Google Workflow Executions API
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For Agents
Trigger Cloud Workflows executions, watch step entries, cancel runs, and read final results. Runtime control plane for serverless orchestrations defined in the Workflows API.
Use for: Trigger a workflow execution with a JSON payload, List all failed executions for a workflow in the last 24 hours, Cancel an active workflow execution by name, Retrieve step entries for a specific execution
Not supported: Does not handle workflow definition authoring, container image building, message brokering, or scheduling — use for runtime control of Cloud Workflows executions only.
The Google Workflow Executions API runs workflows defined in Google Cloud Workflows and exposes the lifecycle of each execution. Clients trigger a workflow with a JSON argument payload, observe step-by-step progress through stepEntries, cancel in-flight runs, and pull a structured execution result when complete. It also supports triggering workflows from Pub/Sub messages and exporting historical execution data for analysis. This is the runtime companion to the Workflows API, which manages workflow definitions.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the Workflow Executions API to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Workflow Executions API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.
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Step 1: Jentic One Host machine
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh2
Step 2: Agent machine
# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
Capabilities
What an agent can do with Workflow Executions API.
Trigger a workflow execution with a JSON arguments payload
List executions for a workflow with state filters such as ACTIVE, SUCCEEDED, or FAILED
Cancel a running execution mid-flight
Retrieve step entries to see the input, output, and timing of every workflow step
Trigger workflow executions from Pub/Sub topics through the triggerPubsubExecution endpoint
Use Cases
Patterns agents use Workflow Executions API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Event-driven serverless orchestration
Run a multi-step workflow in response to an event such as a file upload or a Pub/Sub message. The Workflow Executions API exposes triggerPubsubExecution so a workflow can be wired directly to a Pub/Sub topic without an intermediate Cloud Function. Execution state can be polled or watched through stepEntries to drive downstream UI updates.
POST to /v1/{+workflow}:triggerPubsubExecution with a Pub/Sub message envelope and return the resulting execution name.
Synchronous workflow invocation from a backend
A backend service triggers a workflow with POST /v1/{+parent}/executions, polls the execution by name until state is SUCCEEDED, then reads the result field for the structured output. This pattern replaces ad-hoc step functions or hand-coded retry loops with a declarative workflow definition. The stepEntries endpoint provides observability that an opaque function call cannot.
Create an execution under parent projects/{project}/locations/{loc}/workflows/{workflow} with argument payload {"orderId":"abc"}, poll until state=SUCCEEDED, and return the result field.
Operational debugging and audit
When a workflow fails, the stepEntries endpoint exposes input, output, exception, and routine name for every step, giving engineers a precise replay of execution flow. Combined with deleteExecutionHistory and exportData, teams can keep recent runs queryable while archiving older execution traces. This is essential for SRE postmortems and compliance auditing.
List stepEntries under a failed execution, find the step where exception is non-empty, and return its routine and exception fields.
Agent-driven workflow control through Jentic
Operations agents can launch, monitor, and cancel Cloud Workflows runs through Jentic without engineers writing client glue. The agent searches Jentic for trigger a cloud workflow, loads the executions create operation, and executes with the JSON arguments built from a user request. State changes can be polled through the same client.
Through Jentic, create an execution on a named workflow with arguments derived from the user's request, then poll the execution until state is SUCCEEDED or FAILED.
Key Endpoints
9 endpoints — the google workflow executions api runs workflows defined in google cloud workflows and exposes the lifecycle of each execution.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
POST
/v1/{+parent}/executions
Create a new workflow execution
GET
/v1/{+name}
Get execution details
POST
/v1/{+name}:cancel
Cancel an active execution
GET
/v1/{+parent}/stepEntries
List step entries for an execution
POST
/v1/{+workflow}:triggerPubsubExecution
Trigger an execution from a Pub/Sub message
POST
/v1/{+name}:exportData
Export historical execution data
POST
/v1/{+parent}/executions
Create a new workflow execution
GET
/v1/{+name}
Get execution details
POST
/v1/{+name}:cancel
Cancel an active execution
GET
/v1/{+parent}/stepEntries
List step entries for an execution
POST
/v1/{+workflow}:triggerPubsubExecution
Trigger an execution from a Pub/Sub message
POST
/v1/{+name}:exportData
Export historical execution data
Why Jentic?
Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.
Credential isolation
OAuth 2.0 credentials for the Google Cloud project are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Agents execute with scoped access tokens; client secrets and refresh tokens never enter the model context.
Intent-based discovery
Agents call Jentic search with intents like trigger a workflow or cancel a workflow run and Jentic returns the executions create or executions cancel operation with its full input schema.
Time to first call
Direct integration: half a day for OAuth setup, execution polling, and step-entry parsing. Through Jentic: under 30 minutes to trigger and read back a result.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
FAQs
Specific to using Workflow Executions API through Jentic.
What authentication does the Workflow Executions API use?
It uses OAuth 2.0 (Oauth2 and Oauth2c schemes) scoped to https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform. Through Jentic the OAuth credentials are stored encrypted and exchanged for access tokens at execution; the agent runtime never holds the refresh token.
Where do I define the workflow itself?
Workflow definitions are managed by the separate Workflows API. Workflow Executions only handles run-time concerns: creating, listing, getting, cancelling executions and reading stepEntries. The execution endpoints reference workflows by their fully qualified name like projects/{project}/locations/{loc}/workflows/{workflow}.
What are the rate limits for the Workflow Executions API?
Per-project quotas for execution creation and concurrent active executions are configured in the Cloud Console under APIs and Services. The published default is enough for most workloads; teams running thousands of concurrent runs request a quota increase. Step throughput within a single execution is governed separately by the Workflows runtime.
How do I trigger a workflow execution through Jentic?
Search Jentic for trigger a cloud workflow, load the schema for POST /v1/{+parent}/executions, and execute it with the parent set to the workflow name and an argument JSON payload. Jentic returns the execution name; poll GET /v1/{+name} until state is SUCCEEDED or FAILED.
Can I trigger workflows from Pub/Sub directly?
Yes. POST /v1/{+workflow}:triggerPubsubExecution accepts a Pub/Sub envelope and starts an execution without needing an intermediary Cloud Function. Configure your Pub/Sub subscription to push to this endpoint for fully serverless event-driven workflows.
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