---
title: Express
description: Set up your first durable workflow in an Express application.
type: guide
summary: Set up Workflow SDK in an Express app.
prerequisites:
  - /docs/getting-started
related:
  - /docs/foundations/workflows-and-steps
---

# Express





This guide will walk through setting up your first workflow in a Express app. Along the way, you'll learn more about the concepts that are fundamental to using the development kit in your own projects.

***

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ## Create Your Express Project

    Start by creating a new Express project.

    ```bash
    mkdir my-workflow-app
    ```

    Enter the newly made directory:

    ```bash
    cd my-workflow-app
    ```

    Initialize the project:

    ```bash
    npm init --y
    ```

    ### Install `workflow`, `express`, `nitro`, and `rollup`

    <CodeBlockTabs defaultValue="npm">
      <CodeBlockTabsList>
        <CodeBlockTabsTrigger value="npm">
          npm
        </CodeBlockTabsTrigger>

        <CodeBlockTabsTrigger value="pnpm">
          pnpm
        </CodeBlockTabsTrigger>

        <CodeBlockTabsTrigger value="yarn">
          yarn
        </CodeBlockTabsTrigger>

        <CodeBlockTabsTrigger value="bun">
          bun
        </CodeBlockTabsTrigger>
      </CodeBlockTabsList>

      <CodeBlockTab value="npm">
        ```bash
        npm i workflow express nitro rollup
        ```
      </CodeBlockTab>

      <CodeBlockTab value="pnpm">
        ```bash
        pnpm add workflow express nitro rollup
        ```
      </CodeBlockTab>

      <CodeBlockTab value="yarn">
        ```bash
        yarn add workflow express nitro rollup
        ```
      </CodeBlockTab>

      <CodeBlockTab value="bun">
        ```bash
        bun add workflow express nitro rollup
        ```
      </CodeBlockTab>
    </CodeBlockTabs>

    <Callout>
      By default, Express doesn't include a build system. Nitro adds one which enables compiling workflows, runs, and deploys for development and production. Learn more about Nitro [here](https://v3.nitro.build).
    </Callout>

    If using TypeScript, you need to install the `@types/express` package.

    ```bash
    npm i -D @types/express
    ```

    ### Configure Nitro

    Create a new file `nitro.config.ts` for your Nitro configuration with module `workflow/nitro`. This enables usage of the `"use workflow"` and `"use step"` directives.

    ```typescript title="nitro.config.ts" lineNumbers
    import { defineNitroConfig } from "nitro/config";

    export default defineNitroConfig({
      modules: ["workflow/nitro"],
      vercel: { entryFormat: "node" },
      routes: {
        "/**": { handler: "./src/index.ts", format: "node" },
      },
    });
    ```

    <Accordion type="single" collapsible>
      <AccordionItem value="typescript-intellisense" className="[&_h3]:my-0">
        <AccordionTrigger className="[&_p]:my-0 text-lg [&_p]:text-foreground">
          Setup IntelliSense for TypeScript (Optional)
        </AccordionTrigger>

        <AccordionContent className="[&_p]:my-2">
          To enable helpful hints in your IDE, setup the workflow plugin in `tsconfig.json`:

          ```json title="tsconfig.json" lineNumbers
          {
            "compilerOptions": {
              // ... rest of your TypeScript config
              "plugins": [
                {
                  "name": "workflow" // [!code highlight]
                }
              ]
            }
          }
          ```
        </AccordionContent>
      </AccordionItem>
    </Accordion>

    ### Update `package.json`

    To use the Nitro builder, update your `package.json` to include the following scripts:

    ```json title="package.json" lineNumbers
    {
      // ...
      "scripts": {
        "dev": "nitro dev",
        "build": "nitro build"
      },
      // ...
    }
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ## Create Your First Workflow

    Create a new file for our first workflow:

    ```typescript title="workflows/user-signup.ts" lineNumbers
    import { sleep } from "workflow";

    export async function handleUserSignup(email: string) {
      "use workflow"; // [!code highlight]

      const user = await createUser(email);
      await sendWelcomeEmail(user);

      await sleep("5s"); // Pause for 5s - doesn't consume any resources
      await sendOnboardingEmail(user);

      return { userId: user.id, status: "onboarded" };
    }
    ```

    We'll fill in those functions next, but let's take a look at this code:

    * We define a **workflow** function with the directive `"use workflow"`. Think of the workflow function as the *orchestrator* of individual **steps**.
    * The Workflow SDK's `sleep` function allows us to suspend execution of the workflow without using up any resources. A sleep can be a few seconds, hours, days, or even months long.

    ## Create Your Workflow Steps

    Let's now define those missing functions.

    ```typescript title="workflows/user-signup.ts" lineNumbers
    import { FatalError } from "workflow";

    // Our workflow function defined earlier

    async function createUser(email: string) {
      "use step"; // [!code highlight]

      console.log(`Creating user with email: ${email}`);

      // Full Node.js access - database calls, APIs, etc.
      return { id: crypto.randomUUID(), email };
    }

    async function sendWelcomeEmail(user: { id: string; email: string }) {
      "use step"; // [!code highlight]

      console.log(`Sending welcome email to user: ${user.id}`);

      if (Math.random() < 0.3) {
        // By default, steps will be retried for unhandled errors
        throw new Error("Retryable!");
      }
    }

    async function sendOnboardingEmail(user: { id: string; email: string }) {
      "use step"; // [!code highlight]

      if (!user.email.includes("@")) {
        // To skip retrying, throw a FatalError instead
        throw new FatalError("Invalid Email");
      }

      console.log(`Sending onboarding email to user: ${user.id}`);
    }
    ```

    Taking a look at this code:

    * Business logic lives inside **steps**. When a step is invoked inside a **workflow**, it gets enqueued to run on a separate request while the workflow is suspended, just like `sleep`.
    * If a step throws an error, like in `sendWelcomeEmail`, the step will automatically be retried until it succeeds (or hits the step's max retry count).
    * Steps can throw a `FatalError` if an error is intentional and should not be retried.

    <Callout>
      We'll dive deeper into workflows, steps, and other ways to suspend or handle
      events in [Foundations](/docs/foundations).
    </Callout>
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ## Create Your Route Handler

    To invoke your new workflow, we'll create both the Express app and a new API route handler at `src/index.ts` with the following code:

    ```typescript title="src/index.ts"
    import express from "express";
    import { start } from "workflow/api";
    import { handleUserSignup } from "../workflows/user-signup.js";

    const app = express();
    app.use(express.json());

    app.post("/api/signup", async (req, res) => {
      const { email } = req.body;
      await start(handleUserSignup, [email]);
      return res.json({ message: "User signup workflow started" });
    });

    export default app;
    ```

    This route handler creates a `POST` request endpoint at `/api/signup` that will trigger your workflow.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ## Run in development

    To start your development server, run the following command in your terminal in the Express root directory:

    ```bash
    npm run dev
    ```

    Once your development server is running, you can trigger your workflow by running this command in the terminal:

    ```bash
    curl -X POST --json '{"email":"hello@example.com"}' http://localhost:3000/api/signup
    ```

    Check the Express development server logs to see your workflow execute as well as the steps that are being processed.

    Additionally, you can use the [Workflow SDK CLI or Web UI](/docs/observability) to inspect your workflow runs and steps in detail.

    ```bash
    # Open the observability Web UI
    npx workflow web
    # or if you prefer a terminal interface, use the CLI inspect command
    npx workflow inspect runs
    ```

        <img alt="Workflow SDK Web UI" src={__img0} placeholder="blur" />
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Deploying to production

Workflow SDK apps currently work best when deployed to [Vercel](https://vercel.com/home) and needs no special configuration.

<FluidComputeCallout />

Check the [Deploying](/docs/deploying) section to learn how your workflows can be deployed elsewhere.

## Next Steps

* Learn more about the [Foundations](/docs/foundations).
* Check [Errors](/docs/errors) if you encounter issues.
* Explore the [API Reference](/docs/api-reference).


## Sitemap
[Overview of all docs pages](/sitemap.md)