Open-Source Workflow Builder SDK

Hi HN,

I'm Maciej, founder of Workflow Builder. Over the last few years our team has been building diagramming and workflow tools for complex systems (industrial automation, AV system design, financial workflows, etc.).

One thing we repeatedly noticed while working with clients is that many companies did not want to adopt full workflow automation platforms. Tools like Zapier, n8n or Camunda are great when you want an entire automation platform. But many teams we worked with wanted something different.

They already had their own backend systems and orchestration layers. What they were missing was a good UX for designing workflows inside their own products.

The main concerns we kept hearing were:

- lack of ownership over workflow interface - difficulty embedding external automation platforms into SaaS products - limited UX customization - tight coupling between visual editors and execution engines

So instead of building another automation platform, we took a different approach. We separated the workflow modeling layer from the execution layer.

The idea is simple:

Frontend → designs the workflow graph Backend → executes the workflow

This "frontend-first workflow architecture" allows teams to embed workflow building capabilities directly inside their own software while keeping full control over their backend logic.

We released the visual workflow builder as an open-source Community Edition SDK. It allows developers to embed a customizable workflow editor into their own applications or build a workflow tool upon it.

Some use cases we've seen so far:

- SaaS platforms embedding automation into their product - domain-specific workflow tools - AI agent orchestration interfaces - internal automation tools

Demo: https://workflowbuilder.io

GitHub: https://github.com/synergycodes/workflowbuilder

Curious to hear how others here approach the separation of workflow modeling and workflow execution.