planning docs

2026-05-16 17:38:06 +07:00
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@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ CapabilitySource
 Important rule: a source is not "an MCP tool source." A source owns
 capabilities. Each surface decides which capability kinds it projects.

+For the distinction between raw capabilities, workflow-facing `NodeSpec`s, and
+future saved wrapper artifacts, see
+[`workflow_capabilities.md`](workflow_capabilities.md).
+
 ## Canonical Sources

 ### `wf.std`
@@ -0,0 +1,277 @@
+# Workflow Capabilities
+
+This document separates the things an MCP-facing platform can expose from the
+things a workflow should usually consume.
+
+The short version:
+
+```text
+raw capability != workflow capability
+```
+
+An MCP tool may be callable and still be a poor workflow node until someone
+wraps it into a cleaner workflow-facing contract.
+
+## Core Terms
+
+### Source
+
+A source is a named owner of capabilities.
+
+Examples:
+
+- `everything.default`: an upstream MCP connection source
+- `wf.std`: the local workflow standard library
+- `wf.mcp`: local workflow helpers for interacting with MCP backends
+- `wf.admin`: privileged control-plane capabilities
+
+A source is **not** defined by one protocol. MCP connection sources commonly
+own tools, prompts, and resources. Local sources may own only node specs, or
+node specs plus documentation prompts/resources, or only privileged admin
+tools.
+
+The source answers:
+
+```text
+who owns this capability?
+```
+
+not:
+
+```text
+what protocol transported it?
+```
+
+### Raw Capability
+
+A raw capability is what a source directly provides.
+
+Examples:
+
+- an upstream MCP tool
+- an upstream MCP prompt
+- an upstream MCP resource
+- a local admin tool
+- a local standard-library helper
+
+Raw capabilities are useful for direct inspection and direct invocation, but
+their interface is shaped by the provider. That provider-facing interface may
+not be pleasant or safe for workflow composition.
+
+### Workflow Capability
+
+A workflow capability is a workflow-facing `NodeSpec`.
+
+Today, a `NodeSpec` has:
+
+- one input schema
+- one output schema
+- one or more named outcomes
+
+It does **not** currently support a different output schema per outcome.
+
+The workflow capability answers:
+
+```text
+how should a graph use this thing?
+```
+
+instead of:
+
+```text
+how did the original provider happen to expose this thing?
+```
+
+### Wrapper / Adapter Artifact
+
+A wrapper artifact is a saved reusable bridge from a raw capability to a
+workflow capability.
+
+Examples:
+
+- convert a raw `isError` result into workflow outcomes such as `ok` and
+  `error`
+- map a provider-specific `status` field into workflow outcomes such as
+  `needs_input`, `done`, and `failed`
+- strip a provider result envelope and expose only the data a graph should use
+- normalize awkward parameter names or output shapes for repeated workflow use
+
+A wrapper artifact is useful when a human or LLM has learned once how to make a
+provider capability workflow-friendly and should not have to rediscover that
+interpretation every time.
+
+Expected properties:
+
+- saved
+- inspectable
+- reusable
+- dependency-aware
+- directly testable before use in a graph
+
+### Workflow Artifact
+
+A workflow artifact is a saved graph.
+
+It may depend on:
+
+- workflow capabilities from local sources
+- generated workflow wrappers around upstream tools
+- saved wrapper artifacts authored earlier
+- other saved workflow artifacts later, once graph-as-node is real
+
+### Deployment
+
+A deployment binds a saved workflow artifact to concrete runtime sources.
+
+This is where logical source names can resolve to concrete accounts or
+connections, for example:
+
+```text
+context7 -> context7.default
+```
+
+or later:
+
+```text
+crm -> salesforce.work
+```
+
+## Why Raw MCP Tools Are Not Automatically Good Workflow Nodes
+
+MCP tools are general callable capabilities. Workflow nodes need contracts that
+compose well inside graphs.
+
+Common mismatch examples:
+
+### Status Encoded In Output
+
+A provider may return:
+
+```json
+{
+  "status": "needs_input",
+  "message": "pick one"
+}
+```
+
+A workflow usually wants an explicit outcome:
+
+```text
+needs_input
+```
+
+so the graph can branch without every downstream node re-parsing provider
+status strings.
+
+### Error Encoded By Transport Convention
+
+An MCP tool call has protocol-level success/error handling. A workflow often
+wants errors represented as explicit graph outcomes that must be wired.
+
+### Provider Envelopes
+
+A provider may return:
+
+```json
+{
+  "ok": true,
+  "data": {
+    "items": [...]
+  }
+}
+```
+
+while the graph wants:
+
+```json
+{
+  "items": [...]
+}
+```
+
+### Human-Friendly Versus Graph-Friendly Inputs
+
+A raw tool may be good for interactive human use but awkward for stateful graph
+composition. A wrapper can expose the small stable interface the graph actually
+needs.
+
+## Generated Versus Authored Workflow Capabilities
+
+Some workflow capabilities can be generated mechanically:
+
+- a simple MCP tool whose result already maps cleanly to one output schema and
+  `ok` / `error` outcomes
+
+Others should be authored and saved:
+
+- tools with domain-specific status fields
+- tools whose raw shape is too provider-centric
+- tools whose result needs durable semantic interpretation
+
+The platform should support both.
+
+## Authoring Loop
+
+A client authoring workflows, including an LLM client, should be able to:
+
+1. inspect available sources
+2. inspect raw capabilities
+3. inspect existing workflow capabilities and saved wrappers
+4. call a workflow capability directly once
+5. inspect the normalized output and outcome
+6. reuse that capability inside a graph
+
+That direct-call surface is different from:
+
+- calling the raw upstream MCP tool
+- running a full workflow artifact
+- using privileged admin tools
+
+It exists so authors can test the workflow-facing contract before composing it.
+
+## Relationship To Capability Sources
+
+Sources own capability kinds:
+
+```text
+tools
+node_specs
+prompts
+resources
+```
+
+Possible later additions may include saved wrappers or workflow artifacts as
+first-class projected capability kinds, but they should not erase the raw versus
+workflow-facing distinction.
+
+Examples:
+
+- `everything.default.tools["search"]`
+  - raw upstream capability
+- `everything.default.node_specs["everything.default.search"]`
+  - generated workflow-facing wrapper, if the raw tool maps cleanly
+- `user.crm.lookup_customer`
+  - saved authored wrapper around a raw upstream tool, if the original contract
+    needed interpretation
+
+## Current System Truth
+
+Today:
+
+- `CapabilitySource` already owns buckets for tools, node specs, prompts, and
+  resources
+- connection sources represent upstream MCP snapshots
+- `wf.std` owns local reusable workflow node specs
+- `wf.mcp` owns workflow-facing MCP runtime helpers
+- discovered upstream tools can already become workflow node specs
+
+Not yet implemented:
+
+- a saved wrapper artifact model
+- a direct public tool for calling arbitrary workflow node specs for authoring
+  tests
+- per-outcome output schemas
+- graph-as-node for saved workflows
+
+These are separate next steps. The current model should leave room for them
+without pretending they already exist.