Workflows — ManyAI Desktop

Overview

ManyAI Desktop separates its tab types into two categories: built-in modules (IRC, RSS, Terminal, Programming) and file-backed workflows (coding, image, reasoning, etc.). Built-ins are toggled via Settings → Built-in and are never shown in the New Tab picker. File-backed workflows appear in the picker and can be created, edited, and deleted by the user.

WorkflowPlugin Interface

interface WorkflowPlugin {
  type: string;           // unique identifier, e.g. 'coding'
  label: string;          // display name shown on tab
  icon: string;           // emoji or icon
  description: string;    // shown in workflow picker
  defaultRoutes: RouteEntry[];   // ordered provider chain
  workflowType: WorkflowType[];  // required model capabilities
}

interface RouteEntry {
  provider: string;
  model: string;
  enabled?: boolean;
  instanceId?: string;   // stable GUID — survives reorder, resets on delete+re-add
}

Built-in Modules (4) — Settings → Built-in tab

These are modular features, not workflows. They are defined in SYSTEM_TYPES and excluded from the workflow picker by enabledUserWorkflows(). Each has a checkbox in Settings → Built-in. Checking opens a tab of that type; unchecking closes all open tabs of that type. Toggle state is derived live from tabs.some(t => t.workflowType === type) — no separate persistence flag.

File-backed Workflows (6) — appear in New Tab picker

Seeded to {workingDir}/workflows/*.json on first run. User-editable via Settings → Workflows. The picker uses enabledUserWorkflows() which filters out SYSTEM_TYPES so built-ins never appear here.

Custom Workflows

Created via Settings → Workflows. Stored as JSON files in the working directory and loaded by lib/workflows.ts at startup. Custom workflows can define: a custom system prompt, provider chain, and workflowType array. They appear alongside the 6 built-in file-backed types in the New Tab picker.

Capability Gating

Each model in a providers/*.json file has a capabilities[] array. A model is only offered for a workflow if its capabilities include all values in that workflow's workflowType array. This prevents mismatched routing — for example, a text-only model will never appear in the image workflow's provider list.

enabledUserWorkflows()

Exported from lib/workflows.ts. Returns loadWorkflows().filter(w => w.enabled && !SYSTEM_TYPES.has(w.type)). Used by RightPanel to populate the New Tab workflow picker. Built-in module types are always excluded regardless of their enabled state.

WORKFLOW_REGISTRY

workflows/index.ts is the single source of truth for all registered plugins. Custom workflows are merged at load time via lib/workflows.ts. The registry drives tab rendering, the New Tab picker, and routing resolution.

Adding a New File-backed Workflow

1. Create src/renderer/src/workflows/myworkflow.ts exporting a WorkflowPlugin.
2. Import it in workflows/index.ts and add to WORKFLOW_REGISTRY.
3. Ensure the type is NOT in SYSTEM_TYPES — it will then appear in the picker automatically.

Adding a New Built-in Module

1. Add the type string to SYSTEM_TYPES in lib/workflows.ts.
2. Add a checkbox entry in settings/SettingsScreen.tsx → BuiltinSettings component.
3. Add the rendering branch in App.tsx tab content area.
4. Wire up any required IPC in src/main/ipc/.