Create approval definition (v2)

Register a new approval workflow definition with nodes, edges, and parallel groups using the Velt v2 REST API. Graphs are linted at write time.

POST /v2/workflow/definitions/create

Create Definition

cURL

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.velt.dev/v2/workflow/definitions/create \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'x-velt-api-key: <x-velt-api-key>' \
  --header 'x-velt-auth-token: <x-velt-auth-token>' \
  --data '
{
  "data": {
    "definitionId": "<string>",
    "name": "<string>",
    "description": "<string>",
    "scope": {},
    "nodes": [
      {}
    ],
    "edges": [
      {}
    ],
    "groups": [
      {}
    ],
    "loops": [
      {}
    ],
    "triggers": [
      {}
    ],
    "tags": [
      "<string>"
    ],
    "custom": {},
    "organizationId": "<string>",
    "documentId": "<string>"
  }
}
'

import requests

url = "https://api.velt.dev/v2/workflow/definitions/create"

payload = { "data": {
        "definitionId": "<string>",
        "name": "<string>",
        "description": "<string>",
        "scope": {},
        "nodes": [{}],
        "edges": [{}],
        "groups": [{}],
        "loops": [{}],
        "triggers": [{}],
        "tags": ["<string>"],
        "custom": {},
        "organizationId": "<string>",
        "documentId": "<string>"
    } }
headers = {
    "x-velt-api-key": "<x-velt-api-key>",
    "x-velt-auth-token": "<x-velt-auth-token>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'x-velt-api-key': '<x-velt-api-key>',
    'x-velt-auth-token': '<x-velt-auth-token>',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    data: {
      definitionId: '<string>',
      name: '<string>',
      description: '<string>',
      scope: {},
      nodes: [{}],
      edges: [{}],
      groups: [{}],
      loops: [{}],
      triggers: [{}],
      tags: ['<string>'],
      custom: {},
      organizationId: '<string>',
      documentId: '<string>'
    }
  })
};

fetch('https://api.velt.dev/v2/workflow/definitions/create', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.velt.dev/v2/workflow/definitions/create",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
    'data' => [
        'definitionId' => '<string>',
        'name' => '<string>',
        'description' => '<string>',
        'scope' => [
                
        ],
        'nodes' => [
                [
                                
                ]
        ],
        'edges' => [
                [
                                
                ]
        ],
        'groups' => [
                [
                                
                ]
        ],
        'loops' => [
                [
                                
                ]
        ],
        'triggers' => [
                [
                                
                ]
        ],
        'tags' => [
                '<string>'
        ],
        'custom' => [
                
        ],
        'organizationId' => '<string>',
        'documentId' => '<string>'
    ]
  ]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Content-Type: application/json",
    "x-velt-api-key: <x-velt-api-key>",
    "x-velt-auth-token: <x-velt-auth-token>"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.velt.dev/v2/workflow/definitions/create"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"data\": {\n    \"definitionId\": \"<string>\",\n    \"name\": \"<string>\",\n    \"description\": \"<string>\",\n    \"scope\": {},\n    \"nodes\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"edges\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"groups\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"loops\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"triggers\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"tags\": [\n      \"<string>\"\n    ],\n    \"custom\": {},\n    \"organizationId\": \"<string>\",\n    \"documentId\": \"<string>\"\n  }\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("x-velt-api-key", "<x-velt-api-key>")
	req.Header.Add("x-velt-auth-token", "<x-velt-auth-token>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://api.velt.dev/v2/workflow/definitions/create")
  .header("x-velt-api-key", "<x-velt-api-key>")
  .header("x-velt-auth-token", "<x-velt-auth-token>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"data\": {\n    \"definitionId\": \"<string>\",\n    \"name\": \"<string>\",\n    \"description\": \"<string>\",\n    \"scope\": {},\n    \"nodes\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"edges\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"groups\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"loops\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"triggers\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"tags\": [\n      \"<string>\"\n    ],\n    \"custom\": {},\n    \"organizationId\": \"<string>\",\n    \"documentId\": \"<string>\"\n  }\n}")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.velt.dev/v2/workflow/definitions/create")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["x-velt-api-key"] = '<x-velt-api-key>'
request["x-velt-auth-token"] = '<x-velt-auth-token>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"data\": {\n    \"definitionId\": \"<string>\",\n    \"name\": \"<string>\",\n    \"description\": \"<string>\",\n    \"scope\": {},\n    \"nodes\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"edges\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"groups\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"loops\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"triggers\": [\n      {}\n    ],\n    \"tags\": [\n      \"<string>\"\n    ],\n    \"custom\": {},\n    \"organizationId\": \"<string>\",\n    \"documentId\": \"<string>\"\n  }\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "result": {
    "definitionId": "marketing-copy-approval",
    "name": "Marketing copy approval",
    "description": null,
    "version": 1,
    "scope": { "level": "apiKey", "organizationId": null, "documentId": null },
    "nodes": [],
    "edges": [],
    "groups": [],
    "triggers": null,
    "tags": null,
    "custom": null,
    "createdAt": 1731432000000,
    "updatedAt": 1731432000000,
    "status": "active"
  }
}

Use this API to register a new workflow definition (the static blueprint of nodes, edges, and optional parallel groups). Definitions are linted at write time — invalid graphs are rejected with an explicit linter code.

Endpoint

POST https://api.velt.dev/v2/workflow/definitions/create

Headers

x-velt-api-key · string · required

Your API key.

x-velt-auth-token · string · required

Your Auth Token.

Body

Params

data · object · required

Show properties

definitionId · string · required

^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]{2,63}$. Stable identifier for this definition.

name · string · required

1–200 chars. Human-readable label.

description · string

0–2000 chars.

scope · object

Defaults to { level: "apiKey" }. Options:

• { level: "apiKey" } — workspace-wide.
• { level: "organization", organizationId: "<id>" } — bound to one organization. organizationId is required (returns INVALID_ARGUMENT if omitted).
• { level: "document", organizationId: "<id>", documentId: "<id>" } — bound to one document under an organization. Both fields required.

When the response echoes scope.organizationId / scope.documentId, the values are the engine’s server-namespaced ids (hashed from your client ids), not the literal strings you sent. Don’t try to use them as your own identifiers — keep your client ids on your side.

nodes · array · required

1–100 nodes. Each node has nodeId, type (agent / human / webhook — webhook validates but its runtime is deferred in v1), and a config block. See node configuration details in Customize Behavior. Each node also accepts an optional slaMs (integer, ms) — SLA deadline for the step.

edges · array · required

0–500 edges. Each edge: { from, to, when? }. The optional when expression is evaluated against the source step’s output — see edge gating expressions.

groups · array

0–100 parallel-group definitions. See parallel groups and quorum policies.

loops · array

0–20 loop region declarations. A loop region lets a workflow re-enter an earlier node when a reviewer rejects, with previous-attempt context threaded forward and a hard cap on iterations. See loop regions for the full schema, body-shape constraints, and linter rules.

triggers · array

0–50 trigger declarations. Each trigger has the shape { triggerId, eventName?, filters? }:

Field	Type	Required	Description
triggerId	string	yes	1–128 chars. Stable identifier for this trigger.
eventName	string	no	≤ 128 chars. The event name your application emits when the workflow should dispatch.
filters	object	no	Free-form filter map; consumed by your dispatch wrapper to decide whether to fire this trigger.

Triggers are descriptive metadata in v1 — the engine does not auto-dispatch from them. Use them to label which definition belongs to which application event so your own dispatcher can resolve eventName → definitionId.

tags · string[]

0–20 tags, each ≤ 64 chars.

custom · object

Free-form metadata.

organizationId · string

Required when scope.level is organization or document.

documentId · string

Required when scope.level is document.

Node object example

{
  "nodeId": "brand-check",
  "type": "agent",
  "config": { "agentId": "brand-agent-v1", "blocking": false, "requireNonEmptyOutput": true },
  "slaMs": 3600000
}

Edge object example

{ "from": "brand-check", "to": "legal-review", "when": "output.passesBrandCheck == true" }

Example Requests

Create a marketing-copy approval workflow

{
  "data": {
    "definitionId": "marketing-copy-approval",
    "name": "Marketing copy approval",
    "scope": { "level": "apiKey" },
    "nodes": [
      { "nodeId": "agent-draft",   "type": "agent",  "config": { "agentId": "copy-agent-v1" } },
      { "nodeId": "human-legal",   "type": "human",  "config": { "reviewers": [{ "userId": "u_legal_01", "mandatory": true }] } },
      { "nodeId": "human-brand",   "type": "human",  "config": { "reviewers": [{ "userId": "u_brand_01", "mandatory": true }] } },
      { "nodeId": "agent-publish", "type": "agent",  "config": { "agentId": "publish-agent-v1" } }
    ],
    "edges": [
      { "from": "agent-draft",  "to": "human-legal" },
      { "from": "agent-draft",  "to": "human-brand" },
      { "from": "human-legal",  "to": "agent-publish" },
      { "from": "human-brand",  "to": "agent-publish" }
    ],
    "groups": [{
      "groupId": "parallel-review",
      "memberNodeIds": ["human-legal", "human-brand"],
      "expectedSteps": 2,
      "quorum": 2,
      "onQuorumMet": "joinOnQuorum"
    }]
  }
}

Response

Success Response

{
  "result": {
    "definitionId": "marketing-copy-approval",
    "name": "Marketing copy approval",
    "description": null,
    "version": 1,
    "scope": { "level": "apiKey", "organizationId": null, "documentId": null },
    "nodes": [ /* echoed back with resolved defaults */ ],
    "edges": [ /* echoed back with when: null for unset gates */ ],
    "groups": [ /* echoed back */ ],
    "triggers": null,
    "tags": null,
    "custom": null,
    "createdAt": 1731432000000,
    "updatedAt": 1731432000000,
    "status": "active"
  }
}

Failure Response

{
  "error": {
    "message": "ERROR_MESSAGE",
    "status": "INVALID_ARGUMENT"
  }
}

Errors: INVALID_ARGUMENT (schema or linter failure; message includes the linter code) / ALREADY_EXISTS (definitionId already in use).

{
  "result": {
    "definitionId": "marketing-copy-approval",
    "name": "Marketing copy approval",
    "description": null,
    "version": 1,
    "scope": { "level": "apiKey", "organizationId": null, "documentId": null },
    "nodes": [],
    "edges": [],
    "groups": [],
    "triggers": null,
    "tags": null,
    "custom": null,
    "createdAt": 1731432000000,
    "updatedAt": 1731432000000,
    "status": "active"
  }
}