Boris Workflow for OpenClaw

> Parallel agent task runner implementing the Boris Cherny multi-agent pattern



Overview

Boris Workflow is a powerful parallel execution engine for OpenClaw that enables you to run multiple independent tasks across multiple AI agents simultaneously. Inspired by Boris Cherny's approach to multi-agent orchestration, it provides automatic progress tracking, configurable error retry, and organized artifact management.

What It Does

The Boris Workflow implements a 3-phase parallel execution pattern:

1. Phase 1: Distribution — Tasks are queued and distributed to available agents
2. Phase 2: Execution — Agents pull work from the queue (work-stealing pattern)
3. Phase 3: Verification — Optional verification agent reviews all results

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      ORCHESTRATOR                           │
│                    (boris-run CLI)                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            │
        ┌───────────────────┼───────────────────┐
        ▼                   ▼                   ▼
┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐
│  AGENT 1     │    │  AGENT 2     │    │  AGENT N     │
│ (Task A)     │    │ (Task B)     │    │ (Task C)     │
└──────┬───────┘    └──────┬───────┘    └──────┬───────┘
       │                   │                   │
       └───────────────────┼───────────────────┘
                           ▼
              ┌────────────────────┐
              │  RESULT COLLECTOR  │
              └────────────────────┘

Key Features

🚀 Parallel Execution

• Spawn 1-20 agents working simultaneously
• Work-stealing pattern ensures no idle agents
• Automatic load balancing across varying task durations

🔄 Intelligent Retry

• Configurable retry strategies: none, linear, exponential
• Per-task timeout handling
• Automatic failure recovery

📊 Progress Tracking

• Real-time progress updates
• Compact progress bar or verbose logging modes
• Per-task status monitoring

✅ Verification Layer

• Optional verification agent reviews all results
• Quality assessment and error detection
• Verification reports in structured JSON

🎨 Web UI (Optional)

• Modern dark-themed interface
• Real-time status via Server-Sent Events
• Drag-and-drop task management
• Configuration export as YAML

📁 Organized Artifacts

• Automatic directory structure per workflow
• Timestamped artifact naming
• Cleanup policies (keep_all, keep_last_N, age_based)

Quick Start

# Install dependencies
cd ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/boris-workflow
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run 3 tasks with 3 agents
./bin/boris-run --tasks "research|analyze|write"

# Run 10 tasks with 5 agents
./bin/boris-run --tasks "t1|t2|t3|t4|t5|t6|t7|t8|t9|t10" --agents 5

# With verification step
./bin/boris-run --tasks "code|test|review" --verify

# Dry run to preview
./bin/boris-run --tasks "build|deploy" --dry-run

Web Interface

Boris Workflow includes a modern web UI for visual workflow management:

# Start the Web UI
cd ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/boris-workflow/webui
./start.sh

Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser.

Web UI Features

• Dynamic Task Management — Add, remove, and reorder workflow tasks with an intuitive interface
• Agent Configuration — Adjust agent count (1-20) and select AI models from a dropdown
• Real-time Status — Live progress updates via Server-Sent Events (SSE)
• Results Viewer — View and download workflow results in JSON format
• Configuration Management — Save settings and export as YAML
• Modern Dark UI — Clean interface built with Tailwind CSS
• Mobile Responsive — Works seamlessly on all screen sizes

Web UI Screenshots

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  🚀 Boris Workflow                              [Settings]  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  Workflow Name: batch-analysis                              │
│                                                             │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │ Tasks                    │  Agents: [ 3 ▼]          │   │
│  │ ──────────────────────── │  Model: [kimi-coding ▼]  │   │
│  │ □ Research market trends │  Timeout: [300s ▼]       │   │
│  │ □ Analyze competitors    │  Retries: [2 ▼]          │   │
│  │ □ Write summary report   │                          │   │
│  │ □ + Add Task             │  [✓] Enable Verification │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                             │
│  [Start Workflow]          [Dry Run]          [Export YAML] │
│                                                             │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │ Progress                                            │   │
│  │ ████████░░░░░░░░░░ 8/10 tasks complete (80%)       │   │
│  │                                                     │   │
│  │ task_0_research     ✅ Complete    2m 14s          │   │
│  │ task_1_analyze      ✅ Complete    1m 52s          │   │
│  │ task_2_write        🔄 Running     0m 45s          │   │
│  │ task_3_verify       ⏳ Pending     --              │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Requirements

System Requirements

• OpenClaw: Installed and configured
• Python: 3.9 or higher
• OS: Linux, macOS, or WSL on Windows
• Memory: 4GB RAM minimum (8GB recommended for multiple agents)
• Disk: 100MB for installation, variable for artifacts

Python Dependencies

pyyaml>=6.0
requests>=2.28.0

Optional Dependencies (for Web UI)

fastapi>=0.100.0
uvicorn[standard]>=0.23.0
pydantic>=2.0.0
python-multipart>=0.0.6

Configuration

Configuration Hierarchy

Config values are resolved in priority order (highest to lowest):

1. CLI arguments
2. Environment variables (BORIS_*)
3. Project config (./.boris/config.yaml)
4. User config (~/.boris/config.yaml)
5. System defaults

Example Config File

# ~/.boris/config.yaml

# Agent defaults
agents:
  default_count: 3
  max_count: 20
  timeout_seconds: 300
  model: "kimi-coding/k2p5"

# Retry configuration
retry:
  max_attempts: 2
  backoff_strategy: "exponential"
  initial_delay_ms: 1000
  max_delay_ms: 30000

# Output and artifacts
output:
  base_dir: "~/.boris/artifacts"
  naming_pattern: "{workflow_name}_{timestamp}_{task_id}"
  cleanup_policy: "keep_last_10"

# Verification settings
verification:
  enabled: false
  verifier_model: "kimi-coding/k2p5"
  auto_retry_failed: true

# Logging
logging:
  level: "info"
  format: "text"

CLI Reference

Usage: boris-run [OPTIONS]

Required:
  -t, --tasks TEXT          Tasks to run, pipe-separated
  
Optional:
  -a, --agents INTEGER      Number of agents (default: 3, max: 20)
  -n, --name TEXT          Workflow name
  -c, --config PATH        Config file path
  -o, --output PATH        Artifacts directory
  -r, --retries INTEGER    Max retries per task
  -T, --timeout INTEGER    Timeout per agent (seconds)
  --verify                 Enable verification step
  --dry-run                Preview without execution
  --mock                   Use mock bridge for testing
  -v, --verbose            Verbose logging
  -q, --quiet              Suppress progress output
  --version                Show version
  -h, --help               Show help

Use Cases

• Batch Content Processing — Generate 10 blog posts simultaneously
• Multi-Source Research — Research 5 topics in parallel
• Code Review at Scale — Review 20 files with 5 agents
• Data Analysis Pipeline — Process multiple datasets concurrently
• Test Suite Execution — Run independent test files in parallel

License

MIT License - OpenClaw Community

Author

Created by Goli / mukston for the OpenClaw ecosystem.