RunOptions and RunResult are defined in Types.
Launch attribution
Pass optional self-reported launch provenance withstartedBy; it is persisted
in the run config and is distinct from auth.triggeredBy and annotations.
harness and sessionId are trimmed and limited to 64/256 Unicode code
points. prompt is explicit-only and is clipped with … at 8,192 code
points. Attribution is immutable when resuming an existing run and carries to
continue-as-new child runs. Do not infer it from workflow input or use it for
authentication.
Concurrency
Whenopts.maxConcurrency is omitted, a run starts with a cap of 4 concurrent
tasks that Smithers can raise as work queues up to the positive-integer
SMITHERS_AUTO_MAX_CONCURRENCY_CEILING environment setting (16 by default); a
wider declared <Parallel maxConcurrency> or subtreeConcurrency also raises
an unpinned run’s initial cap, unconstrained by that ceiling.
Providing opts.maxConcurrency explicitly pins the cap: it disables automatic
raises, including declared-width raises, so the run can’t exceed the supplied
value, even though that value can itself be larger than the automatic ceiling.
Lifecycle-linked child workflows (<Subflow> / executeChildWorkflow) draw
from the parent’s run cap as well as any enclosing subtreeConcurrency cap,
including through nested child runs. The awaiting parent task yields its slot
while the child runs, so maxConcurrency: 1 remains deadlock-free. A run that
only supplies parentRunId is detached lineage and keeps an independent cap.
Resume
Pass the originalrunId plus resume: true: state loads from the configured durable store, completed tasks are skipped, and in-progress attempts older than 15 minutes are abandoned and retried.
{} for input; the workflow file hash and VCS root must match the original run.
Cancel via AbortSignal
NodeCancelled events are emitted.
Hijack handoff
If a CLI hijack happens mid-run (bunx smthrs hijack RUN_ID), the run ends "cancelled" and the latest attempt metadata stores hijackHandoff; on resume: true, Smithers waits for a safe handoff point and continues with the persisted CLI session id (see CLI Agents) or message history (SDK agents).
result.output
Populated only when the schema passed to createSmithers() has a key literally named output. Inside a workflow, consume other typed rows through ctx.output, ctx.latest, or ctx.outputs; outside it, expose the run through the workspace Gateway and fetch a node’s typed output through getNodeOutput:
_smithers_* tables directly: the Gateway preserves auth, ownership,
invalidation, event emission, and backend independence. Direct storage access
stays reserved for runtime implementation, migration, backend tests, and
maintainer diagnostics.
Notes
- On macOS,
runWorkflowacquires acaffeinatelock to prevent idle sleep and releases it on completion; elsewhere this is a no-op. - Set
SMITHERS_LOG_LEVEL=debugto enable verbose engine logging. - For lifecycle events, pass
onProgress(see Events).