Ironflow — Workflow Definitions for Obsidian

Ironflow is an Obsidian plugin that turns your vault into a workflow orchestration hub. Define reusable, multi-task workflows as Canvas files, derive tasks from Templater templates, configure dependencies and agent profiles, and visualize the full dependency graph with arrows.

Prerequisites

• Obsidian v0.15.0+
• Templater plugin (required)
• Obsidian Local REST API plugin (optional — for future REST API features)

Installation

git clone https://github.com/patricka3125/ironflow-obsidian.git
cd ironflow-obsidian
npm install
npm run build

Link into your vault:

ln -s /path/to/ironflow-obsidian /path/to/your-vault/.obsidian/plugins/ironflow-obsidian

Then in Obsidian: Settings > Community plugins > enable ironflow-obsidian.

Setup

1. Install and enable the Templater plugin in your vault.

2. Create a Templates/ folder with at least one .md file that has frontmatter fields:

   ---
   target-branch: ""
   provider: "claude_code"
   ---
   Template content here.

3. Set Templater's template folder location to Templates in its settings.

4. Optionally configure Ironflow's Workflow folder and Template folder in Settings > ironflow-obsidian (defaults: Workflows and Templates).

Quickstart

1. Create a workflow

• Open the command palette (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P)
• Run "Ironflow: New Workflow"
• Enter a name (e.g., review-cycle) and click Create
• The canvas file opens automatically and a Workflows/review-cycle/ folder is created

2. Add tasks

With the workflow canvas still open:

• Open the command palette
• Run "Ironflow: Add Task"
• Enter a task name (e.g., build-feature), select a template, click Add
• Repeat for more tasks (e.g., code-review, deploy)

Each task appears as a node on the canvas, auto-positioned to the right of existing nodes.

3. Configure task properties

• Click a task node on the canvas — the Ironflow Task Properties panel opens in the right sidebar
• Edit the Agent profile (e.g., developer)
• Edit any Template fields (e.g., target-branch, provider)
• Changes are saved automatically with debouncing

4. Set up dependencies

To create build-feature -> code-review -> deploy:

• Click the build-feature node
• Under Next tasks, select code-review from the dropdown and click Add
• An arrow appears on the canvas from build-feature to code-review
• The reciprocal link (code-review depends on build-feature) is set automatically
• Click code-review and add deploy as its next task

5. Verify

• The canvas shows directional arrows representing the dependency chain
• Clicking any task node loads its properties in the side panel
• Opening a task .md file shows the merged frontmatter with all Ironflow and template fields
• Editing frontmatter in the markdown editor refreshes the side panel in real time

Commands

Command	Description
Ironflow: New Workflow	Create a new workflow definition (canvas + task folder)
Ironflow: Add Task	Add a task to the active workflow from a template
Ironflow: Remove Task	Remove a task from the active workflow (cleans up file, canvas node, edges, and sibling dependencies)
Ironflow: Open Task Properties	Open the task property side panel

The ribbon sidebar also has an Ironflow icon for quick access to the task properties panel.

Development

See DEVELOPMENT.md for build instructions, project structure, and development workflow.

License

MIT