Lightweight, cross-platform task orchestration, written in pure Tcl/Tk. No installation beyond the Tcl/Tk runtime. Runs wherever Tcl/Tk runs — developed and tested on Windows so far, with Linux and Mac expected to work. Public domain.
Most real-world orchestration needs don't require Airflow, Prefect, or anything else built for a cluster. They need a small, auditable, human-in-the-loop way to run a multi-step process reliably — a build, a deployment, a monthly maintenance job, a data migration — without depending on whoever happens to remember the steps this time.
FlowSmithy is built around one idea: memory in the process. Every task carries its own instructions. The runner walks you through each step. Nothing about running a flow correctly depends on the operator's memory.
It also works well as a structured execution harness for AI agents — inspectable, restartable, auditable steps rather than an opaque script.
- Configurator — a Tk UI for authoring flow configuration files
- Runner — executes a defined flow, task by task, with built-in help
- Shell — a small interactive front end for running/configuring flows
- JSON-driven flow configuration, no proprietary format
- A registry of reusable tasks shared across flows
FlowSmithy is pure Tcl/Tk — it runs anywhere Tcl/Tk runs. Developed and
tested primarily on Windows so far; Linux and Mac are expected to work
(apt install tcl tk / brew install tcl-tk) but haven't had the same
depth of testing yet. Issues and reports from either platform are
genuinely useful.
Windows: grab the latest installer from the Releases page and run it. It bundles its own private Tcl/Tk runtime — nothing else needs to be installed first.
From source (any platform): install Tcl/Tk for your platform, then
run src/fs-shell.tcl with wish.
Once FlowSmithy is running, at the shell prompt:
run fs-demo
A short guided flow — the fastest way to see how a run actually behaves.
run fs-real
A more complete, realistic example, including a Java integration step (requires a Java runtime on your machine for that part).
cfg fs-real
Opens the configurator against the same flow, so you can see how a flow's steps and options are put together.
Type help at any time for the full list of shell commands.
src/ -- the Tcl/Tk engine (configurator, runner, shell)
help/ -- markdown help content used by the built-in help system
icons/ -- application icons
flows/ -- example flows (fs-demo, fs-real)
Early release. Feedback, issues, and pull requests are welcome — especially anything found on Mac or Linux.
Public domain — see LICENSE.