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C3 · Workflow Orchestration

Deterministic validator orchestration for workflow runs: trigger consensus, leader selection, execution verification, and attestations.

W3 workflows rely on a peer-to-peer orchestration protocol where validators achieve unanimous agreement through a repeating cycle of leader election, execution, and attestation.

Protocol Structure

The workflow run has two phases: trigger orchestration (once) and a per-step loop (repeat for every step).

Phase 1: Trigger Orchestration

  • Participant selection — Deterministic hash-based selection of the validator subset.

  • Observation — First validator verifies the trigger condition, broadcasts evidence to the cohort.

  • Attestation — Each validator responds Confirmed / Rejected / Indeterminate.

  • Consensus — All selected validators must agree before the workflow run unlocks.

Establishes that the workflow should begin. Once achieved, the protocol enters the per-step loop.

Phase 2: Step Loop (repeat for each step)

1.
Leader Election
All validators independently compute the same proposer via hashing workflow + trigger + step index.
hash(workflow, trigger, step_index) mod validator_set
Unanimous agreement on the leader is required before execution.
2.
Execution Proposal
The elected leader runs the workflow step through the execution stack (E5→E1) and broadcasts the transcript.
Single executor per step for efficiency; transcript includes outputs + receipts.
3.
Attestation
All validators re-run the step, compare outputs, and vote Confirmed / Rejected / Indeterminate.
Trust-but-verify: every validator replays the transcript locally.
Unanimous confirmation is required to advance to the next step.

Repeat until every workflow step completes: elect → execute → attest.

Configuration

Quorum Size (Per Workflow)
Configured via ActivateWorkflowRequest.quorum_size. Defines how many validators must participate for this workflow.

Unanimous Agreement

All selected validators must vote. Any missing or negative vote halts progress until re-selection.

Alpha Constraints
Happy-path only: no slashing, no timeout handling, no stake awareness yet. Pure P2P coordination for concept exploration.

Gaps Before Production

No Settlement Layer

  • No total ordering — Workflow runs are independent; there’s no canonical ordering across workflows.

  • No finality — Pure P2P; nothing enforces irreversible commitments.

  • No validator set management — No onchain registry or stake tracking.

  • No state availability — Attestations remain local; no shared ledger.

This is an alpha-only orchestration protocol. Production requires C2/C1 layers for ordering, finality, and persistence.