In Tines 3B, a step is the fundamental building block of your workflow. Steps allow you to break down complex tasks into modular, isolated, and reusable units of execution. By chaining these steps together, you can design powerful, scalable automations that fit the exact needs of your business.
What makes up a step?
Every step is self-contained, ensuring that your logic remains organized, portable, and easy to maintain. A Step consists of:
Core logic: This is the code that actually runs your task. Tines 3B supports multiple templates, allowing you to build in the language you prefer, such as:
Shell: For simple scripts (
script.sh).Python: For data-rich or complex logic (
script.py).TypeScript/Bun: For high-performance, modern web logic (
script.ts).React: For building interactive, visual interfaces (
App.tsx- requires output enabled).And more!
Configuration (
config.toml): This is your control center. It defines how the step behaves, how it interacts with other services, and how it appears in your workflow.Documentation (
README.md): A space to describe exactly what the step does, helping you and your team stay aligned.Environment (
Dockerfile): Defines the build and runtime environment, ensuring your code runs exactly the same way every time.
How steps communicate
Tines 3B is built for reliability. Steps communicate using standard stdin/stdout streams, which allows for highly predictable data flow:
Input: Data enters a step via standard input (either from a linked upstream step or an incoming HTTP request).
Output: The result is sent to standard output, which then serves as the input for any linked downstream steps.
Isolation: Because each step runs as an independent process, errors or bottlenecks in one step are contained, preventing issues from impacting the rest of your workflow.
This architecture gives you the speed and flexibility of a code-first environment without the operational risks that usually come with it.