Deploying

Deploy workflows locally, on Vercel, or anywhere using pluggable World adapters.

The same workflow code can run locally during development, on Vercel with zero configuration, or on any infrastructure using Worlds. These pluggable adapters handle storage, queuing, and communication.

Local development

During local development, workflows automatically use the Local World, with no configuration required. The Local World stores workflow data in a .workflow-data/ directory and processes steps synchronously, making it suitable for development and testing.

# Run your development server; workflows need no additional configuration
npm run dev

You can inspect local workflow data using the Workflow CLI:

npx workflow inspect runs

Learn more about the Local World configuration and internals.

Deploying to Vercel

The recommended way to deploy workflows to production is on Vercel. When you deploy to Vercel, workflows automatically use the Vercel World, again with zero configuration.

The Vercel World provides:

  • Durable storage: Workflow state persists across function invocations.
  • Managed queuing: Steps are processed reliably with automatic retries.
  • Automatic scaling: Workflows scale with your application.
  • Built-in observability: View workflow runs in the Vercel dashboard.

Deploy your application:

vercel deploy
Enable Fluid compute before deploying. Workflow is designed to take advantage of Fluid compute for efficient suspension and resumption. Without Fluid compute enabled, each workflow resume incurs a separate function cold start, which can result in significantly higher costs.

Learn more about the Vercel World and its capabilities.

Starting with workflow version 5.0.0, the Vercel World supports multi-region: runs are pinned to the region that creates them, keeping workflow data, queuing, and streaming close to your users. See Multi-region.

Self-hosting & other providers

For self-hosting or deploying to other cloud providers, you can use community-maintained Worlds or build your own.

Explore Worlds

Browse official and community World implementations with compatibility status and performance benchmarks.

Build Your Own

Learn how to implement a custom World for your infrastructure.

Using a third-party World

To use a different World implementation, set the WORKFLOW_TARGET_WORLD environment variable:

export WORKFLOW_TARGET_WORLD=@workflow/world-postgres
# Plus any world-specific configuration
export DATABASE_URL=postgres://...

Each World may have its own configuration requirements. Refer to the specific World's documentation for details.

Observability

The Observability tools work with any World backend. By default, the tools connect to your local environment, but you can configure them to inspect remote deployments:

# Inspect local workflows
npx workflow inspect runs

# Inspect remote workflows
npx workflow inspect runs --backend @workflow/world-postgres

Learn more about Observability tools.

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