Trait Operation 

pub trait Operation: Send + Sync {
    // Required methods
    fn kind(&self) -> &str;
    fn execute<'a>(
        &'a self,
        ctx: &'a OperationContext,
    ) -> Pin<Box<dyn Future<Output = Result<Value, OperationError>> + Send + 'a>>;

    // Provided method
    fn input(&self) -> Option<Value> { ... }
}

A user-defined operation that integrates into the workflow step lifecycle.

Implement this trait for custom integrations (GitLab, Gmail, Slack, etc.) that need full step tracking when executed via WorkflowContext::operation().

Contract

• kind() returns a short, lowercase identifier stored as StepKind::Custom in the database (e.g. "gitlab", "gmail", "slack").
• execute() performs the operation and returns a JSON Value on success. The engine persists this as the step output.

Examples

use ironflow_core::operation::{Operation, OperationContext};
use ironflow_core::error::OperationError;
use serde_json::{Value, json};
use std::future::Future;
use std::pin::Pin;

struct SendSlackMessage {
    channel: String,
    text: String,
}

impl Operation for SendSlackMessage {
    fn kind(&self) -> &str { "slack" }

    fn execute<'a>(
        &'a self,
        ctx: &'a OperationContext,
    ) -> Pin<Box<dyn Future<Output = Result<Value, OperationError>> + Send + 'a>> {
        Box::pin(async move {
            // Post to Slack API using ctx.http_client() ...
            Ok(json!({"ok": true, "ts": "1234567890.123456"}))
        })
    }
}

Required Methods

fn kind(&self) -> &str

A short, lowercase identifier for this operation type.

Stored as StepKind::Custom(kind) in the database. Examples: "gitlab", "gmail", "slack".

fn execute<'a>( &'a self, ctx: &'a OperationContext, ) -> Pin<Box<dyn Future<Output = Result<Value, OperationError>> + Send + 'a>>

Execute the operation and return the result as JSON.

The returned Value is persisted as the step output. On error, the engine marks the step as Failed and records the error message.

Errors

Return OperationError if the operation fails.

Provided Methods

fn input(&self) -> Option<Value>

Optional JSON representation of the operation input, stored in the step’s input column for observability.

Defaults to None. Override to provide structured input logging.

Dyn Compatibility

This trait is dyn compatible.

In older versions of Rust, dyn compatibility was called "object safety".

Implementors