3.0.0

Elsa 3.0 🚨

This is the official Elsa 3.0 release and is a complete departure from Elsa 2.

What's new

• Redesigned workflow execution engine for increased flexibility.
• Redesigned activity model with intrinsic support for composition.
• Parallel activity execution.
• Parallel For Each activity with support for long-running processes.
• Implicit forking and joining for a simplified flowchart modelling.
• Actor model implementation of the workflow runtime for lock-free workflow execution.
• Support for C# and Python expressions.
• A new designer with support for drag & drop, multi-selection, undo/redo, copy & paste, pane & zoom.
• Use the designer to create workflows that can be invoked as reusable activities
• Elsa Studio, a modular, extensible Blazor application to create and manage workflows.
• Alterations API to modify existing workflow instances.

See also the Elsa 3.0 Release blog post.

Known Issues & Limitations

• Documentation is still a work in progress.
• The designer is not yet fully embeddable in other applications; this feature is planned for a future release.
• C# and Python expressions are not yet fully tested.
• Bulk Dispatch Workflows is a new activity and not yet fully tested.
• Input/Output is not yet implemented in the Workflow Instance Viewer.
• Starting workflows from the designer is currently supported only for workflows that do not require input and do not start with a trigger; this is planned for a future release.
• The designer currently only supports Flowchart activities. Support for Sequence and StateMachine activities is planned for a future release.
• UI input validation is not yet implemented.

Migrating from Elsa 2

Elsa 3 is a complete rewrite and not backwards compatible with Elsa 2.
As a consequence, migrating to Elsa 3 means manually porting over your workflow definitions, instances and custom activities.
Guidance will be provided in written form to highlight some of the more common differences between Elsa 2 and 3 to help understand how certain scenarios done in Elsa 2 should be handled in Elsa 3.

Change History

• Upgrade all projects to .NET6.0 by @yopichy in #2616
• implemented delete for single workflow definitions and workflow instance by @cristinamudura in #2855
• implemented sub actions : new, unpublish, retract by @cristinamudura in #2933
• V3 finish activity by @sfmskywalker in #2963
• V3 StartAt Activity by @sfmskywalker in #2969
• Implement Default Workflow Invoker by @sfmskywalker in #2979
• Implement V3 stores by @sfmskywalker in #2980
• Provide tag support for workflows by @gurkanguran in #2990
• Revert "Provide tag support for workflows" by @sfmskywalker in #2991
• fixed property panel published status update by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #2993
• V3 import export by @sfmskywalker in #3030
• Activity display name by @sfmskywalker in #3034
• Auto name activity by @sfmskywalker in #3035
• Labels by @sfmskywalker in #3037
• Query workflows by labels API by @sfmskywalker in #3041
• activity description tooltip added by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3036
• Copy Text Tool by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3043
• V3 label management UI by @sfmskywalker in #3055
• Assign labels to workflows by @sfmskywalker in #3060
• V3 Bulk Actions API Endpoints by @sfmskywalker in #3064
• workflow definition pagination and bulk actions by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3069
• V3 modular configuration by @sfmskywalker in #3070
• V3 labels UI module by @sfmskywalker in #3071
• Features API by @sfmskywalker in #3081
• tooltip minor fixes by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3083
• added ability to resize panels by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3092
• V3 workflow instance viewer by @sfmskywalker in #3098
• added label filter to workflow definition modal by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3106
• added visual feedback for copying by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3109
• added toolbar layouts by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3113
• fixed incorrect positioning on zoom or graph move by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3129
• added zoom-to-fit functionality by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3130
• added bottom panel with resize functionality by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3149
• added bottom panel for activity editor by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3167
• added bottom panel on instance viewer, fixed issue with activity size by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3176
• added simple notifications by @im-ihrynevytskyi in #3184
• Designer Activity Definitions by @sfmskywalker in #3221
• Added proto actor implementation for kubernetes and refactored releva… by @cristinamudura in #3256
• Refactor proto actor runtime with snapshot support by @sfmskywalker in #3283
• V3 default runtime by @sfmskywalker in #3285
• Default Runtime & Persistence by @sfmskywalker in #3287
• Implement async workflow state exporter for DB workflow instance by @sfmskywalker in #3291
• Exportable & importable workflow state + execution by @sfmskywalker in #3317
• Implicit fork & join by @sfmskywalker in #3331
• Queue-based activity scheduler by @sfmskywalker in #3344
• Feature/send http request by @cristinamudura in #3355
• Asynchronous Activities by @sfmskywalker in #3386
• Telnyx integration by @sfmskywalker in #3453
• Implemented delete of workflow definitions on Delete button click by @cristinamudura in #3462
• Add email module by @sfmskywalker in #3469
• Update import / export by @sfmskywalker in #3471
• Ensure unique friendly activity ID after copy paste by @sfmskywalker in #3474
• Implement types API endpoint by @sfmskywalker in #3479
• Auto rotating by @gurkanguran in #3482
• Add support for accessing workflow variables from liquid expressions by @sfmskywalker in #3491
• Add JS functions by @sfmskywalker in #3492
• V3 bugfix by @LevVadim in #3503
• Composite Activity fixes and improvements by @sfmskywalker in #3512
• V3 bugfix by @LevVadim in #3521
• Added correlation activity by @cristinamudura in #3530
• Fix workflow navigation by @sfmskywalker in #3541
• Workflow activation strategies by @sfmskywalker in #3559
• Persistent variables by @sfmskywalker in #3563
• Improve variable vs non-variable persistence by @sfmskywalker in #3568
• Add support for workflows as a function by @sfmskywalker in #3569
• Connect to to Azure DevOps feed by @sfmskywalker in #3570
• Additional samples + fixes and improvements by @sfmskywalker in #3574
• Normalize extensions namespaces by @sfmskywalker in #3577
• Implemented workflow sink module by @gurkanguran in #3571
• Implemented PostgreSql provider for data persistence by @gurkanguran in #3581
• Restore workflow journal by @sfmskywalker in #3582
• Implement ProtoActor snapshot + event cleanup by @sfmskywalker in #3588
• Implement variables panel on workflow instance viewer by @sfmskywalker in #3589
• Publish Event activity + MassTransit dispatcher by @sfmskywalker in #3593
• RunTask activity by @sfmskywalker in #3594
• Webhooks by @sfmskywalker in #3598
• Apply scroll overflow to activity picker by @sfmskywalker in #3599
• Fix tool buttons by @sfmskywalker in #3604
• MassTransit activities by @sfmskywalker in #3613
• Implemented Elasticsearch for workflow instance and execution logs by @gurkanguran in #3600
• Finish Azure Service Bus activities by @sfmskywalker in #3617
• Elastic updates by @sfmskywalker in #3623
• Refresh tokens by @sfmskywalker in #3626
• Removed EFCore.BulkExtensions and used EF7 bulk operations by @gurkanguran in #3630
• HTTP activity body parsing by @sfmskywalker in #3631
• JavaScript intellisense by @sfmskywalker in #3639
• Use workflow definition as activity by @gurkanguran in #3654
• Tweaks and fixes by @sfmskywalker in #3672
• Workflow as Activity - input/output by @sfmskywalker in #3699
• Access HTTP headers by @sfmskywalker in #3704
• Dispatch Workflow activity by @sfmskywalker in #3710
• Fix deadlock + multiple trigger support by @sfmskywalker in #3720
• Workflow input/output by @sfmskywalker in #3726
• Add output picker for SetWorkflowOutput activity by @sfmskywalker in #3728
• Enable composite activity version control by @sfmskywalker in #3732
• Update NuGet package references by @sfmskywalker in #3734
• Refactor store APIs by @sfmskywalker in #3740
• Sycnrhonize access to publish / save workflow definition endpoint by @sfmskywalker in #3743
• Feature/workflow execution status codes by @MariusVuscanNx in #3750
• Fix Version Constraint error when saving workflows by @ifranlaloe in #3752
• Update Dial activity and fix Switch by @sfmskywalker in #3753
• Fix cyclic input argument evaluation by @sfmskywalker in #3755
• Implemented workflow instance journal partially by @gurkanguran in #3749
• Rename "services" to "contracts" and "implementations" to "services" by @sfmskywalker in #3758
• do not select just pasted activities (because property panel connected) by @herblinernexxbizz in #3762
• V3 on delete workflowdefinition update routes by @herblinernexxbizz in #3757
• HTTP Request with status codes as outcomes by @sfmskywalker in #3768
• Get route parameters, querystring parameters and headers by @herblinernexxbizz in #3769
• Implement flexible header parsing by @sfmskywalker in #3771
• Store & display evaluated activity state in workflow instance viewer by @sfmskywalker in #3776
• V3 return routedata querystring headers by @herblinernexxbizz in #3772
• Implemented workflow authorization by @MariusVuscanNx in #3773
• Undefined json element value fix by @gurkanguran in #3777
• Handle workflow fault after workflow execution by @MariusVuscanNx in #3778
• Implemented journal for composite activities by @gurkanguran in #3779
• V3 update routetable on startup by @herblinernexxbizz in #3780
• Add support for HTTP status codes as outcomes by @sfmskywalker in #3787
• Fixes for Journal by @sfmskywalker in #3792
• Added github workflow to automate designer package update process by @gurkanguran in #3791
• Features/v3 add short and full guid by @herblinernexxbizz in #3800
• Refactor composite activity input and scoped memory by @sfmskywalker in #3815
• Reference variable with Id instead of Name to prevent issues with updating name by @gurkanguran in #3814
• Import workflows with subworkflow properly by @gurkanguran in #3825
• V3 designer/angular wrapper by @jdevillard in #3829
• Implement API key authentication by @sfmskywalker in #3834
• Importing workflows regardless of the order by @gurkanguran in #3833
• V3 designer/react wrapper by @jdevillard in #3851
• Handle multiple output connections on import by @gurkanguran in #3857
• Changed notification implementation by @simona-taran in #3863
• feat(toolbar-activities.tsx): Added Search for activities in the designer toolbar by @NrujalSharma in #3853
• add pack/publish actions to GitHub Actions by @jdevillard in #3860
• update package path and wrapper version by @jdevillard in #3868
• adding set var and main/sub workflow tests by @herblinernexxbizz in #3855
• Features/v3 test setvar getvar by @herblinernexxbizz in #3870
• Import publish execute integration test by @MariusVuscanNx in #3872
• Refactor scheduling and background activity execution by @sfmskywalker in #3884
• Fixed workflow instances layout issues. Fixed context menu position. by @simona-taran in #3877
• Added error handling messages. by @simona-taran in #3878
• Update RunTask XML Comment by @VictorioBerra in #3886
• Quartz.NET integration by @sfmskywalker in #3887
• Update Hangfire integration by @sfmskywalker in #3898
• Cron activities by @sfmskywalker in #3900
• Improve JSON serializationfor workflow state by @sfmskywalker in #3913
• Take latest version if none specified by @sfmskywalker in #3914
• Simplify Proto.Actor bookmarks and triggers by @sfmskywalker in #3917
• #3845 Tooltip Fixed Positioning by @Daxton47 in #3920
• Fix flowchart completion bug by @sfmskywalker in #3928
• Display generated version number on the designer by @gurkanguran in #3923
• #3890 Fixed Workflow Definition and Instance Browser Pagination by @Daxton47 in #3930
• Workflow Context Updates by @sfmskywalker in #3933
• Send HTTP error when workflow faults by @sfmskywalker in #3937
• Fix timer issues by @sfmskywalker in #3938
• Implement Onboarding sample by @sfmskywalker in #3944
• Refactor SendEmail inputs to support list of strings and single string by @sfmskywalker in #3952
• Add JSON workflow provider by @sfmskywalker in #3955
• Publish workflows imported programmatically by @gurkanguran in #3958
• Auto update consuming workflows' composite activity references by @gurkanguran in #3950
• Features/fix serialization issues by @herblinernexxbizz in #3966
• added sqlserver extension for 'ExecutionLogRecordPersistenceFeature' by @Yunus0497 in #3971
• Add link between workflow definition version ID and workflow definition activity by @sfmskywalker in #3979
• ACA cluster provider support for multiple images + pluggable member store by @sfmskywalker in #3981
• Fix HTTP triggers not being updated by @sfmskywalker in #3985
• Simplify IActivity by @sfmskywalker in #3991
• Cleanup IActivity interface by @sfmskywalker in #4010
• remove polymorphicobjectconverter for http serialization by @herblinernexxbizz in #4018
• add ordering to workflowdefinitions by @herblinernexxbizz in #4040
• Configure CORS policy by @Gambitier in #4022
• Prefix tailwind classes with tw- by @sfmskywalker in #4060
• Allow the user to select the start activty when calling through the api by @MariusVuscanNx in #4064
• Added workflow execution context to the workflow executred and workfl… by @MariusVuscanNx in #4065
• add Elsa.EntityFrameworkCore.MySql by @Gambitier in #4047
• Added modes to the switch activities by @MariusVuscanNx in #4067
• Update DSL integration by @sfmskywalker in #4073
• Schema Name editable in V3 by @Gambitier in #4072
• Support sub-workflow dependency handling of JSON workflows by @sfmskywalker in #4098
• make it so you can start a specific version of a workflow by @herblinernexxbizz in #4103
• update model (with connections) on change activity Id by @herblinernexxbizz in #4108
• Dapper persistence provider by @sfmskywalker in #4109
• Implement Dapper for Identity by @sfmskywalker in #4110
• Update Workflow model with support for Inputs, Outputs and Outcomes by @sfmskywalker in #4112
• Implement direct access to activity output and last result by @sfmskywalker in #4119
• V3 make workflowdefinition have readonly by @herblinernexxbizz in #4068
• move copy button in fron of text by @herblinernexxbizz in #4122
• V3 search workflows definitions and instances by @herblinernexxbizz in #4123
• V3 make workflowdefinition have readonly by @herblinernexxbizz in #4124
• make readonly work by @herblinernexxbizz in #4126
• make isReadonly editable on workflow model by @herblinernexxbizz in #4130
• Fixed workflow definition populator to also take into consideration t… by @MariusVuscanNx in #4138
• Fixed spacing issue and panel display issue on workflow instances. by @simona-taran in #4145
• Refactor connection model by @sfmskywalker in #4146
• Publish event improvements by @MariusVuscanNx in #4150
• UnscheduleCron triggers by @sNakiex in #4149
• Cleanup schedulers by @sNakiex in #4160
• Change StringData from nvarchar(2000) to NCLOB in oracle by @borjaferv in #4159
• Prevent variable overriding when setting output in activity by @gurkanguran in #4157
• Fixed the issue with setVariable execution in javascript activity by @gurkanguran in #4158
• Fixes dynamic deserilization in proto actor by @gurkanguran in #4168
• Show suspended activities in journal by @gurkanguran in #4170
• Fixes the issue with httpendoint not being suspended #4143 by @gurkanguran in #4171
• Mongodb implementation by @gurkanguran in #4127
• Implemented workflow validation for httpendpoint path by @gurkanguran in #4181
• Redis proto cluster member store by @gurkanguran in #4241
• Fixed getting and setting variables in context by @gurkanguran in #4267
• Workflow Inbox by @sfmskywalker in #4292
• Fix source + line number not being used by @sfmskywalker in #4293
• Telnyx fixes by @sfmskywalker in #4300
• Bookmarks & Activity Instances by @sfmskywalker in #4301
• Add PR body generator by @sfmskywalker in #4304
• Parallel Execution & Add ability to push variables to scheduled work by @sfmskywalker in #4306
• Update output selector with support for activity instances by @sfmskywalker in #4307
• Update ForEach activity with local variables by @sfmskywalker in #4315
• V3 improve dispatch endpoint by @RuslanSay in #4317
• V3 Add to ConfigureHttpClient access to the service provider by @RuslanSay in #4318
• Allow variable shadowing in child activity scopes by @sfmskywalker in #4321
• Fix WriteHttpResponse when NoContent by @sfmskywalker in #4322
• EF Core NoTracking by @sfmskywalker in #4323
• Delete ActivityExecutionRecords when deleting workflow instances by @sfmskywalker in #4324
• Implement workflow inbox cleanup service by @sfmskywalker in #4327
• Implement HTTP correlation ID selectors by @sfmskywalker in #4349
• Enhanced Logging for Activity Outcomes and Outputs by @sfmskywalker in #4352
• Support serialization of non(de)serializable values by @sfmskywalker in #4356
• Refactor activity state serializer by @sfmskywalker in #4357
• Refactor safe serializer by @sfmskywalker in #4361
• Fix Default Workflow Runtime Race condition by @sfmskywalker in #4362
• V3 get type definitions request by @sNakiex in #4353
• Enrich trigger validation to take into consideration path and method … by @MariusVuscanNx in #4363
• Fix Break behavior by @sfmskywalker in #4365
• Implement stale member handling by @sfmskywalker in #4369
• Package DistributedLock upgraded to V2.3.3 by @dev-maxx in #4360
• Refactor proto files and fix snapshot loading of running workflows grain by @sfmskywalker in #4371
• Fixed IsNameUnique for InMemory WorkflowDefinition store by @yspanj in #4370
• Remove WorkflowStateStore by @sfmskywalker in #4374
• Use mapping expression for correct EF core projections by @sfmskywalker in #4376
• Make Liquid TextEncoder configurable by @sfmskywalker in #4380
• Fix Dapper persistence provider by @sfmskywalker in #4381
• fix: WorkflowContextsPlugin not enable by @Nokecy in #4397
• Add PostgreSql dapper provider by @herblinernexxbizz in #4398
• update connector by @herblinernexxbizz in #4402
• Dynamic Outcomes + JavaScript Outcomes by @sfmskywalker in #4410
• replace DistributedLock package with DistributedLock.FileSystem by @happtim in #4399
• Incidents by @sfmskywalker in #4436
• WriteHttpFileResponse Activity by @sfmskywalker in #4445
• WriteFileHttpResponse updates by @sfmskywalker in #4446
• make type name helper aware of generics by @rose-a in #4442
• Implement resumable downloads by @sfmskywalker in #4448
• Terminal Activities by @sfmskywalker in #4454
• File Uploads by @sfmskywalker in #4457
• Exclude Activity from being serialized in instance and execution log by @sfmskywalker in #4464
• HTTP File Response Improvements by @sfmskywalker in #4465
• Enhance HTTP Endpoint + Flowchart fix by @sfmskywalker in #4469
• Add DropIn support by @sfmskywalker in #4471
• Implement SAS tokens by @sfmskywalker in #4476
• REturn workflowstate around faulted workflowinstances to make it cons… by @herblinernexxbizz in #4484
• Feature: Alterations by @sfmskywalker in #4501
• Activity Preconditions by @sfmskywalker in #4507
• bugfix using editor as standalone by @bskfrederik in #4487
• Feature/postgresql efcore by @jeanbaptistedalle in #4500
• Corrected behaviour of 'For' activity. by @solutionmania in #4497
• Enhancements/servicebus activity by @jdevillard in #4492
• Alteration Improvements and fixes by @sfmskywalker in #4518
• Capture activity state by @sfmskywalker in #4530
• update hangfire version to 1.8.5 by @Nokecy in #4537
• Adds Swagger documentation generation and UI. by @solutionmania in #4525
• bugfix publish workflow results in 415 response by @bskfrederik in #4517
• MassTransit Alterations Dispatcher by @sfmskywalker in #4547
• fix: fix hashSet deserialize error by @Nokecy in #4545
• Replace Stencil dashboard with Blazor in AllInOne.Web project by @sfmskywalker in #4554
• Service Bus Activities enhancements - Workflow Inbox and Test by @jdevillard in #4512
• Include NodeId for unique addressability within graph by @sfmskywalker in #4575
• Update NotFoundActivity display text + description by @sfmskywalker in #4578
• Add WorkflowContext client API by @sfmskywalker in #4585
• Add Quartz.NET Migrations by @sfmskywalker in #4586
• fix issue 4576 text alignment by @bskfrederik in #4577
• Storage module by @sfmskywalker in #4588
• V3 - Support for Oracle DB in Runtime Module by @b0rv3g4r4 in #4592
• Add C# expression support by @sfmskywalker in #4594
• Add Python Expression support by @sfmskywalker in #4600
• Enhancement/runtime options provider#4491 by @jdevillard in #4614
• Add Input Validation for Elsa.Identity Login Endpoint by @polferov in #4601
• Decouple Expression Types by @sfmskywalker in #4622
• Add Azure Service Bus for MassTransit by @sfmskywalker in #4624
• Change endpoint to Post by @jdevillard in #4619
• V3 - Add to sample activity execution log pipeline and exception handler pipeline by @b0rv3g4r4 in #4607
• V3 - Fix ParallelForEach Behaviour when empty items by @b0rv3g4r4 in #4623
• fix: workflow definition editor autoLayout by @Dharmang92 in #4634
• Features : Allow Customization of DbContext Schema by @jdevillard in #4638
• Bulk Import + Export of Workflow Definitions and Instances by @sfmskywalker in #4643
• Updated Api.Client to include instance bulk import and export by @MariusVuscanNx in #4652
• Target .NET 8 by @sfmskywalker in #4660
• Add Bulk Dispatch Workflow activity by @sfmskywalker in #4683
• Implemeted FlowFork activity by @MariusVuscanNx in #4684
• Enhanced ObjectConverter to Return JsonObject Instead of JsonElement by @sfmskywalker in #4686
• Update README to add access information when user tried to run elsa with docker by @zergmk2 in #4708
• Feature HTTP Activity : Allow adding Authorization Header without validation by @jdevillard in #4721
• Add a more generic UIHandler to customize how inputAttributes can be handle by UI by @jdevillard in #4688

New Contributors

• @yopichy made their first contribution in #2616
• @cristinamudura made their first contribution in #2855
• @gurkanguran made their first contribution in #2990
• @LevVadim made their first contribution in #3503
• @MariusVuscanNx made their first contribution in #3750
• @ifranlaloe made their first contribution in #3752
• @herblinernexxbizz made their first contribution in #3762
• @NrujalSharma made their first contribution in #3853
• @VictorioBerra made their first contribution in #3886
• @Daxton47 made their first contribution in #3920
• @Yunus0497 made their first contribution in #3971
• @Gambitier made their first contribution in #4022
• @sNakiex made their first contribution in #4149
• @RuslanSay made their first contribution in #4317
• @dev-maxx made their first contribution in #4360
• @yspanj made their first contribution in #4370
• @happtim made their first contribution in #4399
• @rose-a made their first contribution in #4442
• @bskfrederik made their first contribution in #4487
• @jeanbaptistedalle made their first contribution in #4500
• @solutionmania made their first contribution in #4497
• @b0rv3g4r4 made their first contribution in #4592
• @Dharmang92 made their first contribution in #4634
• @zergmk2 made their first contribution in #4708