uipath-api-workflow

name: uipath-api-workflow description: "UiPath API Workflow assistant — author, run, package, publish JSON workflows executed by uip api-workflow run. Covers logical/hierarchical structure (Sequence, Assign, JavaScript, If with #Wrapper/#Then/#Else, ForEach, DoWhile, Break, TryCatch, Wait, Response — including nested patterns) AND HTTP / Integration Service connector activities (Gmail, Outlook, GitHub, Slack, etc.) authored via uip api-workflow registry resolve + stub. Triggers on prompts about UiPath API workflows, project type "Api", JSON workflow files containing document.dsl/do[], any of those activity types, or fetching data from a public/vendor API. Uses uip api-workflow run for local execution and uip solution pack/publish for deployment. For .flow Maestro→uipath-maestro-flow. For .xaml/coded RPA→uipath-rpa. For coded agents→uipath-agents. For Coded Apps→uipath-coded-apps." allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep

UiPath API Workflow Assistant

Build, run, and publish UiPath API Workflows — JSON files conforming to the CNCF Serverless Workflow DSL 1.0.0 with UiPath activity-type extensions. Executed by @uipath/api-workflow-executor via uip api-workflow run. Packaged as Type: "Api" projects via uip solution pack.

When to Use This Skill

• User wants to create or edit an API workflow JSON file
• User wants to run an API workflow locally with uip api-workflow run
• User wants to package an API workflow project into .nupkg / solution .zip
• User wants to publish an API workflow to UiPath Cloud / Orchestrator
• User asks about activity types (Sequence, Assign, JavaScript, If, ForEach, DoWhile, Break, TryCatch, Wait, Response, HTTP Request, Connector)
• User asks about nested control flow — If inside ForEach, TryCatch around a loop, conditional Break, multi-way branching, etc.
• User asks for an Integration Service connector activity (Gmail Send Email, Outlook Get Newest Email, GitHub Search Issues, Slack Send Message, etc.) — follow the discovery flow in references/connector-activity-discovery.md
• User asks for a generic HTTP Request that needs to render in StudioWeb's designer — same discovery flow
• User asks about JavaScript expressions, $context, $input, $workflow, WorkflowStart, or the export.as pattern
• User asks how to debug a failing API workflow run

Do NOT use for: .flow Maestro flows (→ uipath-maestro-flow), .xaml / coded RPA (→ uipath-rpa), coded agents (→ uipath-agents), Coded Web Apps (→ uipath-coded-apps).

Core Principles

1. Know before you write. Read the existing workflow file before editing. Read an example template before creating from scratch.
2. Start minimal, iterate to correct. Add one activity at a time. Run with --no-auth --output json after each addition. Fix what breaks. Repeat.
3. Validate before running. uip api-workflow validate is the offline static pre-flight (autonomous); uip api-workflow run is the runtime validator that catches what static analysis can't (live HTTP, expression evaluation, connection state) and needs user consent. See rules 20–21.
4. Fix errors by category. Triage: Structure > Expression > Activity Config > Logic. Higher-category fixes often resolve lower-category errors automatically.

Critical Rules

Rule 0 — Escalate big design forks before you build (highest priority, read first). When the happy path doesn't work out of the box and the resolution is a judgment call the user would reasonably want to own, STOP and ask before committing to a branch. Present the concrete options with their trade-offs and a recommended default; proceed only on the user's answer. Triggers (non-exhaustive): no valid connection for a required activity (rule 16); no curated activity exists and the choice is generic activity vs. raw Http kind vs. a different connector; the requested operation isn't exposed by any resolvable activity and the fallback is a hand-built HTTP call against an undocumented endpoint; an input the prompt assumed is missing and the alternatives are placeholder, hardcoded value, or new workflow input; the prompt is satisfiable by structurally different workflows (single connector call vs. ForEach over a list). This does NOT cover mechanical choices with an obvious answer (variable names, activity key suffixes, export-pattern selection) — decide those and move on. Reserve escalation for forks where guessing wrong wastes work or ships something the user didn't intend.

Ask the fork BEFORE branch-specific research, not after. Once you spot a structural fork, do only the shared work needed to surface the options (the cheap resolve that proves no curated activity exists, the connections list/ping that proves no connection works), then ask. Do NOT pre-research every branch — stubbing each candidate activity, describing resources, drafting alternative workflow shapes — so the user can "pick from finished work." The user picks one branch; deep work on the others is thrown away. Sequence: detect fork → minimal shared discovery → ask → then research and build only the chosen branch.

1. Workflow file is JSON, not YAML. Top-level keys: document (with dsl: "1.0.0"), evaluate (language: "javascript", mode: "strict"), do (one root sequence — named Sequence_1 in the template skeleton, but the literal key may differ in existing workflows; always read the actual key from the file before editing — containing WorkflowStart + user activities). See references/workflow-file-format.md.

2. WorkflowStart is always the first activity inside the root sequence's do array. It hydrates variable defaults into $context.variables and forwards inputs to $input. Never remove, rename, or modify it. isTransparent: true (only WorkflowStart uses true).

3. Every activity is a single-key object wrapped in the do array: { "<ActivityKey>": { ...activity body... } }. Activity keys must be globally unique across the whole workflow — including #Wrapper, #Then, #Else, #Body suffixes.

4. Every activity should export its output to propagate state. Two patterns:

   • Variables (Assign only): { ...$context, variables: { ...$context.variables, ...$output } }
   • Outputs (everything else): { ...$context, outputs: { ...$context?.outputs, "<ActivityKey>": $output } } See references/expressions-and-context.md.

5. String literals in Assign.set / Response / If when MUST be wrapped as "${'literal'}" — a JS string inside an expression. Plain "literal" runs fine under uip api-workflow run, but StudioWeb's designer normalizes unwrapped values to "${literal}" on save (treating them as expressions you typed into the property panel). At runtime the bare identifier literal has no binding → ReferenceError: literal is not defined. Use single quotes inside the expression to avoid JSON escaping: "set": { "tier": "${'PLATINUM'}" }. Numbers, booleans, and references like ${$context.variables.X} need no extra wrapping. (Response payloads have a related but distinct constraint — see rule 15.) Scope: this rule applies to Assign / Response / If / variable contexts only. It does NOT apply to connector bodyParameters / queryParameters / pathParameters — those take BARE literals; ${'...'} there is read as an expression and the field is cleared on save. See rule 16 and references/connector-activity-discovery.md#field-shape-rules-flat-keys-bare-literals-renamed-export-hub-prefix. See references/troubleshooting.md.

6. Each Assign activity MUST set exactly ONE variable. Assign.set is a single-key object, NOT a multi-variable update. StudioWeb's designer collapses multi-key set blocks to one key on save, silently dropping the others — the runtime then only updates the surviving key. To update N variables, use N separate Assign activities placed sequentially in the same do array. Example: instead of "set": { "sum": "${$context.variables.sum + 1}", "count": "${$context.variables.count + 1}" } (loses count after StudioWeb save), write two Assigns — Assign_Sum with "set": { "sum": "${...}" } and Assign_Count with "set": { "count": "${...}" }. Each runs in order; each Assign's variables export merges its single key into $context.variables.

7. If activity requires the wrapper pattern. If_N#Wrapper contains If_N (switch), If_N#Then, If_N#Else. Both #Then and #Else MUST end with "then": "exit" to prevent fall-through. Conditions in when MUST be wrapped in ${...}. For deeply-nested If patterns and multi-way branching, see references/control-flow-patterns.md.

8. Loops (ForEach, DoWhile) require a #Body element inside do. ForEach body uses index-aware accumulation (resets on iteration 0); DoWhile body uses simple accumulation. Loop variables (each, at) are plain strings, NOT expressions.

9. DoWhile for.in is always "${ [1] }". The doWhile condition controls repetition. The body MUST update the condition variable, otherwise the loop runs forever.

10. Nested loops MUST use distinct iterator/index names. Outer for.each: "outerItem", inner for.each: "innerItem". Reusing currentItem shadows the outer. "Distinct" just means "not the same string" — semantic (outerItem / innerItem) and incremental (item1 / item2, currentItem / currentItem2) naming both work.

11. Loop iterators and catch error variables are prefixed with $ in expressions. Declare for.each: "currentItem" (plain string, no $); reference it everywhere else (in when conditions, in script bodies, in set expressions, in body export patterns) as $currentItem — the $ is a literal character in the global identifier name. currentItem is not a reserved name — for.each: "customer" binds $customer, for.each: "row" binds $row, etc. Same shape for for.at ($currentItemIndex, $idx, etc.) and catch.as ($error, $err, etc.). Empirically verified: the executor calls setVariables({"$currentItem": item, ...}) — currentItem (no $) is not bound as a global. Forgetting the $ produces <name> is not defined.

12. Break exits only the innermost enclosing loop. To exit nested loops, set a flag variable + check it in the outer loop. Break value MUST be the string "true", with then: "exit" and set: "${$input}". Only valid inside a #Body.

13. Use $workflow.input.<name> to read workflow inputs, never $input.<name>. $input is the task's input — for any non-first task, it's the previous task's output, NOT the workflow arguments.

14. JavaScript scripts read $context/$workflow/$input as globals. Scripts MUST return a value. The task's run.script.arguments field is StudioWeb designer scaffolding — keep it as the standard "${{ \"$context\": $context, \"$workflow\": $workflow, \"$input\": $input }}" block for designer roundtrip; the runtime ignores it.

15. Response activity shape — STRICT for StudioWeb roundtrip:

    • markJobAsFailed is a sibling of response, not nested inside it.
    • Always include "then": "end" — without it, the workflow does not terminate properly. then: "end" is for Response only; then: "exit" is for control-flow branches/loops.
    • Object-valued responses MUST use the single-expression form, NOT the JSON-object-with-${}-fields form. StudioWeb's designer corrupts the latter on save (issue SW-28452 / UiPath/cli#1537).
      • ✗ Wrong (CLI runs but StudioWeb corrupts): "response": { "tier": "${$context.variables.tier}", "count": "${$context.variables.count}" }
      • ✓ Correct: "response": "${{ tier: $context.variables.tier, count: $context.variables.count }}" Inside the outer ${{ ... }} you are already in expression scope, so reference variables/outputs directly without an inner ${...} wrapper. JS object literal keys can be unquoted identifiers (tier:, count:); literal string values use single quotes (status: 'ok'); numbers/booleans/references are bare. The designer leaves an already-wrapped single expression alone; the JSON-object form gets flattened to a stringified expression where inner ${...} substitutions are inside JS double-quoted strings (which don't interpolate), turning each field into the literal text of its expression.
      • Either "${ { ... } }" (single-brace, expression-of-object-literal) or "${{ ... }}" (double-brace, object-literal-expression form) is valid — both evaluate to the same JS object. Pick one and stay consistent within a workflow.
    • For single-value responses (returning one variable or one expression), the simple form is fine: "response": "${$context.outputs.Javascript_1}" or "response": "${'done'}".
    • On-disk is authoritative. Even with the single-expression workaround, every StudioWeb designer save can re-trigger normalization passes that may corrupt the Response shape. After any designer roundtrip, re-validate with uip api-workflow run --no-auth and re-apply the workaround if needed. Until SW-28452 ships a fix, treat the file on disk as truth, not what the designer renders.

16. Connector activities (HTTP + Integration Service) come from uip api-workflow registry resolve + stub — never hand-author or guess. The stub computes metadata.configuration, the kind (UiPath.Http vs UiPath.IntSvc), the endpoint (with hub prefix), SlotKey, and ExportBucketKey (which can differ — HTTP slot HttpRequest_1 vs bucket http_request_1). Use all of them verbatim; NEVER invent a uiPathActivityTypeId, hand-author metadata.configuration, or reconstruct a key from objectName. Non-negotiables (full step-by-step, field-shape rules, multipart, and worked examples in references/connector-activity-discovery.md):

    • A keyword resolve miss is NOT proof no curated activity exists — verify connector-first before giving up. resolve AND-matches every token, so a marketing phrase + guessed verb over-narrows (the product "UiPath Data Fabric" carries connectorKey: uipath-uipath-dataservice and activity names like "Create Entity Record" — resolve "data fabric insert" returns 0; fewer/truer tokens, not more). Before concluding none exists or falling back to a hand-built HTTP call (a Rule 0 fork): map the product/vendor → connector key with uip is connectors list --filter "<product>", then enumerate with uip is activities list <connector-key>. Do NOT hardcode/guess the key — look it up. See the reference's Step 1 recovery.
    • IntSvc/vendor activities require a pinged connection. uip is connections ping <uuid> must succeed before authoring — listing-state ≠ runtime-state; an Enabled connection can still 401 in cloud. An empty listing is NOT proof no connection exists — uip is connections list is folder-scoped. On empty/failed listing, walk the fallbacks in order: unfiltered uip is connections list, then uip is connections list --all-folders (catches connections in other folders), re-pinging a different Id for that ConnectorKey each time.
    • No connection pings cleanly → STOP and ask the user — do not decide alone. Offer: (a) continue with a placeholder (stub without --connection-id, leaving the <REPLACE_WITH_VENDOR_CONNECTION_UUID> sentinel — workflow is structurally complete but 401s until replaced; only with explicit user consent), or (b) stop and wait for the user to create/fix the connection, then re-ping. Never silently emit the placeholder, never silently abort. (Instance of Rule 0 — escalate design forks.)
    • NEVER ship a <REPLACE_WITH_*> placeholder in with.connectionId / connectionResourceId / Http bodyParameters.url. StudioWeb renders it as a broken connection and the workflow 401s. The placeholder is a sentinel for "re-stub with the real value," not a fill-in-later field.
    • After every stub, cross-check required fields — the stub drops required: true request fields (e.g. Outlook getNewestEmail needs parentFolderId). Confirm via uip is resources describe ... --operation <op> or the stub's own metadata.configuration inputFields; re-stub with --inputs if missing.
    • Connector params use flat dotted keys and BARE literals. "message.toRecipients": "...", not nested objects; plain "x@y.com", not "${'x@y.com'}" — rule 5's wrap is inverted here (${'...'} clears the field on save). Real references (${$context...}) stay wrapped.
    • NEVER use Http kind with a vendor connection UUID (401 "Invalid Element token"). IntSvc output is wrapped: read $context.outputs.<ExportBucketKey>.content.<field>.
    • (Solutions-mode + IntSvc only) sync the connection into the catalogue: uip api-workflow bindings sync --workflow <Workflow.json> then uip solution resource refresh --solution-folder <path>. Skip for Http kind, non-connector activities, and standalone (no Solution/) projects.

17. Pass input as a JSON string. --input-arguments '{"key":"value"}'. Invalid JSON exits 1.

18. Always --output json when parsing CLI output programmatically. Success → { "Result": "Success", "Code": "WorkflowRun", "Data": {...} }. Failure → { "Result": "Failure", "Message": "...", "Instructions": "..." } with exit 1.

19. Build & publish goes through the solution packager. API workflows pack via uip solution pack <solutionDir> <outputDir> and publish via uip solution publish <package.zip>. There is no uip api-workflow build or uip api-workflow publish command. Project type must be "Api" in the solution .uipx.

20. uip api-workflow validate <Workflow.json> is the autonomous closure step for every authoring or edit cycle. Run it as the LAST command before asking the user anything about runtime. It's offline (no auth, no network, no side effects): JSON Schema + semantic checks on the static file. Output codes:

    • Result: "Success", Code: "ApiwfValidate", Data.Status: "Valid" (exit 0) — possibly with Data.Warnings. Proceed to rule 21 (ask the user whether to run).
    • Result: "Failure" (exit 1) — do NOT bother the user. Read Instructions, locate the offending activity by its JSON path (e.g. /do/0/Sequence_1/do/2/Mystery_1/metadata/activityType), edit Workflow.json to fix it, then re-validate. Loop until pass.

    Reading the error list. AJV schema errors from oneOf branches produce duplicate "Missing required property" noise (each unmatched variant lists all its required fields). Focus on the semantic-tail errors — the ones with prose messages like Unknown activityType 'X', must contain a 'do' with inner 'switch', is missing 'metadata.configuration', Variable must have a non-empty 'type'. Those uniquely identify the root cause. Fix one root cause, re-validate, repeat — don't chase the schema-level fanout one by one.

    What validate catches: malformed JSON; unknown activityType values (see VALID_ACTIVITY_TYPES list in the validate source); per-activity required keys (If → do + inner switch, Sequence → do, Assign → set, ForEach → for + do, DoWhile → for + doWhile, Connector → call + metadata.configuration + essentialConfiguration, Response → response, etc.); missing metadata.activityType/displayName (warnings); bad evaluate.language/evaluate.mode; duplicate or empty-named workflow variables; empty task lists. What it does NOT catch: wrong selectedResourceId, broken connector connection IDs, runtime expression errors (ReferenceError: x is not defined), unwrapped string literals (rule 5), multi-key Assign.set (rule 6) — those still need runtime validation via uip api-workflow run once the user consents.

21. Never run uip api-workflow run without an explicit user "yes." Validation (rule 20) is autonomous; running is not. Once validate passes, ask the user: (a) run now or skip, (b) if running, with --no-auth (fast, structure-only — IntSvc kind vendor calls fail) or with auth (real Integration Service calls — vendor side effects WILL happen: emails sent, tickets created, files uploaded). Suggest a default based on workflow content (--no-auth for control-flow-only + Http kind ImplicitConnection; with-auth for any IntSvc kind vendor activity), but wait for the user's answer. Never invoke uip api-workflow run with auth on speculation — once a vendor call goes out, it can't be unsent.

Workflow Phases

Phase 0: Discovery

Before touching anything, understand what exists.

For edit requests:

1. Read the existing workflow file with Read
2. Identify activity keys already in use (avoid collisions)
3. Identify variables, inputs, outputs already declared
4. Identify export patterns in use (stay consistent)

For create requests:

1. Read assets/templates/api-workflow-template.json for the empty skeleton
2. Read a closer example based on need:
   • Conditional branching with error handling → assets/templates/conditional-workflow-example.json
   • Loops with aggregation → assets/templates/loop-aggregation-example.json
   • Heavily nested control flow (TryCatch around DoWhile around If with Break) → assets/templates/nested-control-flow-example.json
3. For nested patterns specifically, read references/control-flow-patterns.md — pattern catalog for If-in-If, ForEach-with-If, TryCatch-around-loop, conditional Break, etc.

Phase 1: Plan

Decide which activities to use and in what order.

Before generating, determine:

1. Which activities are needed and in what order
2. What unique keys to assign (check existing keys to avoid collision)
3. What variables to declare (in document.metadata.variables.schema.document.properties)
4. What inputs/outputs to declare (in input.schema / output.schema)

Phase 2: Generate or Edit

For each activity, read its reference section in references/task-types.md, copy the minimal JSON, fill in values.

For CREATE: copy from a template, then add user activities AFTER WorkflowStart inside the root sequence (literally Sequence_1.do in the template skeleton).

For EDIT: read the file first, identify the exact insertion / replacement point, use Edit with sufficient context for unique matching.

Workflow skeleton:

{
  "document": { "dsl": "1.0.0", "name": "...", "version": "0.0.1", "namespace": "default", "metadata": { "variables": { "schema": { "format": "json", "document": { "type": "object", "properties": {...}, "title": "Variables" } } } } },
  "input":  { "schema": { "format": "json", "document": { "type": "object", "properties": {...}, "title": "Inputs" } } },
  "output": { "schema": { "format": "json", "document": { "type": "object", "properties": {...}, "title": "Outputs" } } },
  "do": [{ "Sequence_1": { "do": [ { "WorkflowStart": { /* system */ } }, /* user activities */ ], "metadata": {...} } }],
  "evaluate": { "mode": "strict", "language": "javascript" }
}

Phase 3: Validate (static) then Run (with consent)

Validate autonomously (rule 20), fixing + re-validating until Data.Status: "Valid":

uip api-workflow validate ./my-workflow.json --output json

Once green, ask before running (rule 21) — pick the mode from workflow content:

State the consequence in the question (e.g. "running with auth WILL send a real email to <recipient> — (1) skip, (2) --no-auth, (3) run with auth?"), wait for the reply, then run uip api-workflow run ./my-workflow.json [--no-auth] --output json. If the user skips, give them the exact command and stop.

Fix run failures in category order — Structure > Expression > Activity Config > Logic (higher categories often resolve lower ones). Full pitfall catalog: references/troubleshooting.md.

Phase 4: Package and Publish

Once the workflow runs locally, deploy via the solution packager.

Pack:

uip solution pack <solutionDir> <outputDir> \
  --name <PACKAGE_NAME> \
  --version 1.0.0 \
  --output json

The packager auto-detects Type: "Api" projects, validates structure, copies workflow files, generates operate.json + package-descriptor.json, and produces a .nupkg wrapped in a .zip.

Publish:

uip solution publish <outputDir>/<package>.zip \
  --tenant <TENANT_NAME> \
  --output json

Requires uip login.

Quick Start (CREATE from scratch)

# 1. Copy the empty template
cp ./.claude/plugins/uipath/skills/uipath-api-workflow/assets/templates/api-workflow-template.json \
   ./MyApiProject/main.json

# 2. Edit main.json to add user activities after WorkflowStart inside the root sequence

# 3. Validate (offline, autonomous — fix + re-validate until Status: Valid)
uip api-workflow validate ./MyApiProject/main.json --output json

# 4. Ask the user, then run (only on user "yes")
uip api-workflow run ./MyApiProject/main.json --no-auth --output json

# 5. Package
uip solution pack ./MySolution ./build --name MyApiSolution --version 1.0.0 --output json

# 6. Publish
uip login
uip solution publish ./build/MyApiSolution.zip --tenant MyTenant --output json

Reference Navigation

Templates

Anti-patterns

The mistakes an agent makes most often (each maps to a Critical Rule above — see it for the full reasoning):

• Do NOT use call: "http" for a REST call — it's the training-data default, but StudioWeb rejects it (renders as a "block" icon). Use call: "UiPath.Http" from registry stub. See rule 16.
• Do NOT wrap connector bodyParameters / queryParameters literals as ${'literal'} — rule 5's wrap is inverted for connectors; bare literals only, or the field clears on save. See rule 16.
• Do NOT ship a <REPLACE_WITH_*> placeholder in a workflow — StudioWeb renders it as a broken connection and it 401s. No pinged UUID → ask the user. See rule 16.
• Do NOT read workflow inputs as $input.<name> from a non-first activity — use $workflow.input.<name>. See rule 13.
• Do NOT invoke uip api-workflow run autonomously, and never with auth without an explicit "yes" — vendor calls have irreversible side effects (emails sent, tickets created). See rules 20–21.

Infinite Loop Prevention

If a CLI command fails with the same error 2+ times, do NOT retry it. Investigate the root cause:

• Not authenticated / Organization ID not available → ask the user to uip login, do not retry
• File not found → check the path with ls
• Repeated structural errors after fixes → re-read the workflow and the relevant reference section; you may be misreading the file

Maximum 3 attempts for any single operation. After 3 failures, stop and report what was tried.