temporal-developer

Development

This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a Temporal workflow", "write a Temporal activity", "debug stuck workflow", "fix non-determinism error", "Temporal Python", "Temporal TypeScript", "Temporal Go", "Temporal Golang", "workflow replay", "activity timeout", "signal workflow", "query workflow", "worker not starting", "activity keeps retrying", "Temporal heartbeat", "continue-as-new", "child workflow", "saga pattern", "workflow versioning", "durable execution", "reliable distributed systems", or mentions Temporal SDK development.

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Skill: temporal-developer

Overview

Temporal is a durable execution platform that makes workflows survive failures automatically. This skill provides guidance for building Temporal applications in Python, TypeScript, and Go.

Core Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Temporal Cluster                            │
│  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌────────────────┐  │
│  │  Event History  │  │   Task Queues   │  │   Visibility   │  │
│  │  (Durable Log)  │  │  (Work Router)  │  │   (Search)     │  │
│  └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘  └────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ▲
                              │ Poll / Complete
                              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         Worker                                   │
│  ┌─────────────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │   Workflow Definitions  │  │   Activity Implementations   │  │
│  │   (Deterministic)       │  │   (Non-deterministic OK)     │  │
│  └─────────────────────────┘  └──────────────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Components:

Workflows - Durable, deterministic functions that orchestrate activities
Activities - Non-deterministic operations (API calls, I/O) that can fail and retry
Workers - Long-running processes that poll task queues and execute code
Task Queues - Named queues connecting clients to workers

History Replay: Why Determinism Matters

Temporal achieves durability through history replay:

Initial Execution - Worker runs workflow, generates Commands, stored as Events in history
Recovery - On restart/failure, Worker re-executes workflow from beginning
Matching - SDK compares generated Commands against stored Events
Restoration - Uses stored Activity results instead of re-executing

If Commands don't match Events = Non-determinism Error = Workflow blocked

Workflow Code	Command	Event
Execute activity	`ScheduleActivityTask`	`ActivityTaskScheduled`
Sleep/timer	`StartTimer`	`TimerStarted`
Child workflow	`StartChildWorkflowExecution`	`ChildWorkflowExecutionStarted`

See references/core/determinism.md for detailed explanation.

Getting Started

Ensure Temporal CLI is installed

Check if temporal CLI is installed. If not, follow these instructions:

macOS

brew install temporal

Linux

Check your machine's architecture and download the appropriate archive:

Once you've downloaded the file, extract the downloaded archive and add the temporal binary to your PATH by copying it to a directory like /usr/local/bin

Windows

Check your machine's architecture and download the appropriate archive:

Once you've downloaded the file, extract the downloaded archive and add the temporal.exe binary to your PATH.

Read All Relevant References

First, read the getting started guide for the language you are working in:
- Python -> read references/python/python.md
- TypeScript -> read references/typescript/typescript.md
- Go -> read references/go/go.md
Second, read appropriate core and language-specific references for the task at hand.

Primary References

references/core/determinism.md - Why determinism matters, replay mechanics, basic concepts of activities
- Language-specific info at references/{your_language}/determinism.md
references/core/patterns.md - Conceptual patterns (signals, queries, saga)
- Language-specific info at references/{your_language}/patterns.md
references/core/gotchas.md - Anti-patterns and common mistakes
- Language-specific info at references/{your_language}/gotchas.md
references/core/versioning.md - Versioning strategies and concepts - how to safely change workflow code while workflows are running
- Language-specific info at references/{your_language}/versioning.md
references/core/troubleshooting.md - Decision trees, recovery procedures
references/core/error-reference.md - Common error types, workflow status reference
references/core/interactive-workflows.md - Testing signals, updates, queries
references/core/dev-management.md - Dev cycle & management of server and workers
references/core/ai-patterns.md - AI/LLM pattern concepts
- Language-specific info at references/{your_language}/ai-patterns.md, if available. Currently Python only.

Additional Topics

references/{your_language}/observability.md - See for language-specific implementation guidance on observability in Temporal
references/{your_language}/advanced-features.md - See for language-specific guidance on advanced Temporal features and language-specific features