Architecture

Architecture

flowchart LR
  subgraph app["Your ASP.NET Core app"]
    wc["Workflow Core host"]
    relay["LifeCycleRelay"]
    writer["JournalWriter"]
    journal[("IDashboardJournal<br/>in-memory or EF Core")]
    store[("Workflow Core<br/>persistence")]
    api["Dashboard API"]
    designer["Designer API<br/>(optional)"]
    hub["DashboardHub<br/>(SignalR)"]
    ui["Embedded Angular UI"]

    wc -- "lifecycle events,<br/>step errors" --> relay
    relay --> hub
    relay --> writer --> journal
    api --> store
    api --> journal
    api -- "start, suspend,<br/>publish event" --> wc
    designer -- "IDefinitionLoader" --> wc
    designer --> journal
  end

  browser["Browser"] -- "REST" --> api
  browser -- "REST" --> designer
  hub -- "activity" --> browser
  ui -- "static files" --> browser

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Packages

Package	Contents	Depends on
WorkflowCore.Dashboard	API, SignalR hub, relay, in-memory journal, embedded UI	WorkflowCore, ASP.NET Core
WorkflowCore.Dashboard.EntityFramework	EF Core journal	the above, EF Core Relational 8+
WorkflowCore.Dashboard.Designer	Designer API, step catalog, validation, sync	the above, WorkflowCore.DSL
WorkflowCore.Dashboard.OpenIdConnect	Sign-in: cookie and OpenID Connect schemes, provider presets, role mapping, sign-out pages	the above, ASP.NET Core OpenID Connect (one build per .NET version)

Optional packages plug in through DashboardBuilder (UseJournal, Services) and IDashboardExtension (extra endpoints under /api or the dashboard root, and a feature flag for the UI).

Request path

MapWorkflowCoreDashboard creates one route group:

1. Authorization policy (whole group, when AuthorizationPolicy is set): ASP.NET Core sign-in; signed-out browsers are sent to the identity provider, API calls get 401.
2. Authorization filter (whole group): sets security headers and applies DashboardOptions.Authorization. Signed-in users without access get an explanatory page. Endpoints marked AllowAnonymous (sign-out pages) skip it.
3. Change filter (/api): POST, PUT and DELETE need the X-Wfc-Dashboard header, no Sec-Fetch-Site: cross-site, AllowActions, and ActionAuthorization.
4. Endpoints: dashboard API, extension endpoints, the hub, and the UI with fallback to index.html, whose <base href> is rewritten to the mount path.

Event path

1. Workflow Core raises a lifecycle event; LifeCycleRelay subscribes through IWorkflowHost.OnLifeCycleEvent and OnStepError.
2. The relay builds an ActivityEntry with a deterministic ID, joins error events with their exception, and resolves step names from the registry.
3. The entry goes to all hub clients at once, and to JournalWriter, which batches writes off the workflow path.
4. The journal stores the entry once and updates the instance index (InstanceIndexReducer turns events into status changes, tolerating out-of-order arrival).

UI

Angular 22 with Angular Material, standalone components and signals. npm run build writes into src/WorkflowCore.Dashboard/wwwroot, which is embedded in the assembly and served by EmbeddedUi with long-lived caching for hashed files. Flowcharts are SVG laid out with dagre; the designer canvas is SVG as well.