Operations - Ensemble Edge

Every agent uses operations to do work. Each operation does one thing well.

Core Operations

think

AI reasoning (GPT, Claude, Llama, ML models)

code

JavaScript/TypeScript execution

storage

KV, D1, R2, Vectorize access

http

HTTP requests to APIs

tools

MCP tools and skills

email

Send emails

sms

Send SMS messages

html

Render HTML

pdf

Generate PDFs

html

Full-stack pages

form

Generate validated forms

queue

Message queue processing

telemetry

Analytics Engine metrics

Documentation: The docs/ directory is a first-class component for API documentation. See Building Documentation.

Operation Basics

Declaration

Operations are declared in agents:

agent: my-agent

operations:
  - name: generate-text
    operation: think
    config:
      provider: openai
      model: gpt-4o-mini
      prompt: ${input.text}

  - name: process
    operation: code
    config:
      script: scripts/uppercase-text
    input:
      text: ${generate-text.output}

// scripts/uppercase-text.ts
import type { AgentExecutionContext } from '@ensemble-edge/conductor'

export default function uppercaseText(context: AgentExecutionContext) {
  const { text } = context.input
  return { result: text.toUpperCase() }
}

Execution

Operations run when the agent executes:

const result = await conductor.executeAgent('my-agent', { text: 'hello' });
// result.output contains the final output

Chaining

Operations reference each other’s outputs:

operations:
  - name: step1
    operation: http
    config:
      url: https://api.example.com/data

  - name: step2
    operation: think
    config:
      prompt: Analyze: ${step1.output.body}

  - name: step3
    operation: code
    config:
      script: scripts/combine-results
    input:
      analysis: ${step2.output}
      rawData: ${step1.output.body}

// scripts/combine-results.ts
import type { AgentExecutionContext } from '@ensemble-edge/conductor'

export default function combineResults(context: AgentExecutionContext) {
  const { analysis, rawData } = context.input
  return {
    analysis,
    raw_data: rawData
  }
}

Operation Categories

1. Compute Operations

Execute logic and transform data. think - AI reasoning:

- name: analyze
  operation: think
  config:
    provider: openai
    model: gpt-4o
    prompt: Analyze this data: ${input.data}

code - JavaScript/TypeScript:

- name: transform
  operation: code
  config:
    script: scripts/transform-data
  input:
    data: ${input.data}

// scripts/transform-data.ts
import type { AgentExecutionContext } from '@ensemble-edge/conductor'

export default function transformData(context: AgentExecutionContext) {
  const { data } = context.input
  return { transformed: data.map((x: number) => x * 2) }
}

2. Data Operations

Access and manipulate data stores. storage - All Cloudflare storage:

# KV
- name: cache-get
  operation: storage
  config:
    type: kv
    action: get
    key: result-${input.query}

# D1
- name: query-db
  operation: data
  config:
    backend: d1
    binding: DB
    operation: query
    sql: SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?
    params: [${input.user_id}]

# R2
- name: get-file
  operation: storage
  config:
    type: r2
    action: get
    key: documents/${input.filename}

# Vectorize
- name: search-vectors
  operation: data
  config:
    backend: vectorize
    binding: VECTORIZE
    operation: query
    vector: ${embed.output}
    topK: 5

3. Communication Operations

Send messages and notifications. http - HTTP requests:

- name: fetch-data
  operation: http
  config:
    url: https://api.example.com/data
    method: POST
    headers:
      Authorization: Bearer ${env.API_KEY}
    body:
      query: ${input.query}

email - Send emails:

- name: send-notification
  operation: email
  config:
    to: ${input.recipient}
    subject: Your report is ready
    body: ${generate-report.output}

sms - Send SMS:

- name: send-alert
  operation: sms
  config:
    to: ${input.phone}
    body: Alert: ${input.message}

4. Presentation Operations

Render content for users. html - HTML rendering:

- name: render-page
  operation: html
  config:
    template: dashboard
    data:
      user: ${fetch-user.output}
      stats: ${fetch-stats.output}

pdf - PDF generation:

- name: generate-pdf
  operation: pdf
  config:
    html: ${render-report.output}
    filename: report-${input.id}.pdf

form - Form generation:

- name: contact-form
  operation: form
  config:
    fields:
      - name: email
        type: email
        required: true
      - name: message
        type: textarea
        required: true
    csrf: true

5. Async Operations

Process background jobs and messages. queue - Message queue processing:

- name: process-job
  operation: queue
  config:
    action: send
    queue: background-jobs
    body:
      task: ${input.task}
      priority: high

6. Extension Operations

Extend functionality with external tools. tools - MCP tools and skills:

- name: use-tool
  operation: tools
  config:
    tool: search-web
    params:
      query: ${input.query}

Operation Features

Conditional Execution

Skip operations based on conditions:

operations:
  - name: check-cache
    operation: storage
    config:
      type: kv
      action: get
      key: result-${input.query}

  # Only run if cache miss
  - name: generate
    operation: think
    condition: ${check-cache.output.value === null}
    config:
      provider: openai
      model: gpt-4o-mini
      prompt: ${input.query}

Caching

Cache operation results:

operations:
  - name: expensive-operation
    operation: think
    config:
      provider: openai
      model: gpt-4
      prompt: ${input.text}
    cache:
      ttl: 3600  # 1 hour
      key: ai-${input.text}  # Custom cache key

Retry Logic

Automatic retries on failure:

operations:
  - name: flaky-api
    operation: http
    config:
      url: https://api.example.com/data
    retry:
      maxAttempts: 3
      backoff: exponential
      initialDelay: 1000

Parallel Execution

Operations without dependencies run in parallel:

operations:
  # These 3 run in parallel
  - name: fetch-a
    operation: http
    config:
      url: https://api-a.com/data

  - name: fetch-b
    operation: http
    config:
      url: https://api-b.com/data

  - name: fetch-c
    operation: http
    config:
      url: https://api-c.com/data

  # This waits for all 3 to complete
  - name: merge
    operation: code
    config:
      script: scripts/merge-api-responses
    input:
      fetchA: ${fetch-a.output.body}
      fetchB: ${fetch-b.output.body}
      fetchC: ${fetch-c.output.body}

// scripts/merge-api-responses.ts
import type { AgentExecutionContext } from '@ensemble-edge/conductor'

export default function mergeApiResponses(context: AgentExecutionContext) {
  const { fetchA, fetchB, fetchC } = context.input
  return {
    a: fetchA,
    b: fetchB,
    c: fetchC
  }
}

Operation Reference

Common Configuration

All operations support:

operations:
  - name: my-operation
    operation: think
    config:
      # Operation-specific config
    condition: ${some.condition}  # Optional: when to run
    cache:
      ttl: 3600  # Optional: cache duration
      key: custom-key  # Optional: cache key
    retry:
      maxAttempts: 3  # Optional: retry count
      backoff: exponential  # Optional: backoff strategy
    timeout: 30000  # Optional: timeout in ms

Output Access

Access operation outputs using template syntax:

${operation-name.output}          # Full output
${operation-name.output.field}    # Specific field
${operation-name.executed}        # true if ran
${operation-name.failed}          # true if failed
${operation-name.cached}          # true if from cache
${operation-name.duration}        # Execution time in ms

Best Practices

Use the Right Operation - Each operation is optimized for its use case
Cache Expensive Operations - Especially AI and HTTP calls
Handle Failures - Use conditions and retry logic
Optimize for Parallel - Don’t create unnecessary dependencies
Keep Operations Simple - Single responsibility per operation
Use Built-in Features - Leverage caching, retry, and conditions
Monitor Performance - Track operation execution times
Test Thoroughly - Unit test each operation

Performance Tips

1. Parallel Execution

# Bad: Sequential (slow)
operations:
  - name: step1
    operation: http
    config:
      url: https://api-a.com
  - name: step2
    operation: http
    config:
      url: https://api-b.com
      data: ${step1.output}  # Creates dependency

# Good: Parallel (fast)
operations:
  - name: step1
    operation: http
    config:
      url: https://api-a.com
  - name: step2
    operation: http
    config:
      url: https://api-b.com
  - name: merge
    operation: code
    config:
      script: scripts/merge-step-outputs
    input:
      stepA: ${step1.output}
      stepB: ${step2.output}

// scripts/merge-step-outputs.ts
import type { AgentExecutionContext } from '@ensemble-edge/conductor'

export default function mergeStepOutputs(context: AgentExecutionContext) {
  const { stepA, stepB } = context.input
  return {
    a: stepA,
    b: stepB
  }
}

2. Conditional Execution

# Bad: Always runs expensive operation
operations:
  - name: expensive-ai
    operation: think
    config:
      provider: openai
      model: gpt-4
      prompt: ${input.text}

# Good: Skip if cached
operations:
  - name: check-cache
    operation: storage
    config:
      type: kv
      action: get
      key: ai-${input.text}

  - name: expensive-ai
    operation: think
    condition: ${check-cache.output.value === null}
    config:
      provider: openai
      model: gpt-4
      prompt: ${input.text}

3. Operation Caching

# Cache at operation level
operations:
  - name: scrape-website
    operation: http
    config:
      url: ${input.url}
    cache:
      ttl: 86400  # Cache for 24 hours
      key: scrape-${input.url}

Next Steps

Agents

Learn about agents

Operations Reference

Detailed operation docs

Flow Control

Control execution flow

Building Agents

Create custom agents

Conductor

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Building

Components

Operations Reference

Plugins

Starter Kit

Playbooks

Reference

​Core Operations

think

code

storage

http

tools

email

sms

html

pdf

html

form

queue

telemetry

​Operation Basics

​Declaration

​Execution

​Chaining

​Operation Categories

​1. Compute Operations

​2. Data Operations

​3. Communication Operations

​4. Presentation Operations

​5. Async Operations

​6. Extension Operations

​Operation Features

​Conditional Execution

​Caching

​Retry Logic

​Parallel Execution

​Operation Reference

​Common Configuration

​Output Access

​Best Practices

​Performance Tips

​1. Parallel Execution

​2. Conditional Execution

​3. Operation Caching

​Next Steps

Agents

Operations Reference

Flow Control

Building Agents

Core Operations

Operation Basics

Declaration

Execution

Chaining

Operation Categories

1. Compute Operations

2. Data Operations

3. Communication Operations

4. Presentation Operations

5. Async Operations

6. Extension Operations

Operation Features

Conditional Execution

Caching

Retry Logic

Parallel Execution

Operation Reference

Common Configuration

Output Access

Best Practices

Performance Tips

1. Parallel Execution

2. Conditional Execution

3. Operation Caching

Next Steps