Imixs-Workflow Engine

What does this agent do, and when should you use it?

Imixs-Workflow is an open source workflow engine for building human-centric workflow applications on a flexible, robust framework, with business logic modelled in BPMN 2.0 and executed by the engine. It is built on the Jakarta EE and Eclipse MicroProfile standards and runs on modern application servers such as Wildfly, Payara, Open Liberty and Apache TomEE, with full Jakarta EE 9 support (Jakarta EE 8 users can stay on version 5.2). The repository ships several parts: the core imixs-workflow-engine, a RESTful layer in imixs-workflow-jax-rs, a Lucene-based index module imixs-workflow-index-lucene, plus the Imixs-BPMN modelling tool, Imixs-Admin, the ready-to-run Imixs Process Manager and the Imixs-Microservice stack for Kubernetes or Docker-Swarm. You can consume the engine as a Maven dependency inside your own Java project or deploy it as a standalone microservice that manages human tasks through a RESTful API. Builds use Maven and artifacts are published to Maven Central, so it suits teams that want a self-hosted, programmable, standards-based engine rather than a hosted SaaS or a non-Java stack.

The engine takes process models designed with Imixs-BPMN, an Eclipse modelling tool based on the BPMN 2.0 standard, and executes the task transitions they define: it receives a process instance (workitem) and an event, advances the state according to the model, and triggers the modelled business logic. It is distributed as Maven artifacts such as org.imixs.workflow:imixs-workflow-engine, org.imixs.workflow:imixs-workflow-jax-rs and org.imixs.workflow:imixs-workflow-index-lucene, which you add as dependencies. The jax-rs module exposes a RESTful API so the engine can be deployed as a separate microservice managing human-centric workflow tasks; the index module uses Lucene for search over process data. Around the engine, Imixs-Admin provides web-based remote administration, Imixs Process Manager bundles a generic user interface and a Docker image, and Imixs-Microservice provides a full service stack for Kubernetes or Docker-Swarm. The build command is mvn install, and artifacts are published to Maven Central.

1. A Java enterprise team replacing paper or spreadsheet based approvals (leave, expense, purchase) with a programmable engine deployed on its existing Jakarta EE application server.
2. An architect who wants workflow as its own service in a microservice architecture, exposing the engine through the RESTful API of imixs-workflow-jax-rs.
3. A process designer modelling flows in Eclipse with Imixs-BPMN according to BPMN 2.0, letting the engine execute them without writing transition code.
4. An operator administering running instances remotely with Imixs-Admin, or spinning up development and test environments from the Imixs Process Manager Docker image.
5. A platform team deploying on Kubernetes or Docker-Swarm and building a complete service stack from the Imixs-Microservice project.
6. A developer adding imixs-workflow-index-lucene to support Lucene-backed search over workflow data.

How do you install or deploy this agent?

Building from source needs JDK 8+, Maven 3.0.3+ and a Jakarta EE application server. From the repository root run:

mvn install

To add the engine, REST layer and Lucene index to an existing Maven project:

<dependencies>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>org.imixs.workflow</groupId>
    <artifactId>imixs-workflow-engine</artifactId>
    <version>${org.imixs.workflow.version}</version>
  </dependency>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>org.imixs.workflow</groupId>
    <artifactId>imixs-workflow-jax-rs</artifactId>
    <version>${org.imixs.workflow.version}</version>
  </dependency>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>org.imixs.workflow</groupId>
    <artifactId>imixs-workflow-index-lucene</artifactId>
    <version>${org.imixs.workflow.version}</version>
  </dependency>
</dependencies>

For a working environment in one step, download the Imixs Process Manager docker-compose file and start it:

docker-compose up

The README does not document the REST endpoints, authentication scheme or initial administrator credentials; those require the project home or the relevant module documentation.

How do you use this agent?

After defining a process with Imixs-BPMN under the BPMN 2.0 standard, deploy the engine either as a Maven dependency or as a standalone microservice and drive task transitions through process instances. Dependency declaration example:

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.imixs.workflow</groupId>
  <artifactId>imixs-workflow-engine</artifactId>
  <version>${org.imixs.workflow.version}</version>
</dependency>

For a local or container environment with a generic user interface, start the Process Manager first:

docker-compose up

You can then administer the instance remotely with Imixs-Admin, or integrate through the RESTful API provided by imixs-workflow-jax-rs in a microservice architecture. The README does not list concrete REST paths or payload formats, so check the module documentation and examples for real integrations.

What are this agent's strengths and limitations?

How does this agent compare with similar options?

Key facts side by side with the most closely related agents.

How does FollowAgents rate this agent?

FAQ