry {
  transitionId: string;
  fromState: string;
  toState: string;
  performedBy: string; // User ID
  performedAt: ISODateString;
  comment?: string; // Editorial review feedback
}

History can be inspected in the UI or retrieved programmatically:

const history = await cms.workflow.getHistory("articles", "entry_123");

Programmatic SDK Transition

Workflows can be advanced programmatically via the LocalCMS SDK:

const result = await cms.workflow.transition({
  collectionId: "articles",
  entryId: "entry_123",
  targetState: "approved",
  comment: "Legal review completed, approved for release.",
  user: currentUser,
});

Signed Approval Links

For external stakeholders without CMS access, the engine can generate HMAC-signed one-click approval links via the Automation System.

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🤖 AI & Automation

The Workflow Engine integrates deeply with:

• Automation System: Automatically trigger workflows based on events.
• AI Agent: Use the agent to “Analyze and advance” content based on quality checks.

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📚 Related Documentation

• Automation System: For triggering transitions via events.
• Content System Architecture: For understanding node structures.
• Access management: Roles that may run a transition.

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Related

• Documentation hub
• Widget System
• Security Overview