Explore Rundown
Interactive examples demonstrating Rundown's runbook patterns. Click any pattern to try it live in your browser.
composition
child-task
Simple child runbook for sub-runbook patterns
inline-child-fail
Child runbook that auto-fails (inline composition target)
inline-child-pass
Child runbook that auto-passes (inline composition target)
inline-composition
Parent runbook exercising inline child execution (rd run --step)
list-fail-any
FAIL ANY with runbook list stops on any child failure
step-runbook-list
Compose child workflows with step-level runbook list
substep-runbook-list
Demonstrates runbook references within substeps
context-passing
delegation
delegate-abort
Token cancellation pattern for delegation abort
delegate-basic
Basic delegation pattern — substep delegated to child runbook
delegate-claim-corruption
Claim replay fails closed when persisted child state is missing or relinked
delegate-claim-explicit-close
Explicit --claim-id write commands target claimed children
delegate-claim-parent-terminal
Claimed-child writes fail once the parent runbook is terminal
delegate-claim-stash-pop-resume
Claimed children can be stashed, popped, and resumed by claim id
delegate-failure
Child failure propagates STOP to parent
delegate-for-loop
FOR loop with delegation — each iteration delegates to a child runbook
delegate-hierarchy
Sequential multi-delegation with two substeps
delegate-keyword-auto-issue
rd run on a DELEGATE step auto-issues delegation tokens without rd delegate
delegate-keyword-collect-fail
DELEGATE workflow — one substep fails, aggregation fires STOP
delegate-keyword-collect-pass
Full DELEGATE workflow — auto-issue, claim all, auto-aggregation fires COMPLETE
delegate-keyword-for-loop
DELEGATE on a FOR loop step — each iteration auto-issues delegation tokens
delegate-keyword-h2-propagation
H2-level DELEGATE propagates to all H3 substeps
delegate-keyword-h2-propagation-fail
H2-level DELEGATE propagates to all H3 substeps; one substep fails, aggregation fires STOP
delegate-keyword-h3-explicit
Per-H3 DELEGATE annotation marks only the annotated substeps
delegate-keyword-mixed-substeps
Step with mixed DELEGATE and non-DELEGATE substeps
delegate-keyword-retry-exhausts
DELEGATE + FAIL ANY RETRY — substep fails both attempts, retry exhausts, parent stops
delegate-keyword-retry-recovers
DELEGATE + FAIL ANY RETRY — failed substep passes on retry, parent completes
delegate-keyword-runbook-shorthand
Per-entry DELEGATE annotation on runbook list entries (shorthand form)
delegate-named-step
Named step with delegation — verifies delegation works with named step identifiers
delegate-nested
Single-level delegation where child composes grandchild inline
delegate-nested-child
Child runbook that composes a grandchild inline
delegate-nested-grandchild
Grandchild runbook that auto-completes as delegation leaf
delegate-prompted-for
FOR loop with unresolved bounds demotes to prompted-for, delegation completes child
delegate-substep-list
Delegation from H3 substeps defined as pure runbook list bodies (no prose)
delegate-with-vars
Delegation with variables passed to child runbook
delegate-with-vars-child
Child runbook that echoes variables passed via delegation
delegation-child-fail
Child runbook that auto-fails (delegation target)
delegation-child-fail-once
Stateful delegation target that fails on first claim and passes on retry
delegation-child-manual-three-step
Manual three-step child runbook for claim-id targeting scenarios
delegation-child-pass
Simple child runbook that auto-completes (delegation target)
nested-runbook-defer-propagation
3-level DEFER propagation — root aggregates child aggregates grandchild
nested-runbook-defer-propagation-child
Child with two DEFER substeps under PASS ALL; 1.1 composes grandchild inline, 1.2 runs locally
nested-runbook-defer-propagation-grandchild
Grandchild with two DEFER substeps under PASS ALL — aggregates to COMPLETE
examples
Code Review
Systematic code review process ensuring quality and standards
Deploy Service
Safe deployment process with health checks and rollback capability.
Lint-Test-Commit
Lint Test and Fix in a loop until `PASS`, then commit.
Rundown CLI Installation
Install Rundown CLI and create your first runbook
for-loops
for-array-source
FOR loop iterating over a YAML array data source
for-basic-substep
FOR-annotated step with basic substeps
for-break-on-fail
FAIL BREAK exits the loop early when a substep fails.
for-break-on-pass
PASS BREAK exits the loop early when a substep passes.
for-default-transitions
FOR loop substeps with default transitions
for-defer-shorthand
DEFER shorthand at FOR iteration level
for-descending
FOR loop with descending range iterates from high to low
for-explicit-defer
Explicit DEFER at FOR iteration level accumulates results for parent aggregation
for-file-source
FOR loop iterating over a file data source
for-implicit-start
FOR loop with implicit start iterates 1 to N
for-iter-fail-break
Iteration-level FAIL BREAK exits loop without accumulating result.
for-iter-fail-continue
Iteration-level FAIL CONTINUE exits loop without accumulating result.
for-iter-pass-break
Iteration-level PASS BREAK exits loop (non-accumulating).
for-iter-pass-continue
Iteration-level PASS CONTINUE exits loop without accumulating result.
for-iteration-retry
RETRY as an iteration-level transition within a FOR loop
for-iteration-transitions
Iteration-level transitions nested under FOR clause
for-jsonl-source
FOR loop iterating over JSONL data source with dotted field access
for-nested-transitions
Iteration results aggregate via PASS ALL and FAIL ANY
for-next-action
NEXT action skips to the next FOR loop iteration
for-next-at-iteration
NEXT at FOR iteration level skips accumulation and advances
for-next-iteration
FOR loop iteration advancement in prompted mode.
for-prompted-fallback
FOR loop falls back to prompted-for when bounds are unresolved
for-range-to
FOR loop using 1 TO 5 range syntax with five iterations.
for-retry-defer-exhaustion
Iteration RETRY exhaustion DEFERs a FAIL into parent FAIL ANY STOP
for-retry-in-iteration
RETRY within a FOR loop iteration
for-retry-loop-exhaust
RETRY exhaust with FOR-specific actions NEXT and BREAK
for-substep-all-continue
All substeps use CONTINUE producing vacuous pass with no deferred results
for-substep-asymmetric
Substep with PASS CONTINUE and FAIL DEFER - asymmetric transition routing
for-substep-continue-defer
CONTINUE substep followed by DEFER substep within FOR iteration
for-substep-defer-continue
DEFER substep followed by CONTINUE substep within FOR iteration
for-substep-three-mixed
Three substeps mixing DEFER and CONTINUE in various positions
for-unnamed
Unnamed FOR loop without a loop variable
for-variable-bounds
FOR loop with template-expanded bounds
for-variable-expansion
FOR loop variable expansion in step descriptions and commands.
for-variable-source
FOR loop iterating over a variable data source.
for-windowed-source
FOR loop with windowed data source slice
goto
goto-at-iteration
GOTO AT jumps into a FOR loop at a specific iteration
goto-at-template-variable
GOTO AT with template variable re-enters FOR step at current iteration
goto-cross-step-substep
Jump from a substep in one parent to a substep in another parent
goto-from-fail
FAIL triggers GOTO to a recovery step
goto-named-step
GOTO between named and static steps
goto-named-substep
Jump to a named substep using GOTO
goto-self-loop
GOTO to the same step creates a retry loop until failure stops it
goto-step
Jump from step 1 to step 3, skipping step 2
goto-step-backward
Jump backward from step 2 to step 1 on failure
goto-substep
Jump from substep 1.1 to substep 1.3, skipping 1.2
goto-substep-self-loop
GOTO to the same substep creates a retry loop until pass completes it
named-steps
mixed-static-named
Mixed static and named steps with error routing
named-step-basic
Named steps with GOTO error handling
named-step-for-loop
FOR loop annotation on a named step
named-step-mixed-substeps
Named steps with numbered and named substeps
named-step-named-substeps
Named steps with named substeps
named-step-recovery-loop
Named error handler with recovery loop
named-step-retry
RETRY transition on a named step
named-step-with-substeps
Named steps with static numbered substeps
named-substeps
Demonstrates named substeps within a parent step
named-to-named-goto
GOTO between two named steps, skipping an intermediate step
other
for-break-no-retry
Substep BREAK with no retry configured — BREAK exits immediately (non-accumulating)
for-break-retry
Substep BREAK + iteration RETRY — retry fires, then BREAK exits (non-accumulating)
for-next-no-accumulation
NEXT never accumulates — iterationResults stays empty
for-next-retry
Substep NEXT + iteration RETRY — retry fires, then NEXT loops back
for-retry-defer
Normal DEFER + RETRY — retry fires, then DEFER accumulates
for-retry-succeeds
RETRY succeeds on second attempt — no BREAK
for-substep-break-respects-retry
Substep BREAK respects iteration-level retry before exiting (non-accumulating)
prompts
explicit-prompt
Steps with explicit Prompt prefix
implicit-prompt
Plain body text as implicit prompt without Prompt prefix
list-instructions
Demonstrates steps with list-formatted instructions
mixed-prompt-content
Step with both explicit Prompt and implicit instruction list
prompt-code-block
Demonstrates prompt code blocks (instructional, never executed)
yes-no-aliases
Tests that YES/NO work as aliases for PASS/FAIL
retries
retry-counter-reset
GOTO resets retry counter to zero
retry-exhaustion-complete
RETRY exhaustion with COMPLETE finishes the runbook
retry-exhaustion-continue
Tests that RETRY exhaustion with CONTINUE proceeds to the next step
retry-exhaustion-goto
Tests that RETRY exhaustion with GOTO jumps to a recovery step
retry-exhaustion-stop
Tests that RETRY exhaustion with STOP halts the runbook
retry-on-pass
Tests that RETRY on the PASS path retries when a step succeeds
retry-success
Tests that RETRY succeeds before count is exhausted
stash-pop
substeps
defer-mixed-delegation-local
One step with a delegated substep and a local bash substep — both DEFER into shared aggregation
dot-named-substeps
Named substeps using dot-name syntax (1.Prepare, 1.Cleanup)
mixed-substeps
Numbered and named substeps with dynamic transitions
static-substeps
Static nested substeps with implicit transitions
substep-defer-shorthand
DEFER shorthand expands to PASS DEFER + FAIL DEFER
substep-explicit-defer
Explicit DEFER on substeps propagates results to parent aggregation
substep-goto
GOTO between substeps in the same parent step
substep-pass-fail
Substep-level PASS/FAIL transitions with FAIL CONTINUE
substep-retry
RETRY on a substep that fails then succeeds
test
agent-child-prompted
Prompted child runbook for agent-dispatch ownership scenarios
agent-dispatch-orchestrator
One orchestrator claims and completes multiple delegated child runbooks by claim id
agent-dispatch-ownership-refusal
Claimed delegated children use explicit claim ids for stash and completion
agent-dispatch-sibling-fan-out
Two sibling claims target separate delegated child runbooks
transitions
action-messages
Demonstrates STOP and COMPLETE with message parameters
all-modifier
PASS ALL aggregate modifier (pessimistic strategy)
any-modifier
PASS ANY aggregate modifier (optimistic strategy)
code-block-variants
Code block info strings sh and shell execute while json is display-only
code-blocks
Demonstrates various code block patterns in runbooks
default-implicit
Implicit default transitions (PASS CONTINUE, FAIL STOP)
defer-lastaction-overwrite
Aggregated terminal transition overwrites the last DEFER lastAction with COMPLETE + aggregated
extended-assertions
Scenario step assertions verify transition events
fail-all-standalone
FAIL ALL STOP fires only when every substep fails
fail-any
FAIL ANY stops when any substep fails (after all complete)
fail-complete
FAIL COMPLETE finishes the runbook on failure
fail-continue
FAIL CONTINUE proceeds to the next step on failure
fail-stop
FAIL STOP halts the runbook on failure
metadata-full
All frontmatter metadata fields are supported
metadata-header
Runbook with H1 title and description text
mixed-modifiers
Demonstrates complex transition conditions with ALL/ANY modifiers
pass-any
PASS ANY completes when any substep passes (after all complete)
pass-complete
PASS COMPLETE finishes the runbook on success
pass-continue
PASS CONTINUE advances to the next step (sequential flow)
pass-stop
PASS STOP halts the runbook on success
separator-syntax
Step number separator variants are all valid syntax
substep-transitions
Substep-level transitions with GOTO and retries
variables
builtin-variables
Built-in runtime variables expand at execution time
context-current
Context current variables reflect execution position
context-parent
Context parent variables accessible in delegated child
context-parent-child
Child runbook that echoes parent context variables
var-json-array
Inline JSON array via --input-json drives FOR loop iteration
var-json-precedence
--input-json overrides --input for same key
var-json-scalar
Inline JSON scalar via --input-json sets template variable
variable-precedence
Variable resolution precedence from frontmatter and CLI
variable-undefined
Undefined variables preserved as literal text