Workflow Wizard Architecture

Workflow Wizard Architecture

Obscura Flow now has a reusable workflow wizard layer for guided, resumable product flows.

Goals

• Guide non-technical users through preservation workflows step by step.
• Keep drafts resumable with local autosave.
• Validate each step before execution.
• Execute final actions asynchronously with explicit completion and recovery messaging.
• Preserve offline-first behavior: drafts and choices remain local until the final action.

Core Component

src/renderer/components/WorkflowWizard.tsx provides the generic step engine.

It supports:

• typed draft state;
• per-step validation;
• progress navigation;
• final summary;
• advanced mode;
• async execution;
• best-effort local draft persistence;
• cancellation and close controls;
• explicit error and warning panels.

Draft persistence is intentionally best-effort. If localStorage is unavailable, the wizard remains usable and skips persistence without blocking the workflow.

Integrated Workflows

src/renderer/views/ProductWorkflowWizards.tsx contains product-specific workflow definitions.

Implemented:

• NewWorkspaceWorkflowWizard
  • identity;
  • local storage;
  • archive strategy;
  • cloud preservation;
  • sync strategy;
  • final creation and settings persistence.
• ImportProjectWorkflowWizard
  • source selection;
  • import strategy;
  • metadata scan intent;
  • preview generation intent;
  • AI/analysis intent;
  • organization intent;
  • final import execution.

The new workspace wizard replaces the previous basic creation modal. The import project action now opens the guided import wizard before calling the existing import API.

Product Notes

The first implementation intentionally uses existing Electron IPC and workspace settings APIs instead of adding a parallel workflow backend. This keeps the change low-risk and aligned with the current offline queue, sync, archive, integrity, and restore services.

Some advanced options are captured as product intent before dedicated execution workers exist. That includes AI classification, proxy generation, contact sheets, and bandwidth limits.

Future Work

• Add dedicated archive, restore, and integrity wizard entry points around the existing archive/restore/integrity services.
• Persist workflow state into the workspace audit trail when a workflow reaches execution.
• Add main-process directory validation for read/write permissions, free space, and cloud-synced folder detection.
• Add execution queues for preview generation, contact sheets, AI analysis, and bandwidth-limited cloud upload.
• Add Playwright coverage for wizard keyboard navigation and responsive layout.