> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cyberwave.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Workflows

> The fastest way to build automations on top of your twins: visual, Python, or agent-built, and runnable in the cloud, on the edge, or both

**Workflows** are Cyberwave's automation primitive. They turn a graph of nodes (triggers, models, twins, conditions, integrations) into a runnable artifact that can fire on a schedule, an MQTT message, a webhook, or every camera frame on a Raspberry Pi.

```python theme={null}
from cyberwave import Cyberwave

cw = Cyberwave()

run = cw.workflows.trigger(
    "acme/workflows/pick-and-place",
    inputs={"target_position": [1.0, 2.0, 0.0], "speed": 0.5},
)
run.wait(timeout=60)
print(run.status)
```

That same workflow can be opened, edited, and visualised in the [Workflow Editor](/feature-reference/workflows): the graph and the Python are two views of one object.

***

## Three ways to build one

You never have to pick between a low-code graph and "real" code. Cyberwave keeps the two in sync.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Visual editor" icon="diagram-project" href="/feature-reference/workflows#creating-a-workflow">
    Drag nodes from the palette, wire ports, configure parameters. Great for
    prototyping and for handing flows to non-engineers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Python SDK" icon="python" href="/tools/python-sdk#workflows">
    Build, list, trigger, and monitor workflows from
    [`cw.workflows`](/tools/python-sdk#workflows). Anything you can do in the UI
    you can do in code.
  </Card>

  <Card title="With an agent" icon="sparkles" href="/tools/mcp-server">
    Describe the automation in plain English to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP
    client; Cyberwave's [MCP server](/tools/mcp-server) and
    [Claude skill](/tools/claude-skill) wire up the graph for you.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Every workflow round-trips between graph and Python, with no lock-in to either format. You get the power of pure code where you need it, and the simplicity of a visual graph everywhere else.

***

## Cloud, edge, or both, in one graph

A workflow can span both sides of your stack. Trigger and ML nodes that run [on the cloud](/tools/cloud-node) coordinate with the same workflow's edge half via the [edge worker runtime](/feature-reference/edge/workers/overview).

A common shape:

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
    A[Camera Frame trigger<br/><i>edge</i>] --> B[Anonymize node<br/><i>edge</i>]
    B --> C[Call Model · VLM<br/><i>cloud</i>]
    C --> D[Send Email<br/><i>cloud</i>]
```

The video frame never leaves the device unanonymized, the VLM runs on a GPU in the cloud, and an email goes out, all from a single workflow definition. The [unified edge compiler](/feature-reference/workflows#environment-bound-workflows) decides what runs where based on the graph itself.

You don't manage model downloads, hardware compatibility, or reconnects. Cyberwave provisions the right model into the right runtime (edge YOLO for [`camera_frame`](/feature-reference/workflows#edge-workflows-camera-frame), cloud VLMs for [`call_model`](/feature-reference/workflows/overview#nodes)) and keeps it healthy when the network blinks.

***

## Same workflow, sim or real

Workflows run unchanged against [simulation](/overview/features/simulation) or live hardware. Flip the mode on your environment (or the SDK) and the same graph drives a MuJoCo twin in CI, then a real robot in your cell:

```python theme={null}
cw.affect("simulation")
cw.workflows.trigger("acme/workflows/pick-and-place")

cw.affect("live")
cw.workflows.trigger("acme/workflows/pick-and-place")
```

This is the practical version of "test before you deploy"; see the [environment editor](/feature-reference/environment-editor/index#workflow-executions-in-an-environment) for replaying past runs and inspecting per-node executions.

***

## See and customize the generated Python

Every workflow compiles to a real Python worker built on the Cyberwave SDK. Open **Code** in the workflow editor to read the exact script your graph generates, then copy or download it.

Need to go beyond the nodes? **Customize** the script and save it — your edited version is persisted and shipped to the edge in place of the autogenerated one. **Restore** brings the autogenerated script back at any time. If you edit the graph after customizing, the editor flags that your custom script no longer matches the graph so you can regenerate.

Custom worker code runs only on your own edge runtime.

***

## What workflows are good at

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Orchestrating multiple twins" icon="users-gear">
    Synchronise robots and sensors: swarm formations, multi-arm cells, or a
    fleet of cameras feeding a single inspection job. Wire any twin from the
    [catalog](https://cyberwave.com/catalog) into the same graph.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Switching between models and code" icon="shuffle">
    Hand off mid-task; e.g. an [RL policy](/feature-reference/ml-models/index)
    moves the arm to the box, then a deterministic Python
    [`code` node](/feature-reference/workflows#code-node-stub) takes over for
    the pre-canned drop sequence.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Reacting to the real world" icon="bell">
    [Camera-frame](/feature-reference/workflows#edge-workflows-camera-frame),
    MQTT, schedule, webhook, and email
    [triggers](/feature-reference/workflows#trigger-types) wake the workflow up
    without you wiring anything custom.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Calling out to anything" icon="plug">
    `http_request`, `send_email`, and `send_alert` nodes plug Cyberwave into
    the rest of your stack: PagerDuty, Slack, your warehouse system, a Notion
    page.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Workflows compose the whole [Cyberwave ecosystem](https://cyberwave.com): hundreds of [twins](https://cyberwave.com/catalog) and the [models hub](https://cyberwave.com/models) are one node away.

***

## Start from a template

Don't start from a blank canvas. Cyberwave ships a library of workflow templates (motion detection, pick-and-place, intrusion alerts, voice control) and you can publish your own for your team or the world.

```bash theme={null}
cyberwave workflow create --template motion-detection
```

Templates are versioned, slugged like the rest of Cyberwave (`acme/workflows/my-template`), and editable after cloning: they're a starting point, not a black box.

***

## What to read next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Workflow nodes" icon="shapes" href="/overview/features/workflow-nodes">
    Every node in the palette, grouped by category, with what it does and where it runs.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Workflows reference" icon="diagram-project" href="/feature-reference/workflows">
    Node taxonomy, trigger types, edge sync, and the full editor walkthrough.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Workflow API" icon="code" href="/api-reference/rest/WorkflowSchema">
    REST schemas: [`WorkflowSchema`](/api-reference/rest/WorkflowSchema),
    [`WorkflowExecuteSchema`](/api-reference/rest/WorkflowExecuteSchema),
    [`WorkflowNodeSchema`](/api-reference/rest/WorkflowNodeSchema).
  </Card>

  <Card title="Edge-to-cloud VLM tutorial" icon="bolt" href="/tutorials/edge-to-cloud-vlm">
    Build the anonymize-on-edge + VLM-on-cloud workflow end-to-end.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>