Introducing the workflow viewer

Our latest update, rolled out to renkulab.io last week, includes an exciting new feature: a workflow viewer! :tada: This is the first of many planned features that will that will make Renku workflows easier to create, use, and read.

What is a workflow?

Simply put, a workflow is a series of connected computational steps. Encoding your data analysis steps in a workflow makes managing code and data in your projects easier. For example, it makes it straightforward to see how the output of one analysis step is connected to the input of another. And, workflows enable others to quickly understand how your project works! In addition, workflows make your work more resilient and reproducible in the future. Renku provides a rich set of workflow functionality via the command-line interface to create, manage, and re-execute workflows (see reference documentation here and here). Connecting data and code via a workflow allows you, for example, to automatically refresh results when data and code change.

Viewing workflows in RenkuLab

Workflows now have a dedicated tab in the RenkuLab UI, so they are always easily accessible:

Clicking on a workflow shows you additional details, including links to input and output files and the estimated run-time:

For the time being, you may only view the workflows in this new tab. But, new features are in the works to enable easier workflow creation and execution. You can read more about workflows in our documentation.

Do you have ideas about workflow-related features you would like to see? Please let us know in the comments!

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