Observability

Workflow SDK provides a Workflow CLI and web UI to inspect, monitor, and debug workflows. You can inspect workflow runs, steps, webhooks, events, and stream output.

Quick start

npx workflow

The CLI comes pre-installed with the Workflow SDK and registers the workflow command. If the workflow package is not already installed, npx workflow will download and run the CLI temporarily, or use the locally installed version if available.

Get started inspecting your local workflows:

# See all available commands
npx workflow inspect --help

# List recent workflow runs
npx workflow inspect runs

Web UI

Workflow SDK ships with a local web UI for inspecting your workflows. The CLI serves the web UI locally when you use the --web flag.

# Launch the web UI for visual exploration
npx workflow inspect runs --web

On Nitro, the dev server has the web UI built in: open /_workflow while nitro dev is running. No separate command is required.

In the runs table, select one or more runs and choose Cancel to cancel the batch in a single request. Runs that fail with a retryable error stay selected so you can retry them.

To share a link to a specific run without opening a browser, use the --url flag. It prints the dashboard deep link to stdout and exits (no browser, no local server), which is useful for scripts, PR comments, or automation. Add --json to get { "url": "..." }.

# Print the deep-link URL for a run (no browser, no server)
npx workflow inspect run <run_id> --url

# Vercel runs: add the backend (and --env preview for preview deployments)
npx workflow inspect run <run_id> --backend vercel --url

Backends

The Workflow SDK CLI can inspect data from any World. By default, it inspects data in your local development environment. For example, if you are using Next.js to develop workflows locally, the CLI will find the data in your .next/workflow-data/ directory.

If you're deploying workflows to a production environment, but want to inspect the data by using the CLI, you can specify the world you are using by setting the --backend flag to your world's name or package name, e.g. vercel.

Vercel backend

To inspect workflows running on Vercel, ensure you're logged in to the Vercel CLI and have linked your project. See Vercel CLI authentication and project linking docs for more information. Then, specify the backend as vercel.

# Inspect workflows running on Vercel
npx workflow inspect runs --backend vercel

Without an interactive vercel login, such as in CI, pass the auth token, project ID, team ID, and environment explicitly. See Connecting from outside a deployment.

When deployed to Vercel, workflow data is encrypted end-to-end. Encrypted fields display as locked placeholders until you choose to decrypt them using the Decrypt button in the web UI or the --decrypt flag in the CLI.

More observability features