@sanity/workflow-engine 0.15.0 → 0.16.0

package/dist/index.d.ts

@@ -40,15 +40,16 @@ export declare function abortReason(
 
 /**
  * The structured half of applicability: does a required subject entry
- * (`doc.ref` / `doc.refs`, workflow scope) accept `documentType`? Name-blind
- * and EXISTENTIAL: ANY required ref entry counts — a multi-input definition
- * (say, contract + counterparty) surfaces from either document's picker, and
- * the start dialog collects the remaining required entries (their fail-hard
- * validation backstops). An entry without `types` accepts any type; a
- * definition with NO required ref entry takes no subject and never matches.
- * Cheap and indexable — no GROQ evaluation — so a consumer can pre-filter
- * before loading document content. (`required` is pinned to caller-filled
- * `input` entries by a deploy invariant, so it alone identifies the handoff.)
+ * ({@link isSubjectEntry} — `doc.ref` / `doc.refs`, workflow scope) accept
+ * `documentType`? Name-blind and EXISTENTIAL: ANY required ref entry counts —
+ * a multi-input definition (say, contract + counterparty) surfaces from
+ * either document's picker, and the start dialog collects the remaining
+ * required entries (their fail-hard validation backstops). An entry without
+ * `types` accepts any type; a definition with NO required ref entry takes no
+ * subject and never matches. Cheap and indexable — no GROQ evaluation — so a
+ * consumer can pre-filter before loading document content. (`required` is
+ * pinned to caller-filled `input` entries by a deploy invariant, so it alone
+ * identifies the handoff.)
  */
 export declare function acceptsDocumentType(
   definition: Pick<ApplicabilitySource, "fields">,
@@ -77,7 +78,9 @@ export declare function aclPathForResource(
   res: WorkflowResource,
 ): string | undefined;
 
-export declare type Action = ActionFields<Op, string[]>;
+export declare type Action = ActionFields<Op, string[]> & {
+  roles?: string[] | undefined;
+};
 
 /**
  * The engine's per-reason detail fragment — the same wording
@@ -121,11 +124,22 @@ export declare type ActionDisabledReason = Exclude<
 export declare interface ActionEvaluation {
   action: Action;
   allowed: boolean;
+  /**
+   * The action is cascade-fired (`when`): the engine fires it on truth, it
+   * is never fireAction-able, and a consumer must not render it as a
+   * button — narrate it ("will escalate when overdue") via `whenInsight`.
+   * Always set together with the `cascade-fired` `disabledReason` — either
+   * check suffices; the flag is the ergonomic spelling.
+   */
+  triggered?: true;
   /** Present iff `allowed === false`. The first failing gate wins. */
   disabledReason?: DisabledReason;
   /** Derived state of the action's `filter` gate — why it holds or fails,
    *  atom by atom. Present iff the action declares a filter. */
   insight?: ConditionInsight;
+  /** Derived state of a cascade-fired action's `when` trigger — what would
+   *  fire it. Present iff the action declares `when`. */
+  whenInsight?: ConditionInsight;
 }
 
 /** Type-mirror of {@link actionFields}, parameterised over the op and
@@ -135,10 +149,12 @@ declare type ActionFields<TOp, TGroup> = {
   title?: string | undefined;
   description?: string | undefined;
   group?: TGroup | undefined;
+  when?: string | undefined;
   filter?: string | undefined;
   params?: ActionParam[] | undefined;
   ops?: TOp[] | undefined;
   effects?: Effect[] | undefined;
+  spawn?: Subworkflows | undefined;
 };
 
 export declare type ActionName = string;
@@ -205,6 +221,26 @@ export declare class ActionParamsInvalidError extends WorkflowError<"action-para
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * The three-way rendering verdict every surface applies to an action:
+ * `absent` — its `filter` failed, so it does not exist for this actor/visit
+ * (GROQ existence semantics; never even a disabled affordance). `automation` —
+ * cascade-fired, so the engine's cascade is its only firing path (narrate it,
+ * never render a fire affordance). `button` — fireable: enabled when
+ * `allowed`, otherwise disabled WITH its {@link DisabledReason} shown.
+ * Structural over the shared verdict fields so {@link ActionEvaluation} and
+ * `AvailableAction` both qualify; filter-existence dominates automation, the
+ * same order the engine's own verdicts apply.
+ */
+export declare function actionRendering(action: {
+  triggered?: true;
+  disabledReason?:
+    | {
+        kind: DisabledReason["kind"];
+      }
+    | undefined;
+}): "absent" | "automation" | "button";
+
 /** The fireable-action verdict for one action on an activity — its `allowed`
  *  state, structured `disabledReason`, and declared params, tagged with the
  *  owning activity. The per-action atom both projections share:
@@ -219,7 +255,6 @@ export declare function actionVerdict(
 export declare type Activity = ActivityFields<
   FieldEntry,
   Action,
-  Op,
   ManualTarget,
   string[]
 >;
@@ -271,19 +306,16 @@ export declare const ACTIVITY_KINDS: readonly [
  * `schema.ts → enums.ts` terminates here.
  */
 declare const ACTIVITY_STATUSES: readonly [
-  "pending",
   "active",
   "done",
   "skipped",
   "failed",
 ];
 
-/** An activity's four gates, each described — absent keys mirror undeclared gates. */
+/** An activity's gates, each described — absent keys mirror undeclared gates. */
 export declare interface ActivityDescription {
   requirements?: Record<string, ConditionDescription>;
   filter?: ConditionDescription;
-  completeWhen?: ConditionDescription;
-  failWhen?: ConditionDescription;
 }
 
 export declare interface ActivityEntry {
@@ -294,6 +326,14 @@ export declare interface ActivityEntry {
   startedAt?: string;
   completedAt?: string;
   completedBy?: string;
+  /**
+   * Names of this activity's cascade-fired actions that have fired during
+   * THIS stage visit — the once-per-visit ledger. Level-triggered: a name
+   * lands here on the first evaluation that finds its `when` true and never
+   * re-fires within the visit; stage re-entry rebuilds entries, so re-arming
+   * on a new visit is structural. Absent until the first trigger fires.
+   */
+  firedActions?: string[];
   filterEvaluation?: {
     at: string;
     truthy: boolean;
@@ -314,13 +354,27 @@ export declare interface ActivityEvaluation {
   activity: Activity;
   status: ActivityStatus;
   /**
-   * The activity's effective {@link ActivityKind} — the explicit {@link Activity.kind}, or
-   * the shape-derived default when omitted. Advisory: a label so a consumer can
-   * render each activity as what it is (`user` / `service` / `script` / `manual` / `receive`).
+   * The activity's shape-derived {@link ActivityKind}. Advisory: a label so a
+   * consumer can render each activity as what it is (`user` / `service` /
+   * `script` / `manual` / `receive`).
    */
   kind: ActivityKind;
+  /**
+   * Who, if anyone, the activity waits on — derived from the definition
+   * alone: `autonomous` (every action cascade-fired), `interactive` (only
+   * fireAction-fired actions), `off-system` (`target` present), or `hybrid`.
+   */
+  classification: ExecutorClassification;
   /** Whether this activity is the current actor's responsibility right now. */
   pendingOnActor: boolean;
+  /**
+   * The stage-entry `filter` scoped this activity out of the current visit:
+   * its entry is `skipped` and never started, so it does not exist for this
+   * visit — surfaces hide it entirely (an action-resolved `skipped` was real,
+   * started work and stays visible). Derived via {@link isFilterScopedOut},
+   * stamped here so consumers never re-join entry state to compute it.
+   */
+  scopedOut: boolean;
   /**
    * The activity's unmet {@link Activity.requirements}, by name — present iff at least
    * one is unmet. The activity's own readiness summary: a consumer can explain why
@@ -332,45 +386,28 @@ export declare interface ActivityEvaluation {
    *  Present iff the activity declares requirements; `unmetRequirements`
    *  is exactly the keys whose insight isn't satisfied. */
   requirementInsights?: Record<string, ConditionInsight>;
-  /** Derived state of the activity's `filter` skip-gate. Present iff declared.
-   *  Advisory read: the engine's cascade owns the gate itself. */
+  /** Derived state of the activity's `filter` existence gate. Present iff
+   *  declared. Advisory read: the engine's stage entry owns the gate itself. */
   filterInsight?: ConditionInsight;
-  /** Derived state of `completeWhen` — what would auto-complete this activity.
-   *  Present iff declared. */
-  completeWhenInsight?: ConditionInsight;
-  /** Derived state of `failWhen` — what would auto-fail this activity.
-   *  Present iff declared. */
-  failWhenInsight?: ConditionInsight;
   actions: ActionEvaluation[];
 }
 
-/** Type-mirror of {@link activityFields}, parameterised over field/action/op/target/group. */
-declare type ActivityFields<TField, TAction, TOp, TTarget, TGroup> = {
+/** Type-mirror of {@link activityFields}, parameterised over field/action/target/group. */
+declare type ActivityFields<TField, TAction, TTarget, TGroup> = {
   name: string;
   title?: string | undefined;
   description?: string | undefined;
   groups?: Group[] | undefined;
   group?: TGroup | undefined;
-  kind?: ActivityKind | undefined;
   target?: TTarget | undefined;
-  activation?: "auto" | "manual" | undefined;
   filter?: string | undefined;
   requirements?: Record<string, string> | undefined;
-  completeWhen?: string | undefined;
-  failWhen?: string | undefined;
-  ops?: TOp[] | undefined;
-  effects?: Effect[] | undefined;
   actions?: TAction[] | undefined;
-  subworkflows?: Subworkflows | undefined;
   fields?: TField[] | undefined;
 };
 
 export declare type ActivityKind = (typeof ACTIVITY_KINDS)[number];
 
-/** The effective kind of an activity: the explicitly declared {@link Activity.kind}, or
- *  the shape-derived default when omitted. */
-export declare function activityKind(activity: Activity): ActivityKind;
-
 export declare type ActivityName = string;
 
 export declare type ActivityStatus = (typeof ACTIVITY_STATUSES)[number];
@@ -409,13 +446,18 @@ export declare type ActorKind = (typeof ACTOR_KINDS)[number];
 export { analyzeCondition };
 
 /** The definition surface applicability reads — structural, so authored,
- *  stored, and deployed definition shapes all fit. `name` is error context
- *  only: a broken `applicableWhen` fails naming its definition. */
+ *  stored, and deployed definition shapes all fit. `name` binds
+ *  `$definition` and names the definition in a broken-filter error. */
 export declare interface ApplicabilitySource {
   name?: string | undefined;
   lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
   fields?: FieldEntry[] | undefined;
-  applicableWhen?: string | undefined;
+  start?:
+    | {
+        kind?: StartKind | undefined;
+        filter?: string | undefined;
+      }
+    | undefined;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -427,6 +469,8 @@ export declare function applicableDefinitions<
 >(args: {
   definitions: readonly T[];
   document: CandidateDocument;
+  /** Caller-side filter bindings, shared by every definition's evaluation. */
+  scope?: StartFilterScope;
 }): Promise<T[]>;
 
 /**
@@ -496,7 +540,6 @@ export declare type AuthoringAction = AuthoringRawAction | ClaimAction;
 export declare type AuthoringActivity = ActivityFields<
   AuthoringFieldEntry,
   AuthoringAction,
-  AuthoringOp,
   AuthoringManualTarget,
   GroupMembership
 >;
@@ -905,7 +948,7 @@ declare const AuthoringManualTargetSchema: v.VariantSchema<
   undefined
 >;
 
-declare type AuthoringOp = v.InferOutput<typeof AuthoringOpSchema>;
+export declare type AuthoringOp = v.InferOutput<typeof AuthoringOpSchema>;
 
 declare const AuthoringOpSchema: v.VariantSchema<
   "type",
@@ -1058,7 +1101,7 @@ declare const AuthoringOpSchema: v.VariantSchema<
           undefined
         >;
         readonly status: v.PicklistSchema<
-          readonly ["pending", "active", "done", "skipped", "failed"],
+          readonly ["active", "done", "skipped", "failed"],
           `Invalid option: expected one of ${string}`
         >;
       },
@@ -1123,15 +1166,21 @@ declare const AuthoringOpSchema: v.VariantSchema<
  * Authoring action — the stored fields plus two field sugars with one
  * defined expansion each:
  *
- *   - `roles` → a `count($actor.roles[@ in [...]]) > 0` membership condition
- *     ANDed with the authored `filter`. The definition's `roleAliases`
- *     ({@link RoleAliasesSchema}) widen that membership at desugar time.
+ *   - `roles` — on a fireAction-fired action (no `when`) it desugars to a
+ *     `count($actor.roles[@ in [...]]) > 0` membership condition ANDed with
+ *     the authored `filter` (for a caller, "not yours to fire" and "doesn't
+ *     exist for you" are the same advisory answer). On a CASCADE-FIRED
+ *     action it stores VERBATIM — the pin on which identities may execute
+ *     the trigger; folding it into `filter` would make the action's
+ *     existence depend on whose token happens to cascade. The definition's
+ *     `roleAliases` ({@link RoleAliasesSchema}) widen the membership either
+ *     way.
  *   - `status` → a `status.set` op on the firing activity, appended **after**
  *     the authored ops (deliberately never implied: a forgotten explicit
  *     `status` is a visible stall, an implied default silently completes
  *     claim-like actions). Status is the health axis: a decision action
  *     (decline, send back) resolves `done` and writes the decision into a
- *     field the transition filter reads — `failed` is for work that
+ *     field the transition trigger reads — `failed` is for work that
  *     genuinely could not complete.
  */
 declare type AuthoringRawAction = ActionFields<AuthoringOp, GroupMembership> & {
@@ -1152,217 +1201,24 @@ export declare type AuthoringStage = StageFields<
   AuthoringEditable
 >;
 
-export declare type AuthoringTransition =
-  TransitionFields<AuthoringTransitionOp> & {
-    filter?: string | undefined;
-  };
-
-declare type AuthoringTransitionOp = v.InferOutput<
-  typeof AuthoringTransitionOpSchema
->;
+export declare type AuthoringStartBlock = StartFields & {
+  kind?: StartKind | undefined;
+};
 
 /**
- * Authoring transitions may omit `filter`; desugar fills the safe,
- * overwhelmingly-common gate `"$allActivitiesDone"`. "Fire unconditionally"
- * stays spellable as an explicit `filter: "true"`.
+ * Authoring transitions may omit `when`; desugar fills the safe,
+ * overwhelmingly-common trigger `"$allActivitiesDone"`. "Fire unconditionally"
+ * stays spellable as an explicit `when: "true"`.
  */
-declare const AuthoringTransitionOpSchema: v.VariantSchema<
-  "type",
-  [
-    v.StrictObjectSchema<
-      {
-        readonly type: v.LiteralSchema<"field.set", undefined>;
-        readonly target: v.StrictObjectSchema<
-          {
-            readonly scope: v.OptionalSchema<
-              v.PicklistSchema<
-                readonly ["workflow", "stage", "activity"],
-                `Invalid option: expected one of ${string}`
-              >,
-              undefined
-            >;
-            readonly field: v.SchemaWithPipe<
-              readonly [
-                v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-                v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-              ]
-            >;
-          },
-          undefined
-        >;
-        readonly value: v.GenericSchema<ValueExprInternal>;
-      },
-      undefined
-    >,
-    v.StrictObjectSchema<
-      {
-        readonly type: v.LiteralSchema<"field.unset", undefined>;
-        readonly target: v.StrictObjectSchema<
-          {
-            readonly scope: v.OptionalSchema<
-              v.PicklistSchema<
-                readonly ["workflow", "stage", "activity"],
-                `Invalid option: expected one of ${string}`
-              >,
-              undefined
-            >;
-            readonly field: v.SchemaWithPipe<
-              readonly [
-                v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-                v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-              ]
-            >;
-          },
-          undefined
-        >;
-      },
-      undefined
-    >,
-    v.StrictObjectSchema<
-      {
-        readonly type: v.LiteralSchema<"field.append", undefined>;
-        readonly target: v.StrictObjectSchema<
-          {
-            readonly scope: v.OptionalSchema<
-              v.PicklistSchema<
-                readonly ["workflow", "stage", "activity"],
-                `Invalid option: expected one of ${string}`
-              >,
-              undefined
-            >;
-            readonly field: v.SchemaWithPipe<
-              readonly [
-                v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-                v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-              ]
-            >;
-          },
-          undefined
-        >;
-        readonly value: v.GenericSchema<ValueExprInternal>;
-      },
-      undefined
-    >,
-    v.StrictObjectSchema<
-      {
-        readonly type: v.LiteralSchema<"field.updateWhere", undefined>;
-        readonly target: v.StrictObjectSchema<
-          {
-            readonly scope: v.OptionalSchema<
-              v.PicklistSchema<
-                readonly ["workflow", "stage", "activity"],
-                `Invalid option: expected one of ${string}`
-              >,
-              undefined
-            >;
-            readonly field: v.SchemaWithPipe<
-              readonly [
-                v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-                v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-              ]
-            >;
-          },
-          undefined
-        >;
-        readonly where: v.SchemaWithPipe<
-          readonly [
-            v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-            v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-          ]
-        >;
-        readonly value: v.GenericSchema<ValueExprInternal>;
-      },
-      undefined
-    >,
-    v.StrictObjectSchema<
-      {
-        readonly type: v.LiteralSchema<"field.removeWhere", undefined>;
-        readonly target: v.StrictObjectSchema<
-          {
-            readonly scope: v.OptionalSchema<
-              v.PicklistSchema<
-                readonly ["workflow", "stage", "activity"],
-                `Invalid option: expected one of ${string}`
-              >,
-              undefined
-            >;
-            readonly field: v.SchemaWithPipe<
-              readonly [
-                v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-                v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-              ]
-            >;
-          },
-          undefined
-        >;
-        readonly where: v.SchemaWithPipe<
-          readonly [
-            v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-            v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-          ]
-        >;
-      },
-      undefined
-    >,
-    v.StrictObjectSchema<
-      {
-        readonly type: v.LiteralSchema<"audit", undefined>;
-        readonly target: v.StrictObjectSchema<
-          {
-            readonly scope: v.OptionalSchema<
-              v.PicklistSchema<
-                readonly ["workflow", "stage", "activity"],
-                `Invalid option: expected one of ${string}`
-              >,
-              undefined
-            >;
-            readonly field: v.SchemaWithPipe<
-              readonly [
-                v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-                v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-              ]
-            >;
-          },
-          undefined
-        >;
-        readonly value: v.GenericSchema<ValueExprInternal>;
-        readonly stampFields: v.OptionalSchema<
-          v.StrictObjectSchema<
-            {
-              readonly actor: v.OptionalSchema<
-                v.SchemaWithPipe<
-                  readonly [
-                    v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-                    v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-                  ]
-                >,
-                undefined
-              >;
-              readonly at: v.OptionalSchema<
-                v.SchemaWithPipe<
-                  readonly [
-                    v.StringSchema<undefined>,
-                    v.MinLengthAction<string, 1, "must be a non-empty string">,
-                  ]
-                >,
-                undefined
-              >;
-            },
-            undefined
-          >,
-          undefined
-        >;
-      },
-      undefined
-    >,
-  ],
-  undefined
->;
+export declare type AuthoringTransition = TransitionFields & {
+  when?: string | undefined;
+};
 
 /** The authoring surface: stored primitives plus the define-time sugar. */
 export declare type AuthoringWorkflow = WorkflowFields<
   AuthoringFieldEntry,
-  AuthoringStage
+  AuthoringStage,
+  AuthoringStartBlock
 >;
 
 export declare interface AvailableAction {
@@ -1376,7 +1232,10 @@ export declare interface AvailableAction {
 }
 
 /** Flatten an evaluation's current-stage activities into the actions the actor
- *  could fire, each carrying whether it's allowed (and why not). */
+ *  could fire, each carrying whether it's allowed (and why not). A
+ *  filter-scoped-out activity does not exist for this visit, so its actions
+ *  never list — the same {@link ActivityEvaluation.scopedOut} split every
+ *  other surface applies. */
 export declare function availableActions(
   activities: ActivityEvaluation[],
 ): AvailableAction[];
@@ -1389,6 +1248,22 @@ export declare interface AvailableActionsResult {
   actions: AvailableAction[];
 }
 
+/**
+ * Type each caller-supplied name→value against the workflow's declared field
+ * entries — the engine takes typed {@link InitialFieldValue}s, and a value's
+ * type IS its declared entry's kind. Only `input`-sourced entries read
+ * caller values (the engine silently ignores the rest), so anything else
+ * fails here, naming the fields that ARE settable; value validation stays
+ * in the engine.
+ */
+export declare function buildInitialFields({
+  declared,
+  values,
+}: {
+  declared: Pick<FieldEntry, "type" | "name" | "initialValue">[];
+  values: Record<string, unknown>;
+}): InitialFieldValue[];
+
 /**
  * Build a snapshot from a set of loaded docs. Pure transform.
  *
@@ -1410,7 +1285,7 @@ export declare function buildSnapshot(args: {
 /**
  * A LOADED candidate document. Applicability evaluates content, so a ref or
  * bare id is not enough: the doc must carry its schema `_type` plus whatever
- * attributes `applicableWhen` predicates read — under whatever perspective
+ * attributes `start.filter` predicates read — under whatever perspective
  * the caller loaded it with.
  */
 export declare interface CandidateDocument {
@@ -1419,12 +1294,12 @@ export declare interface CandidateDocument {
 }
 
 /**
- * Thrown when auto-transitions on an instance fail to stabilise within
- * {@link CascadeLimitError.limit} passes — the signature of a runaway
- * cascade. The classic trigger is two stages whose transition guards
+ * Thrown when hops on an instance fail to stabilise within
+ * {@link CascadeLimitError.limit} moves — the signature of a runaway
+ * cascade. The classic cause is two stages whose transition `when`s
  * stay simultaneously satisfied (e.g. an `op.field.set` lands a value
- * that trips the very guard that fired, and nothing ever clears it), so
- * the engine flip-flops and would otherwise write revisions forever.
+ * that trips the very trigger that fired, and nothing ever clears it),
+ * so the engine flip-flops and would otherwise write revisions forever.
  *
  * The cascade aborts at the limit rather than the engine hanging; the
  * instance is left at whatever stage the last completed pass reached.
@@ -1575,13 +1450,13 @@ export declare interface CompleteEffectArgs extends DedupableOperationArgs {
   effectKey: string;
   status: EffectCompletionStatus;
   /**
-   * Named values produced by the effect. If supplied, these are merged
-   * into `effectsContext` (replace-by-key) and become available to
-   * downstream effect bindings on the same instance. Each value may be any
-   * JSON — scalar, {@link GlobalDocumentReference}, or an arbitrary
-   * object/array (the whole record stores as one `effectsContext.json` entry).
+   * Named values produced by the effect — recorded on the run's
+   * `effectHistory` row and read downstream as
+   * `$effects['<effect name>'].<output>` (the latest completed run per
+   * effect name wins). Validated against the effect's declared `outputs`
+   * allowlist; each value may be any JSON.
    */
-  outputs?: EffectsContext;
+  outputs?: Record<string, unknown>;
   /**
    * The state half of the effect: `field.*` ops to apply in the completion
    * commit, computed from the effect's real result (e.g. a `field.set` of a
@@ -1616,6 +1491,26 @@ export declare function computeDiffEntries<
   target: DeployTarget;
 }): Promise<DiffEntry[]>;
 
+/**
+ * Completion twin of {@link ConcurrentFireActionError}: a `completeEffect`
+ * commit lost the optimistic-locking race on every attempt. Same contract —
+ * nothing committed on the final try, so the pending entry (and its claim)
+ * is untouched: the completion can be retried, and a claim whose lease
+ * lapses is recovered by a later drain. The handler's reported outcome is
+ * NOT applied — a caller that retries must not re-run the side effect,
+ * only re-report it.
+ */
+export declare class ConcurrentCompleteEffectError extends WorkflowError<"concurrent-complete-effect"> {
+  readonly instanceId: string;
+  readonly effectKey: string;
+  readonly attempts: number;
+  constructor(args: {
+    instanceId: string;
+    effectKey: string;
+    attempts: number;
+  });
+}
+
 /**
  * Edit-seam twin of {@link ConcurrentFireActionError}: an `editField` commit
  * lost the optimistic-locking race on every attempt. Same contract — re-read
@@ -1642,7 +1537,7 @@ export declare class ConcurrentEditFieldError extends WorkflowError<"concurrent-
 
 /**
  * Thrown when a `fireAction` commit loses the optimistic-locking race on
- * all {@link CONCURRENT_FIRE_ACTION_MAX_ATTEMPTS} attempts — every reload +
+ * all {@link CONCURRENT_COMMIT_MAX_ATTEMPTS} attempts — every reload +
  * `ifRevisionId` retry was beaten by another writer committing first.
  * Surfacing it (rather than silently overwriting) lets the caller decide
  * whether to retry later or report a write storm; nothing was committed
@@ -1689,6 +1584,17 @@ export { ConditionClause };
 
 export { ConditionDescription };
 
+/**
+ * Every STATIC `$fields.<name>` (or `$fields['<name>']` — groq-js normalises
+ * both to `AccessAttribute`) read in a condition, from the AST. Dynamic access
+ * (`$fields[$var]`) carries no static name and is not collected. A malformed
+ * condition reads nothing here ({@link conditionSyntaxIssues} owns the parse
+ * error).
+ */
+export declare function conditionFieldReadNames(
+  groq: string,
+): ReadonlySet<string>;
+
 export { ConditionInsight };
 
 export { ConditionOutcome };
@@ -1697,8 +1603,8 @@ export { ConditionRead };
 
 /**
  * Every condition a definition declares, in stable order: author predicates,
- * then per stage — transitions, activities (filter, requirements,
- * completeWhen, failWhen, action filters), editable gates, tighten-overrides.
+ * then per stage — transitions, activities (filter, requirements, action
+ * filters and `when` triggers), editable gates, tighten-overrides.
  * Editable gates resolve through the same helper the runtime projection uses
  * ({@link editableFieldsInStage}: entry `editable` ANDed with the stage
  * tighten-override), so every live editable-field address exists here with
@@ -1724,25 +1630,30 @@ export declare interface ConditionVar {
  * The condition-variable inventory — the single source of truth for every
  * `$var` the engine binds when it evaluates a {@link Condition}.
  *
- * Three evaluation contexts read a definition's GROQ:
+ * Four evaluation contexts read a definition's GROQ:
  *
  * 1. **Rendered condition scope** — every condition site in a definition
- *    (transition filters, `completeWhen`/`failWhen`, action filters, effect
- *    bindings, `subworkflows` reads, where-op `where`s, editability
- *    predicates, author predicates). {@link CONDITION_VARS} is its inventory;
- *    each entry's `binding` says when the var actually holds a value. The
+ *    (transition `when`s, activity filters, action `when`s/filters, effect
+ *    bindings, `spawn` reads, where-op `where`s, editability predicates,
+ *    author predicates). {@link CONDITION_VARS} is its inventory; each
+ *    entry's `binding` says when the var actually holds a value. The
  *    where-op context is the one closed subset — its bound set is statically
  *    fixed and deploy-enforced (see the op-where scope's param-name list in
  *    the op applier).
- * 2. **Filter evaluation without a caller** — the engine's cascade evaluates
- *    transition filters and the activity gates (`filter`, `completeWhen`,
- *    `failWhen`) with no caller, so only the `'always'`-bound subset carries
- *    values there ({@link FILTER_SCOPE_VARS}). Caller-bound vars fail closed —
- *    `$assigned` binds its caller-free constant `false`, the rest evaluate to
- *    `undefined` — and deploy rejects them at these sites: routing and gate
- *    resolution must resolve identically no matter whose token triggers the
- *    evaluation.
- * 3. **Guard predicates** — NOT conditions. A lake mutation guard's
+ * 2. **Cascade gates** — transition `when`s, activity filters, and a
+ *    cascade-fired action's `when`/`filter` must resolve identically no
+ *    matter whose token drives the cascade, so only the `'always'`-bound
+ *    subset carries values there ({@link FILTER_SCOPE_VARS}). Caller-bound
+ *    vars fail closed — `$assigned` binds its caller-free constant `false`,
+ *    the rest evaluate to `undefined` — and deploy rejects them at these
+ *    sites; a cascade-fired action's per-token gate is `roles`, never its
+ *    conditions.
+ * 3. **The start-filter context** — a definition's `start.filter` evaluates
+ *    against a CANDIDATE (no instance exists yet): the candidate document is
+ *    the root, {@link START_FILTER_VARS} are the only bound vars, and
+ *    `*[...]` reads the WORKFLOW resource's dataset. None of the rendered
+ *    condition vars exist there.
+ * 4. **Guard predicates** — NOT conditions. A lake mutation guard's
  *    `predicate` is groq-js **delta-mode** GROQ over a document mutation:
  *    `before()`/`after()`/`identity()` are dialect natives, and the wire
  *    format binds the identifiers in {@link GUARD_PREDICATE_VARS}. None of
@@ -1756,10 +1667,42 @@ export declare interface ConditionVar {
  * - `'caller'` — rides the acting caller; without one the var is `undefined`
  *   (conditions referencing it fail closed). Author predicates may not read
  *   these — they pre-evaluate once per instance, caller-free.
- * - `'spawn'` — bound only at `subworkflows` sites (the per-row `$row`).
+ * - `'spawn'` — bound only at spawn sites (the per-row `$row`).
  */
 export declare type ConditionVarBinding = "always" | "caller" | "spawn";
 
+/**
+ * The one-doc read a reactive adapter subscribes with to observe a content doc
+ * under a perspective stack — the same GROQ as the engine's own hydration read
+ * ({@link hydrateSnapshot}), so the adapter and the engine resolve identical
+ * content: draft/version content projected onto the published id, a doc that
+ * exists only as a draft (or only inside a release) still visible.
+ */
+export declare function contentDocQuery(documentId: string): CompiledQuery;
+
+/**
+ * Whether a watched content doc's reactive read may fall back to the DRAFT —
+ * the fallback half of the per-doc resolution rule {@link contentReleaseName}
+ * starts. Mirrors the engine's own hydration under the instance's effective
+ * perspective (`instance.perspective ?? DEFAULT_CONTENT_PERSPECTIVE`): a draft
+ * is visible only when that perspective names `'drafts'` — the drafts default,
+ * `'drafts'` itself, or a stack like `[release, 'drafts']`. Under `'published'`
+ * / `'raw'` and under a stack without a `'drafts'` entry (`[release]`,
+ * `['published']`) drafts are invisible, and an adapter feeding one would
+ * evaluate content the engine's read can never see.
+ *
+ * Raw refs ({@link readsRaw}) answer `true` by contract, and it is
+ * load-bearing: instance / ancestor / `system.release` docs have no draft
+ * form, and the `true` keeps them on the adapters' raw per-doc read path —
+ * never a perspective-scoped content read.
+ */
+export declare function contentDraftFallback(args: {
+  ref: {
+    type: string;
+  };
+  perspective: WorkflowPerspective | undefined;
+}): boolean;
+
 /**
  * The Content Release a watched doc resolves under, or `undefined` for a raw
  * read — how a reactive adapter turns the watch-set's perspective into the
@@ -1772,9 +1715,10 @@ export declare type ConditionVarBinding = "always" | "caller" | "spawn";
  *
  * Note: this resolves a **single** release — the documented `instance.perspective`
  * shapes (`[release]` / `[release, "drafts"]`). The stores' per-doc reads take
- * one release, so a multi-release stack can't be observed reactively here; the
- * engine's own fetch path ({@link hydrateSnapshot}) honours the full stack via
- * `client.fetch({perspective})`.
+ * one release, so a multi-release stack can't be observed through them; the
+ * engine's own fetch path ({@link hydrateSnapshot}) — and the SDK adapter's
+ * query-store route for stacks without a `'drafts'` entry — honour the full
+ * stack via `client.fetch({perspective})`.
  */
 export declare function contentReleaseName(args: {
   ref: {
@@ -1783,6 +1727,85 @@ export declare function contentReleaseName(args: {
   perspective: WorkflowPerspective | undefined;
 }): string | undefined;
 
+/**
+ * Context-bag entry kinds.
+ */
+export declare const CONTEXT_ENTRY_DISPLAY: {
+  "context.string": {
+    title: string;
+    description: string;
+  };
+  "context.number": {
+    title: string;
+    description: string;
+  };
+  "context.boolean": {
+    title: string;
+    description: string;
+  };
+  "context.ref": {
+    title: string;
+    description: string;
+  };
+  "context.json": {
+    title: string;
+    description: string;
+  };
+};
+
+/**
+ * One entry of the instance's `context` bag, rendered to conditions as
+ * `$context.<name>`. **Written exactly twice, both at start**: the
+ * `startInstance` seed and a parent's `spawn.context` handoff. Never
+ * mutated afterwards — completed effects' outputs live on
+ * `effectHistory[].outputs` and render as `$effects`, a separate bag.
+ *
+ * Critical: `context` is NOT a workflow field container. Transition
+ * triggers must NOT read it as fields. The workflow's fields live on
+ * `fields[]`; external state lives in the lake (queryable via conditions).
+ */
+export declare type ContextEntry =
+  | {
+      _key: string;
+      _type: "context.string";
+      name: string;
+      value: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      _key: string;
+      _type: "context.number";
+      name: string;
+      value: number;
+    }
+  | {
+      _key: string;
+      _type: "context.boolean";
+      name: string;
+      value: boolean;
+    }
+  | {
+      _key: string;
+      _type: "context.ref";
+      name: string;
+      /** GDR — see `../core/refs.ts` */
+      value: GlobalDocumentReference;
+    }
+  | {
+      _key: string;
+      _type: "context.json";
+      name: string;
+      value: string;
+    };
+
+/**
+ * Render the instance's `context` bag as the `$context` map — the
+ * start-time seed plus a parent's spawn handoff. `json` entries decode to
+ * their object form.
+ */
+export declare function contextMap(
+  instance: Pick<WorkflowInstance, "context">,
+): Record<string, unknown>;
+
 /**
  * A caller broke a public-API contract — a call the engine rejects
  * before touching the lake: an invalid `tag`, a `workflow.query` GROQ that
@@ -1968,6 +1991,11 @@ export declare const DEFAULT_EFFECT_LEASE_MS: number;
  *  configured `idempotencyTtlMs`. */
 export declare const DEFAULT_IDEMPOTENCY_TTL_MS: number;
 
+/** The condition a transition gets when the author declares none — fire once
+ *  the stage's own work settles. Exported so consumers describing transition
+ *  conditions can recognize the default's spelling without copying it. */
+export declare const DEFAULT_TRANSITION_WHEN = "$allActivitiesDone";
+
 /**
  * Default LoggerFactory — writes through the global `console`. Exposed
  * so callers outside `createEngine` (drive scripts, the
@@ -2071,7 +2099,7 @@ export declare interface DefinitionsForDocumentArgs {
   /**
    * The LOADED candidate document — unlike {@link InstancesForDocumentArgs},
    * a ref won't do: applicability evaluates content (`_type` against subject
-   * entry `types`, `applicableWhen` against the attributes), under whatever
+   * entry `types`, `start.filter` against the attributes), under whatever
    * perspective the caller loaded the document with.
    */
   document: CandidateDocument;
@@ -2272,16 +2300,26 @@ export declare interface DeployTarget {
 }
 
 /**
- * Classify an activity from its shape, in precedence order: an activity a person acts on
- * (`actions`) is `user`; otherwise an automated effect step is `service`;
- * otherwise an activity that waits on a condition (`completeWhen` or a `subworkflows`
- * fan-out) is `receive`; otherwise an inline machine step is `script`.
- *
- * Never returns `manual` — off-system work reads identically to a `user` or
- * `receive` activity by shape, so it is only ever an EXPLICIT {@link Activity.kind}.
+ * Classify an activity from its shape, BPMN-aligned: `target` marks off-system
+ * work (`manual`); otherwise any fireAction-fired action means a person (or
+ * robot caller) acts on it (`user`); otherwise cascade-fired effects make it a
+ * `service` step; otherwise cascade-fired status flips make it a `receive`
+ * wait; anything left is an inline `script` step.
  */
 export declare function deriveActivityKind(activity: Activity): ActivityKind;
 
+/**
+ * Who, if anyone, the activity waits on — derived ahead-of-time from the
+ * definition alone: `off-system` when `target` is present; else `autonomous`
+ * (every action cascade-fired — no caller ever needed), `interactive` (only
+ * fireAction-fired actions), or `hybrid` (mixed). An actionless activity
+ * classifies `autonomous` vacuously — nothing waits on a caller (deploy's
+ * terminal-reachability invariant rejects it anyway).
+ */
+export declare function deriveExecutorClassification(
+  activity: Activity,
+): ExecutorClassification;
+
 export declare type Describable =
   | ConditionInsight
   | FieldInsight
@@ -2348,8 +2386,10 @@ export declare function describeFieldInsight(
 /**
  * The one front door: feed it any insight-bearing node off an evaluation and
  * get its description — a checklist for gate nodes (undefined when the node
- * declares no gate), all four gates for an activity, involvement + proposals
- * for a field. Dispatch is by each node's defining property, which is
+ * declares no gate), every declared gate for an activity, involvement +
+ * proposals for a field. For an action node the firing gate wins: a
+ * cascade-fired action describes its `when` trigger; a fireAction action
+ * its `filter`. Dispatch is by each node's defining property, which is
  * unambiguous across the union.
  */
 export declare function describeNode<T extends Describable>(
@@ -2379,7 +2419,7 @@ export declare function describeSiteHeading(
  *  so a hand-crafted stuck permutation doesn't have to fabricate insights. */
 export declare type DiagnosedTransition = Pick<
   TransitionEvaluation,
-  "transition" | "filterSatisfied" | "unevaluable"
+  "transition" | "whenSatisfied" | "unevaluable"
 >;
 
 /**
@@ -2513,12 +2553,19 @@ export declare type DisabledReason =
        * The action's condition evaluated falsy for this actor — the ONE
        * engine-side gate (advisory, like every engine check). Sugar like
        * `roles` desugared into this condition, so a role miss surfaces
-       * here too.
+       * here too. Under filter-existence semantics a consumer renders the
+       * action ABSENT, never disabled.
        */
       kind: "filter-failed";
       filter: string;
       detail?: string;
     }
+  | {
+      /** The action is cascade-fired (`when`) — the engine's cascade is its
+       *  only firing path; `fireAction` rejects it for every caller. */
+      kind: "cascade-fired";
+      when: string;
+    }
   | {
       kind: "activity-not-active";
       status: TerminalActivityStatus;
@@ -2657,6 +2704,20 @@ declare type DocumentEnvelopeKey =
   | "modelVersion"
   | "minReaderModel";
 
+/**
+ * The document-prefilter GROQ arm — matches instances that MAY reference any
+ * of `documents`. A deliberate lake-side SUPERSET (it also matches
+ * exited-stage refs); narrow fetched rows to the exact watch-set with
+ * {@link instanceWatchesDocument}. Binds `$documents` + `$bareIds` into
+ * `params`. Exposed for list builders that compose their own conditions
+ * (e.g. the CLI's cross-partition list); {@link instancesQuery} consumers get
+ * it via the `document`/`documents` filter fields instead.
+ */
+export declare function documentPrefilter(
+  documents: readonly GdrUri[],
+  params: Record<string, string | string[]>,
+): string;
+
 export declare type DocumentValuePermission =
   (typeof DOCUMENT_VALUE_PERMISSIONS)[number];
 
@@ -2869,8 +2930,9 @@ export declare type EffectCompletionStatus = Exclude<
 
 /**
  * External effect handler — invoked at drain time with the resolved
- * `params` and a context. Returning `outputs` upserts them into
- * `effectsContext` (replace-by-key) so downstream effects can bind.
+ * `params` and a context. Returning `outputs` records them on the run's
+ * `effectHistory` row, where downstream bindings and conditions read them
+ * as `$effects['<effect name>'].<output>`.
  * Returning `ops` applies the state half of the effect in the completion
  * commit — `field.*` computed from the real result, run through the same op
  * applier as an action's field ops (so a created doc's ref enters `$fields`, or
@@ -2924,7 +2986,7 @@ export declare type EffectHandler = (
     log: (message: string, extra?: Record<string, unknown>) => void;
   },
 ) => Promise<{
-  outputs?: EffectsContext;
+  outputs?: Record<string, unknown>;
   ops?: FieldOp[];
 } | void>;
 
@@ -2954,9 +3016,9 @@ export declare interface EffectHistoryEntry {
     stack?: string;
   };
   /**
-   * Outputs the runtime reported back. The engine merges these into
-   * `effectsContext` (replace-by-name) so downstream effect bindings and
-   * `$effects.<name>` reads can reference them. Recorded here for audit.
+   * Outputs the runtime reported back — the source the `$effects` read
+   * derives from (`$effects['<effect name>'].<output>` is the latest
+   * completed run's outputs, by name). Recorded here for audit.
    */
   outputs?: Record<string, unknown>;
 }
@@ -3004,14 +3066,16 @@ export declare interface EffectOrigin {
   name: string;
 }
 
-/** The lifecycle boundary that queued an effect — the node IS the moment. */
-export declare type EffectOriginKind = "activity" | "transition" | "action";
+/** The boundary that queued an effect — actions are the only effect
+ *  carriers, so the kind is structural (kept on the row for
+ *  self-description). */
+export declare type EffectOriginKind = "action";
 
 /**
  * Thrown when an effect completes with a returned output its declaration doesn't
  * allow — an undeclared key or a value that doesn't fit the declared shape. The
  * declared `outputs` are a strict allowlist bounding what an effect may persist
- * into `effectsContext`, so the completion does NOT commit rather than silently
+ * onto its `effectHistory` entry, so the completion does NOT commit rather than silently
  * storing off-contract data. An effect that declares no `outputs` has an EMPTY
  * allowlist (produces nothing), so any returned output fails here.
  */
@@ -3021,6 +3085,16 @@ export declare class EffectOutputsInvalidError extends WorkflowError<"effect-out
   constructor(args: { effect: string; issues: string[] });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Render completed effects' outputs as the `$effects` map — each effect's
+ * LATEST completed run with outputs wins, by name, across the whole
+ * history (outputs are workflow-scope handler results; the per-visit
+ * signal is `$effectStatus`).
+ */
+export declare function effectOutputsMap(
+  instance: Pick<WorkflowInstance, "effectHistory">,
+): Record<string, unknown>;
+
 /**
  * Every terminal state an effect run can record. `done` and `failed` are
  * reported through completion ({@link EffectCompletionStatus}); `cancelled`
@@ -3030,32 +3104,6 @@ export declare class EffectOutputsInvalidError extends WorkflowError<"effect-out
  */
 export declare type EffectRunStatus = "done" | "failed" | "cancelled";
 
-/**
- * EffectsContext entry kinds.
- */
-export declare const EFFECTS_CONTEXT_DISPLAY: {
-  "effectsContext.string": {
-    title: string;
-    description: string;
-  };
-  "effectsContext.number": {
-    title: string;
-    description: string;
-  };
-  "effectsContext.boolean": {
-    title: string;
-    description: string;
-  };
-  "effectsContext.ref": {
-    title: string;
-    description: string;
-  };
-  "effectsContext.json": {
-    title: string;
-    description: string;
-  };
-};
-
 declare const EffectSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
   {
     readonly name: v.SchemaWithPipe<
@@ -3098,8 +3146,9 @@ declare const EffectSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
      * doesn't fit its shape — fails the completion (nothing is stored). Omitting
      * `outputs` is an EMPTY allowlist: the effect produces nothing, so any returned
      * output is rejected — the bound is universal, not opt-in.
-     * Why strict: `effectsContext` lives on the instance document, so the allowlist
-     * keeps it bounded — a handler can't accidentally spread a whole API response
+     * Why strict: outputs land on the instance document's `effectHistory`, so
+     * the allowlist keeps it bounded — a handler can't accidentally spread a
+     * whole API response
      * into the instance — and the declared shapes let tooling (e.g. the simulator's
      * drain UI) suggest an effect's exact output keys. Declaring outputs also
      * powers the advisory deploy-time producer/consumer lint.
@@ -3112,72 +3161,6 @@ declare const EffectSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
   undefined
 >;
 
-/**
- * The named-params record effects bind against: what a caller supplies at
- * `startInstance` (stored as {@link WorkflowInstance.effectsContext} entries)
- * and what a handler's `outputs` merges back in (replace-by-key).
- *
- * Each value may be any JSON — a scalar, a {@link GlobalDocumentReference}, or
- * an arbitrary object/array. Scalars and GDRs store as their typed
- * `effectsContext` entries; anything else stores as one `effectsContext.json`
- * entry, so all forms read back the same under `$effects.<name>`.
- */
-export declare type EffectsContext = Record<string, unknown>;
-
-/**
- * Each entry is a named param the runtime hands to effect handlers via
- * binding resolution, rendered to conditions as `$effects.<name>`. **Set at
- * start (including a parent's `subworkflows.context` handoff); appended to
- * only by completed effects reporting `outputs`** — those land as one
- * `json` entry per effect, read as `$effects['<effect name>'].<output>`.
- * Never mutated by user-facing API.
- *
- * Critical: `effectsContext` is NOT a workflow field container.
- * Transition filters must NOT read it as fields. The workflow's fields live
- * on `fields[]`; external state lives in the lake (queryable via filters).
- */
-export declare type EffectsContextEntry =
-  | {
-      _key: string;
-      _type: "effectsContext.string";
-      name: string;
-      value: string;
-    }
-  | {
-      _key: string;
-      _type: "effectsContext.number";
-      name: string;
-      value: number;
-    }
-  | {
-      _key: string;
-      _type: "effectsContext.boolean";
-      name: string;
-      value: boolean;
-    }
-  | {
-      _key: string;
-      _type: "effectsContext.ref";
-      name: string;
-      /** GDR — see `../core/refs.ts` */
-      value: GlobalDocumentReference;
-    }
-  | {
-      _key: string;
-      _type: "effectsContext.json";
-      name: string;
-      value: string;
-    };
-
-/**
- * Render `effectsContext` as the `$effects` map. `json` entries decode to
- * their object form so a completed effect's outputs read namespaced:
- * `$effects['<effect name>'].<output>`.
- */
-export declare function effectsContextMap(
-  instance: Pick<WorkflowInstance, "effectsContext">,
-): Record<string, unknown>;
-
 /** The `effectHistory` outcome {@link EffectNotFoundError} reports when the
  *  missing key belongs to a settled run. `detail` is the row's recorded
  *  detail — for a cancellation, the cause the canceller stamped. */
@@ -3274,7 +3257,7 @@ export declare interface Engine {
   /** The startable half of {@link Engine.instancesForDocument}: the latest
    *  deployed version of every definition that applies to the LOADED candidate
    *  document — startable, a required subject entry accepts its `_type`, and
-   *  `applicableWhen` passes. All matches, name ascending; advisory — a start
+   *  `start.filter` passes. All matches, name ascending; advisory — a start
    *  picker's filter, never enforcement. */
   definitionsForDocument: (
     args: DefinitionsForDocumentArgs,
@@ -3482,6 +3465,26 @@ export declare function evaluateMutationGuard(args: {
   context: MutationContext;
 }): Promise<boolean>;
 
+/**
+ * Evaluate one `start.filter` in the start-filter context: `document` (may be
+ * absent — root reads then fail closed) as the GROQ root, the
+ * {@link StartFilterScope} bindings plus `$definition`, and — only when
+ * `analyzeCondition` says the filter reads the dataset — the scope's fetched
+ * slice as `*`. Cheap pure evaluation otherwise: no I/O rides a filter that
+ * never scans. GROQ null ("can't decide") is `false` — every consumer of
+ * this verdict fails closed; a parse/evaluation THROW is a malformed
+ * predicate, not an unevaluable one — rethrown loud, naming the definition
+ * (only writable by bypassing deploy validation), so every read surface that
+ * evaluates the filter reports the same context. A failed slice FETCH
+ * propagates as itself: transport trouble, never definition blame.
+ */
+export declare function evaluateStartFilter(args: {
+  filter: string;
+  definition: Pick<ApplicabilitySource, "name">;
+  document?: CandidateDocument | undefined;
+  scope?: StartFilterScope | undefined;
+}): Promise<boolean>;
+
 /**
  * Well-known {@link ExecutionContext.kind} values. The field is a free
  * string — these are the shipped vocabulary, not a closed set.
@@ -3528,6 +3531,39 @@ export declare interface ExecutionContext {
   id?: string;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Executor classifications — who, if anyone, an activity waits on
+ * (derived; see `./activity-kind.ts`).
+ */
+export declare const EXECUTOR_CLASSIFICATION_DISPLAY: {
+  autonomous: {
+    title: string;
+    description: string;
+  };
+  interactive: {
+    title: string;
+    description: string;
+  };
+  "off-system": {
+    title: string;
+    description: string;
+  };
+  hybrid: {
+    title: string;
+    description: string;
+  };
+};
+
+export declare const EXECUTOR_CLASSIFICATIONS: readonly [
+  "autonomous",
+  "interactive",
+  "off-system",
+  "hybrid",
+];
+
+export declare type ExecutorClassification =
+  (typeof EXECUTOR_CLASSIFICATIONS)[number];
+
 export { explainCondition };
 
 export { ExplainConditionArgs };
@@ -3759,10 +3795,11 @@ declare type FieldSourceInternal =
 
 /**
  * The field tree of a persisted value — every leaf replaced by its type name
- * (`null` kept distinct from `object`), object keys sorted, arrays
- * element-wise so discriminated variants stay visible. The comparison form
- * the model-surface gates pin per model version, and the form ops tooling
- * can diff a live document against.
+ * (`null` kept distinct from `object`), object keys sorted by UTF-16 code
+ * unit (locale-independent, so the pinned ledgers canonicalise identically
+ * on every machine), arrays element-wise so discriminated variants stay
+ * visible. The comparison form the model-surface gates pin per model
+ * version, and the form ops tooling can diff a live document against.
  */
 export declare function fieldTreeShape(value: unknown): unknown;
 
@@ -3806,9 +3843,8 @@ export declare class FieldValueShapeError extends WorkflowError<"field-value-sha
 }
 
 /**
- * The subset that holds a value when the engine evaluates filters without a
- * caller (the cascade path: transition filters, activity `filter`/
- * `completeWhen`/`failWhen`).
+ * The subset that holds a value in the cascade gates (transition `when`s,
+ * activity filters, a cascade-fired action's `when`/`filter`).
  */
 export declare const FILTER_SCOPE_VARS: readonly string[];
 
@@ -4380,10 +4416,6 @@ export declare const HISTORY_DISPLAY: {
     title: string;
     description: string;
   };
-  activityActivated: {
-    title: string;
-    description: string;
-  };
   activityStatusChanged: {
     title: string;
     description: string;
@@ -4475,14 +4507,6 @@ declare type HistoryEvent =
       reason?: string;
       actor?: Actor;
     }
-  | {
-      _key: string;
-      _type: "activityActivated";
-      at: string;
-      stage: StageName;
-      activity: ActivityName;
-      actor?: Actor;
-    }
   | {
       _key: string;
       _type: "activityStatusChanged";
@@ -4507,6 +4531,12 @@ declare type HistoryEvent =
        * person/agent/service/engine axis. Absent when no actor was supplied.
        */
       driverKind?: DriverKind;
+      /**
+       * The engine fired this action in a cascade (its `when` turned true) —
+       * {@link actor} is the cascading token that happened to execute it,
+       * not a caller who invoked `fireAction`.
+       */
+      triggered?: true;
     }
   | {
       _key: string;
@@ -4617,16 +4647,15 @@ declare type HistoryEvent =
       _type: "opApplied";
       at: string;
       stage: StageName;
-      /** The boundary that ran the op. For an action/transition/activation,
-       *  exactly one of activity/action/transition is set; for a direct edit
+      /** The boundary that ran the op. For an action fire (caller- or
+       *  cascade-fired), `activity` + `action` are set; for a direct edit
        *  (the edit seam), `edit` is set and `activity` carries the field's activity when
        *  the edited field is activity-scope; for an effect's completion ops,
        *  `effect` names the effect. */
       activity?: ActivityName;
       action?: ActionName;
-      transition?: string;
       /** Set when the op was a direct edit through the edit seam (`editField`),
-       *  not an action/transition/activation. */
+       *  not an action. */
       edit?: true;
       /** Set when the op came from an effect handler's completion (the state
        *  half of an effect); names the effect. */
@@ -4673,6 +4702,15 @@ export declare interface HydratedSnapshot {
   knownIds: Set<string>;
 }
 
+/**
+ * The in-flight arm — the one spelling of "not completed/aborted" every
+ * list surface's `includeCompleted` filter negates (the engine stamps
+ * `completedAt` on entry into any terminal stage, aborts included). A
+ * sibling of {@link tagScopeFilter} for list builders that compose their
+ * own conditions.
+ */
+export declare function inFlightFilter(): string;
+
 /**
  * Initial value for an `input`-sourced entry — what a caller supplies at
  * `startInstance` (or `setStage`). Same discriminator shape as
@@ -4706,15 +4744,12 @@ export declare type InsightSite =
       requirement: string;
     }
   | {
-      kind: "complete-when";
-      activity: string;
-    }
-  | {
-      kind: "fail-when";
+      kind: "action";
       activity: string;
+      action: string;
     }
   | {
-      kind: "action";
+      kind: "action-when";
       activity: string;
       action: string;
     }
@@ -4823,7 +4858,7 @@ export declare interface InstanceSession {
    *  replace the target's staged rows (last write wins); appends accumulate.
    *  Tolerant where commits are loud: a target that doesn't resolve in the
    *  current stage (it moved under a mounted editor), a closed edit window
-   *  (a pending activity's field before activation), or a value that doesn't
+   *  (a skipped activity's field), or a value that doesn't
    *  fit the field's shape yet (a half-typed date) stages an INERT preview —
    *  no echo, no throw; the commit at the semantic boundary is the loud
    *  surface. Never persisted — commit via {@link InstanceSession.editField}. */
@@ -4908,6 +4943,13 @@ export declare function instanceWatchesDocument(
   document: GdrUri,
 ): boolean;
 
+/** The trigger split: a `when` action is cascade-fired; without one it is
+ *  fireAction-fired. The single spelling of that test — structural over
+ *  `when` so authoring and stored shapes both qualify. */
+export declare function isCascadeFired(action: {
+  when?: string | undefined;
+}): boolean;
+
 /**
  * A claim whose lease has lapsed no longer protects the entry. A claim
  * without `leaseExpiresAt` (persisted before leases existed) counts as
@@ -4922,11 +4964,11 @@ export { isComparisonOp };
 
 /**
  * The full applicability derivation for one definition against one loaded
- * document: startable ∧ {@link acceptsDocumentType} ∧ `applicableWhen`.
+ * document: startable ∧ {@link acceptsDocumentType} ∧ `start.filter`.
  * "Deployed" is the caller's premise — feed it deployed definitions (the
  * engine verb `definitionsForDocument` does). Throws when `document` carries
- * no `_type` — that's a ref or a projection, not a loaded document. An
- * `applicableWhen` that doesn't PARSE also throws, naming the definition —
+ * no `_type` — that's a ref or a projection, not a loaded document. A
+ * `start.filter` that doesn't PARSE also throws, naming the definition —
  * that's a malformed definition (only writable by bypassing deploy
  * validation), and silently excluding it would make it vanish from every
  * picker with nothing screaming; only an evaluation result of GROQ null
@@ -4935,8 +4977,22 @@ export { isComparisonOp };
 export declare function isDefinitionApplicable(args: {
   definition: ApplicabilitySource;
   document: CandidateDocument;
+  /** Caller-side filter bindings — omit for the bare candidate-doc context. */
+  scope?: StartFilterScope;
 }): Promise<boolean>;
 
+/**
+ * Whether an entry was scoped OUT at stage entry — the `filter` existence
+ * gate skipped it before it ever started. Distinct from an action-resolved
+ * `skipped` (real, started work whose entry carries `startedAt`): under
+ * filter-existence semantics render surfaces hide the former and keep the
+ * latter. The ONE spelling of that split.
+ */
+export declare function isFilterScopedOut(entry: {
+  status: ActivityStatus;
+  startedAt?: string | undefined;
+}): boolean;
+
 /** Type filter for GDR shape. */
 export declare function isGdr(value: unknown): value is GlobalDocumentReference;
 
@@ -4974,7 +5030,7 @@ export declare function isNotesEntry(
 /**
  * Whether a human may start this definition standalone (the default). A
  * `lifecycle: 'child'` definition is spawn-only — instantiated by a parent via
- * `activity.subworkflows`, so consumers exclude it from top-level start pickers.
+ * an action's `spawn`, so consumers exclude it from top-level start pickers.
  * Advisory: the engine does not enforce it (see the `required`-field backstop
  * for load-bearing input fields). Accepts any definition-shaped value (authored,
  * stored, deployed, or a projected list row).
@@ -4983,6 +5039,18 @@ export declare function isStartableDefinition(definition: {
   lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
 }): boolean;
 
+/**
+ * The SUBJECT-ENTRY RULE: a required `doc.ref` / `doc.refs` input entry is
+ * what makes a definition "about" a subject document. One predicate shared by
+ * applicability's type matching (`acceptsDocumentType`), the autonomous-start
+ * deploy invariant, and the root-read deploy check (a root-reading
+ * `start.filter` needs a subject entry to bind a candidate root) — so
+ * "counts as a subject" can't drift between them.
+ */
+export declare function isSubjectEntry(
+  entry: Pick<FieldEntry, "required" | "type">,
+): boolean;
+
 /**
  * The environment denial process shells (CLI, MCP server) feed
  * {@link createTelemetryIntake}: CI and `DO_NOT_TRACK` are trueish
@@ -5058,18 +5126,18 @@ export declare function latestDeployedDefinitions<
 
 /**
  * Advisory producer/consumer check for a deployed definition: every
- * `$effects['<name>'].<key>` read whose `<name>` is a declared effect that
- * declares its `outputs` but does not list `<key>`. Returns human-readable
- * warning strings (empty when clean) — deploy surfaces them, it never rejects.
- * (Runtime completion is where declared `outputs` are ENFORCED; this only warns
- * the author at deploy about a consumer read of a key no producer declares.)
+ * `$effects['<name>'].<key>` read whose `<name>` is not a declared effect,
+ * or is one whose declared `outputs` do not list `<key>`. Returns
+ * human-readable warning strings (empty when clean) — deploy surfaces them,
+ * it never rejects. (Runtime completion is where declared `outputs` are
+ * ENFORCED; this only warns the author at deploy about a consumer read no
+ * producer declares.)
  *
- * Advisory-strength by design: it flags reads against DECLARED effects only. A
- * name that is not a declared effect is left alone — it may be a `startInstance`
- * `effectsContext` seed key or a `subworkflows.context` handoff key, runtime
- * producers the static definition cannot see. An effect that declares no
- * `outputs` produces nothing (an empty allowlist), so a keyed read of it is
- * flagged like any undeclared key.
+ * `$effects` derives solely from completed effects' outputs — the start
+ * seed and spawn handoff live in `$context` — so every producer IS a
+ * declared effect and an unknown name is warnable, not tolerated. An
+ * effect that declares no `outputs` produces nothing (an empty allowlist),
+ * so a keyed read of it is flagged like any undeclared key.
  *
  * Reads are collected from the primary consumer sites: condition GROQ
  * ({@link conditionSitesOf}), effect binding GROQ, and guard reads (the
@@ -5171,8 +5239,8 @@ export declare type MissingHandlerPolicy =
  * read in {@link resolveInputValue}, but is stricter: a present-but-null/
  * undefined value counts as absent here (a required field needs a real
  * value), whereas {@link resolveInputValue} passes a null fill straight
- * through. Exported so pre-flight validators (e.g. a start gate) share the
- * engine's own rule instead of mirroring it.
+ * through. Exported so pre-flight validators (e.g. mapping validation) share
+ * the engine's own rule instead of mirroring it.
  */
 export declare function missingRequiredInputs(args: {
   entryDefs: readonly FieldEntry[];
@@ -5446,6 +5514,19 @@ export declare function parentRef(
   instance: Pick<WorkflowInstance, "ancestors">,
 ): GlobalDocumentReference | undefined;
 
+/**
+ * Parse one incoming definition at the deploy/diff boundary (`caller` prefixes
+ * the error). Accepts authored content or a fetched definition document — the
+ * document envelope is stripped (the inverse of the deploy serialisation, so a
+ * fetched document round-trips to `unchanged` instead of fingerprinting its
+ * envelope as content), then the remainder strict-parses against the stored
+ * schema: any unknown key anywhere in the tree fails loud.
+ */
+export declare function parseDefinitionInput(
+  def: Record<string, unknown>,
+  caller: string,
+): WorkflowDefinition;
+
 /**
  * The ONE way to read an instance's frozen {@link WorkflowInstance.definitionSnapshot}
  * back into a {@link WorkflowDefinition} — wraps the parse so a corrupt
@@ -5601,6 +5682,26 @@ export declare function processShellUserProperties<
   runtimeVersion: string;
 };
 
+/**
+ * Project a store-resolved doc onto its watch ref's identity, the way the
+ * lake's perspective reads do: the published-form id becomes `_id` (the form
+ * the session keys its overlay and snapshot by), and a draft/version
+ * representation's stored id rides along as `_originalId` — session-side
+ * conditions (including the `_originalId in path("versions.**")` shape) then
+ * read exactly what the engine's own hydration ({@link contentDocQuery})
+ * returns. Strict by construction: only the ids in
+ * {@link watchRefRepresentations} are accepted — an id that merely *ends* in
+ * the watched id (another doc's dotted id under a version prefix), a release
+ * the perspective doesn't read, or a draft the perspective makes invisible is
+ * a store routing bug, and projecting it would make content the engine's read
+ * can never see impersonate the watched doc silently, so it throws instead.
+ */
+export declare function projectToWatchRef(args: {
+  doc: SanityDocument;
+  ref: SubscriptionDocument;
+  perspective: WorkflowPerspective | undefined;
+}): SanityDocument;
+
 export declare interface QueryArgs {
   groq: string;
   params?: Record<string, unknown>;
@@ -5621,6 +5722,18 @@ export { quoted };
  */
 export declare function readsRaw(ref: { type: string }): boolean;
 
+/**
+ * Whether a GROQ expression reads its ROOT document — the candidate document
+ * a `start.filter` binds as root. A bare attribute access (`_type == 'task'`)
+ * or `@` in the OUTER scope reads the root; the same inside a construct that
+ * rebinds the implicit `this` per element (`*[...]` filters, projections,
+ * `map`/pipe traversals) addresses THOSE items, so it doesn't. `^` (Parent)
+ * climbs scopes — one that escapes past the outermost scope lands back on the
+ * root and counts, wherever it is nested. A malformed expression reads
+ * nothing here ({@link conditionSyntaxIssues} owns the parse error).
+ */
+export declare function readsRootDocument(groq: string): boolean;
+
 /** Make a GDR pointer to a Canvas-resource doc. */
 export declare function refCanvas<TType extends string = string>({
   resourceId,
@@ -5720,8 +5833,8 @@ export declare function remediationsFor(
 /**
  * A verb that would unstick a {@link StuckCause} — the *what to do about it*
  * half of a diagnosis. Surface-neutral identifiers; a consumer maps each to
- * its own command or button. `retry-effect`, `drain-effects` and `reset-activity`
- * are not yet callable engine operations — see {@link SuggestedRemediation.available}.
+ * its own command or button. `retry-effect` and `reset-activity` are not yet
+ * callable engine operations — see {@link SuggestedRemediation.available}.
  */
 export declare type RemediationVerb =
   | "retry-effect"
@@ -6057,6 +6170,78 @@ declare interface StageGuardArgs {
 
 export declare type StageName = string;
 
+/**
+ * The vars a definition's `start.filter` reads — the start-filter dialect,
+ * not the rendered condition scope (no {@link ConditionVarBinding}: these
+ * bind only while the filter is evaluated on the READ side — the
+ * `definitionsForDocument` derivation and the Studio start control).
+ * `startInstance` never evaluates the filter. An absent binding evaluates to
+ * GROQ null, so a read of it fails closed: a picker with no `initialFields`
+ * in hand hides a `$fields`-reading definition rather than guessing. Bound in
+ * one place: `startFilterParams` in the applicability evaluator.
+ */
+export declare const START_FILTER_VARS: readonly {
+  name: string;
+  description: string;
+}[];
+
+declare const START_KINDS: readonly ["interactive", "autonomous"];
+
+export declare type StartBlock = StartFields & {
+  kind: StartKind;
+};
+
+/**
+ * The start-time seed a caller supplies at `startInstance`, stored as
+ * {@link WorkflowInstance.context} entries and read back as
+ * `$context.<name>`. Written only at start — a completed effect's
+ * `outputs` live on the run row and read as `$effects`, a separate bag.
+ *
+ * Each value may be any JSON — a scalar, a {@link GlobalDocumentReference}, or
+ * an arbitrary object/array. Scalars and GDRs store as their typed
+ * `context` entries; anything else stores as one `context.json` entry.
+ */
+export declare type StartContext = Record<string, unknown>;
+
+/** Type-mirror of {@link startFields}: how standalone runs of this workflow
+ *  begin. Stored requires `kind` (desugar fills the `'interactive'` default);
+ *  authoring may omit it — so each variant declares it. */
+declare type StartFields = {
+  filter?: string | undefined;
+};
+
+/**
+ * The caller-side half of the start-filter context — everything the
+ * evaluating surface knows that the definition doesn't. Every member is
+ * optional because the surfaces genuinely differ (a picker holds no
+ * `initialFields`; a pure consumer may hold no clock): an absent binding
+ * evaluates to GROQ null, so a filter reading it FAILS CLOSED rather than
+ * guessing. The vars themselves are inventoried in `START_FILTER_VARS`.
+ */
+export declare interface StartFilterScope {
+  /** The engine's tag partition — binds `$tag`. */
+  tag?: string | undefined;
+  /** ISO clock reading — binds `$now`. */
+  now?: string | undefined;
+  /**
+   * The candidate initialFields by entry name — binds `$fields`. Document
+   * references bind as their GDR envelopes (`$fields.<entry>.id` is the GDR
+   * URI). A surface that holds the caller's inputs (the Studio start control)
+   * supplies them; a per-doc picker does not.
+   */
+  fields?: Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+  /**
+   * The WORKFLOW resource's dataset, for filters that read it (`*[...]` or a
+   * deref) — invoked lazily, only when `analyzeCondition` says the filter
+   * needs it. A slice is fine as long as it covers what filters scan;
+   * `definitionsForDocument` supplies EVERY instance of the tag, completed
+   * included — `*` carries no hidden predicate, so authors qualify in-flight
+   * themselves (`!defined(completedAt)`). Absent ⇒ a dataset-reading filter
+   * fails closed (this surface cannot see the dataset, so it cannot decide).
+   */
+  fetchDataset?: (() => Promise<unknown[]>) | undefined;
+}
+
 export declare interface StartInstanceArgs {
   /** The definition's `name` — which deployed workflow to instantiate. */
   definition: string;
@@ -6079,16 +6264,17 @@ export declare interface StartInstanceArgs {
   initialFields?: InitialFieldValue[];
   ancestors?: GlobalDocumentReference[];
   /**
-   * Stable named params for effect handlers, set at start time. The
-   * runtime resolves effect bindings against these to materialise
-   * handler params at queue time. **Not read by transition filters.**
+   * The instance's start seed — stable named values set once at start (or
+   * handed down by a parent's `spawn.context`) and never mutated after.
+   * Effect bindings and conditions read them as `$context.<name>`; the
+   * `$effects` bag is separate (completed effects' outputs only).
    *
    * Each value may be any JSON — a scalar, a {@link GlobalDocumentReference},
    * or an arbitrary object/array. Scalars and GDRs store as their typed
-   * `effectsContext` entries; anything else stores as one `effectsContext.json`
-   * entry, so all forms read back the same under `$effects.<name>`.
+   * `context` entries; anything else stores as one `context.json`
+   * entry, so all forms read back the same under `$context.<name>`.
    */
-  effectsContext?: EffectsContext;
+  context?: StartContext;
   /** Caller-supplied id; auto-generated otherwise. */
   instanceId?: string;
   /**
@@ -6118,6 +6304,41 @@ export declare interface StartInstanceArgs {
   perspective?: WorkflowPerspective;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Who initiates a standalone run of this workflow: a person picking it from a
+ * start surface (`'interactive'`, the default) or a system reacting to a
+ * document event (`'autonomous'`). PURE CLASSIFICATION — consumers use it to
+ * shape their surfaces (hide autonomous workflows from human pickers, list
+ * interactive ones for editors); `startInstance` is one verb and one code
+ * path for every kind, and an interactive start of an autonomous workflow is
+ * legal.
+ */
+export declare type StartKind = (typeof START_KINDS)[number];
+
+/**
+ * The declared {@link StartKind} of a definition, defaulting the absent
+ * `start` block to `'interactive'` — the one reading rule for every consumer,
+ * so definitions deployed before the block existed classify unchanged.
+ * Classification only: the engine never gates on it.
+ */
+export declare function startKindOf(definition: {
+  start?:
+    | {
+        kind?: StartKind | undefined;
+      }
+    | undefined;
+}): StartKind;
+
+/**
+ * Why a definition can't be started standalone, or `undefined` when it can.
+ * Advisory — the engine itself does not refuse ({@link isStartableDefinition})
+ * — but a start surface has no way to supply the parent context a spawn-only
+ * child expects, so it fails fast with this message instead.
+ */
+export declare function startRefusal(definition: {
+  lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
+}): string | undefined;
+
 /**
  * Declared editability of a field — the generic edit seam's gate. Default
  * (absent) is NOT editable: a field is op-only engine working memory unless the
@@ -6468,7 +6689,7 @@ declare const StoredOpSchema: v.VariantSchema<
           ]
         >;
         readonly status: v.PicklistSchema<
-          readonly ["pending", "active", "done", "skipped", "failed"],
+          readonly ["active", "done", "skipped", "failed"],
           `Invalid option: expected one of ${string}`
         >;
       },
@@ -6507,7 +6728,7 @@ export declare type StuckCause =
       kind: "no-transition-fires";
     }
   /**
-   * Every activity resolved, but an exit transition's filter is *unevaluable*
+   * Every activity resolved, but an exit transition's `when` is *unevaluable*
    * (GROQ `null` — a referenced operand is missing/unreadable), so selection
    * halts. Unlike {@link StuckCause} `no-transition-fires` this is recoverable:
    * the cascade re-fires once the operand resolves (e.g. the subject is
@@ -6582,6 +6803,12 @@ export declare interface SubworkflowEntry {
   _key: string;
   /** The spawning activity's name. */
   activity: ActivityName;
+  /**
+   * The spawning ACTION's name — rows key per (activity entry, spawning
+   * action), so two spawn actions on one activity can never cross-adopt
+   * each other's children.
+   */
+  action: string;
   /** The child definition's `name` — adoption never crosses definitions. */
   definition: string;
   /**
@@ -6705,8 +6932,8 @@ declare const SubworkflowsSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
     >;
     /**
      * Extra values evaluated in the parent's rendered scope at spawn time and
-     * delivered into each subworkflow's `$effects` bag — the parent→child
-     * handoff, read exactly like an effect output.
+     * delivered into each subworkflow's `$context` bag — the parent→child
+     * handoff.
      */
     readonly context: v.OptionalSchema<
       v.RecordSchema<
@@ -6728,13 +6955,13 @@ declare const SubworkflowsSchema: v.StrictObjectSchema<
     >;
     /**
      * What happens to still-live children when their cohort's scope stops
-     * applying — the spawning stage exits, or a re-entry's `forEach` no longer
+     * applying — the spawning stage exits, or a re-fire's `forEach` no longer
      * discovers their row. `'detach'` (the default) lets them run to
      * completion outside the gate; `'abort'` kills them (recursively). The
      * engine never destroys in-flight work implicitly — `'abort'` is always
      * an authored choice. Note this governs only the CHILDREN's fate; whether
-     * the parent may move at all is what gates (`completeWhen`, transition
-     * filters over `$subworkflows`) decide.
+     * the parent may move at all is what gates (conditions over
+     * `$subworkflows`) decide.
      */
     readonly onExit: v.OptionalSchema<
       v.PicklistSchema<
@@ -6910,46 +7137,42 @@ export declare interface TodoListItem {
   dueDate?: string | null;
 }
 
-export declare type Transition = TransitionFields<TransitionOp> & {
-  filter: string;
+export declare type Transition = TransitionFields & {
+  when: string;
 };
 
 export declare interface TransitionEvaluation {
   transition: Transition;
   /**
-   * Whether the transition's filter is definitively satisfied at read time.
-   * Projected caller-free, exactly as the engine's cascade evaluates it — the
-   * evaluation's actor and grants never participate.
+   * Whether the transition's `when` trigger is definitively satisfied at read
+   * time. Projected caller-free, exactly as the engine's cascade evaluates
+   * it — the evaluation's actor and grants never participate.
    */
-  filterSatisfied: boolean;
+  whenSatisfied: boolean;
   /**
-   * The filter evaluated to GROQ `null` — a referenced operand was missing or
-   * incomparable, so it couldn't be decided. `filterSatisfied` is `false`, but
+   * The trigger evaluated to GROQ `null` — a referenced operand was missing or
+   * incomparable, so it couldn't be decided. `whenSatisfied` is `false`, but
    * this is a *recoverable hold*, not a deliberate `false`: the engine halts
    * selection (it won't fall through to a later transition) and the cascade
    * re-fires once the operand resolves. Lets a diagnosis tell an undecidable
    * hold apart from a genuine routing dead-end.
    */
   unevaluable: boolean;
-  /** Derived state of the transition's filter — the atoms standing between
-   *  here and the next stage. `filterSatisfied`/`unevaluable` are projections
+  /** Derived state of the transition's `when` trigger — the atoms standing between
+   *  here and the next stage. `whenSatisfied`/`unevaluable` are projections
    *  of `insight.outcome`; one evaluation feeds all three. */
   insight: ConditionInsight;
 }
 
-/** Type-mirror of {@link transitionFields} minus `filter` — stored requires it,
+/** Type-mirror of {@link transitionFields} minus `when` — stored requires it,
  *  authoring omits it (desugar fills the default), so each variant declares it. */
-declare type TransitionFields<TOp> = {
+declare type TransitionFields = {
   name: string;
   title?: string | undefined;
   description?: string | undefined;
   to: string;
-  ops?: TOp[] | undefined;
-  effects?: Effect[] | undefined;
 };
 
-export declare type TransitionOp = FieldOp;
-
 /**
  * Parse a GDR URI, returning `undefined` instead of throwing when the string
  * is not a GDR (or is malformed). The "is this a GDR, and if so its parts"
@@ -6973,8 +7196,8 @@ export declare function unsatisfiedTransitionSummaries(
 
 /**
  * Validate a (stored, desugared) definition before deploy: parse-check every
- * GROQ string (malformed predicates, conditions, bindings, `completeWhen`/
- * `failWhen`) and re-run the cross-field invariants. `defineWorkflow` already
+ * GROQ string (malformed predicates, conditions, bindings, triggers) and
+ * re-run the cross-field invariants. `defineWorkflow` already
  * ran the invariants at authoring time, but deploy must reject what authoring
  * rejects — a stored-shape definition handed straight to the verb (raw JSON,
  * a foreign tool) would otherwise bypass every invariant.
@@ -7096,16 +7319,18 @@ export declare interface WatchSet {
   /**
    * The instance's effective read perspective (a release stack like
    * `[releaseName]` or `[releaseName, "drafts"]`), already resolved at
-   * `startInstance`. `undefined` means raw/published.
+   * `startInstance`. `undefined` means content reads use the
+   * drafts-preferring {@link DEFAULT_CONTENT_PERSPECTIVE}.
    *
    * The engine does not form `versions.<release>.<id>` ids — it has no
    * such concept (it reads content through `client.fetch({perspective})`
    * for queries). A reactive consumer applies this perspective when it
-   * subscribes: a **content** doc must be resolved to its version /
-   * draft / published form (e.g. Studio `editState`'s version param, or
-   * the SDK's `getVersionId`), while instance / ancestor / `system.release`
-   * docs are always raw. The `type` on each {@link SubscriptionDocument}
-   * tells the consumer which is which.
+   * subscribes: a **content** doc resolves under the release
+   * {@link contentReleaseName} names (e.g. Studio `editState`'s version
+   * param, or the SDK's `getVersionId`), falling back to the draft only
+   * when {@link contentDraftFallback} allows it, then published — while
+   * instance / ancestor / `system.release` docs are always raw. The `type`
+   * on each {@link SubscriptionDocument} tells the consumer which is which.
    */
   perspective?: WorkflowPerspective;
 }
@@ -7131,7 +7356,7 @@ export declare const workflow: {
    * never patches a deployed version, so a definition can't change out from
    * under the instances pinned to it. `startInstance` picks the highest
    * version by default. The engine figures out the dependency order itself
-   * (children before parents that spawn them via `subworkflows.definition`)
+   * (children before parents that spawn them via `action.spawn.definition`)
    * and reports a per-definition outcome (`created` / `unchanged`).
    *
    * Refs may point inside the batch OR at already-deployed definitions
@@ -7161,20 +7386,26 @@ export declare const workflow: {
   /**
    * Spawn a new workflow instance from a deployed definition.
    *
-   * Pins the snapshot at start-time, seeds `effectsContext`, enters
-   * the initial stage (which builds activityStatus, queues onEnter
-   * effects, auto-activates activities). Then cascades auto-transitions
-   * until stable. Starting always changes state (`changed: true`) —
-   * `cascaded` reports how far the new instance auto-advanced.
+   * Throws only on its own input contract — a missing `required` input
+   * ({@link RequiredFieldNotProvidedError}) or a value that doesn't fit its
+   * declared kind. It does NOT evaluate the definition's `start.filter`: that
+   * is a read-side visibility rule (see `definitionsForDocument`), so a
+   * caller who supplies everything needed starts, full stop.
+   *
+   * Pins the snapshot at start-time, seeds the `context` bag, and enters
+   * the initial stage — fields resolve and every in-scope activity is
+   * born active. Then cascades until stable, so the initial stage's
+   * `when: 'true'` triggers have fired by the time this returns. Starting
+   * always changes state (`changed: true`) — `cascaded` reports how far
+   * the new instance auto-advanced.
    */
   startInstance: (
     rawArgs: Clocked<Telemetered<StartInstanceArgs & EngineScopeArgs>>,
   ) => Promise<OperationResult>;
   /**
-   * Fire an action against an activity. If the activity is pending, it is
-   * auto-invoked first (pending → active) so callers don't have to know
-   * the lifecycle. Cascades auto-transitions and propagates to ancestors
-   * after the action commits.
+   * Fire an action against an active activity. Cascades and propagates to
+   * ancestors after the action commits. A cascade-fired (`when`) action is
+   * rejected — the cascade is its only firing path.
    *
    * This is the universal "something happened" call. Editors fire it.
    * Runtimes fire it in response to webhooks, effect completions, and
@@ -7202,11 +7433,11 @@ export declare const workflow: {
     rawArgs: Clocked<Telemetered<EditFieldArgs & EngineScopeArgs>>,
   ) => Promise<OperationResult>;
   /**
-   * Report a queued effect's outcome. Drains it from `pendingEffects`,
-   * appends an `effectHistory` entry, and (if `outputs` are supplied
-   * and the effect succeeded) upserts those values into
-   * `effectsContext` by key — so downstream effect bindings can
-   * reference them. Any `ops` the handler returned (`field.*`) are
+   * Report a queued effect's outcome. Drains it from `pendingEffects` and
+   * appends an `effectHistory` entry whose `outputs` (when supplied on a
+   * successful run) are what downstream effect bindings and conditions
+   * read as `$effects['<name>'].<output>` — the start-only `context` bag
+   * is never touched. Any `ops` the handler returned (`field.*`) are
    * validated and applied to the instance in the same commit, through the
    * same op applier an action's field ops use. Cascades after. A completion
    * that applies always changes state (the effect drains + history is
@@ -7222,17 +7453,16 @@ export declare const workflow: {
     rawArgs: Clocked<Telemetered<CompleteEffectArgs & EngineScopeArgs>>,
   ) => Promise<OperationResult>;
   /**
-   * Re-evaluate auto-transitions and resolve due waits until stable.
+   * Run the cascade until stable — triggered actions fire, transitions move.
    *
    * Used by the runtime after any event that might affect the workflow
-   * but isn't itself an activity action: a subject doc was patched, a sibling
-   * workflow completed, the clock crossed a `completeWhen` deadline, etc.
+   * but isn't itself an action fire: a subject doc was patched, a sibling
+   * workflow completed, the clock crossed a deadline a `when` reads, etc.
    * The runtime doesn't need to know what changed — it just nudges
    * affected instances and the engine re-evaluates. `changed` reports
    * whether the nudge wrote anything: a fired transition, but also a
-   * persisted activity-gate flip (`completeWhen`/`failWhen`) that didn't
-   * unlock a transition yet — so it's derived from the instance's `_rev`,
-   * not from `cascaded` alone.
+   * hop that fired triggered actions without unlocking a transition yet —
+   * so it's derived from the instance's `_rev`, not from `cascaded` alone.
    */
   tick: (
     rawArgs: Clocked<Telemetered<OperationArgs & EngineScopeArgs>>,
@@ -7398,9 +7628,13 @@ export declare const workflow: {
    * The startable half of {@link workflow.instancesForDocument}: every
    * deployed definition that APPLIES to `document` — what a start picker for
    * it should offer. Loads the latest deployed version of each definition
-   * visible to the engine's tag and filters it through the pure derivation
+   * visible to the engine's tag and filters it through the derivation
    * ({@link applicableDefinitions}): startable ∧ a required subject entry
-   * accepts the doc's `_type` ∧ `applicableWhen` passes.
+   * accepts the doc's `_type` ∧ `start.filter` passes — evaluated in the
+   * start-filter context with `$tag`/`$definition`/`$now` bound and the
+   * tag's instance slice (completed included) backing dataset reads. A picker holds no
+   * `initialFields`, so `$fields` stays unbound here and a filter reading it
+   * fails closed (the definition is not surfaced).
    *
    * Takes the LOADED candidate document, not a ref — applicability evaluates
    * its content, under whatever perspective the caller read it with. Surfaces
@@ -7408,7 +7642,7 @@ export declare const workflow: {
    * auto-picking is consumer policy. Advisory like every engine-side check.
    */
   definitionsForDocument: (
-    rawArgs: DefinitionsForDocumentArgs & EngineScopeArgs,
+    rawArgs: Clocked<DefinitionsForDocumentArgs & EngineScopeArgs>,
   ) => Promise<DeployedDefinition[]>;
   /**
    * Permission helpers — Sanity ACL grants evaluated against documents
@@ -7858,7 +8092,7 @@ declare const WorkflowConfigSchema: v.ObjectSchema<
                         description?: string | undefined;
                         groups?: Group[] | undefined;
                         lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
-                        applicableWhen?: string | undefined;
+                        start?: StartBlock | undefined;
                         initialStage: string;
                         fields?: FieldEntry[] | undefined;
                         stages: Stage[];
@@ -7876,7 +8110,7 @@ declare const WorkflowConfigSchema: v.ObjectSchema<
                       description?: string | undefined;
                       groups?: Group[] | undefined;
                       lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
-                      applicableWhen?: string | undefined;
+                      start?: StartBlock | undefined;
                       initialStage: string;
                       fields?: FieldEntry[] | undefined;
                       stages: Stage[];
@@ -7942,7 +8176,7 @@ declare const WorkflowConfigSchema: v.ObjectSchema<
               description?: string | undefined;
               groups?: Group[] | undefined;
               lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
-              applicableWhen?: string | undefined;
+              start?: StartBlock | undefined;
               initialStage: string;
               fields?: FieldEntry[] | undefined;
               stages: Stage[];
@@ -8002,7 +8236,7 @@ declare const WorkflowConfigSchema: v.ObjectSchema<
               description?: string | undefined;
               groups?: Group[] | undefined;
               lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
-              applicableWhen?: string | undefined;
+              start?: StartBlock | undefined;
               initialStage: string;
               fields?: FieldEntry[] | undefined;
               stages: Stage[];
@@ -8073,9 +8307,9 @@ export declare interface WorkflowDefinitionDeployedData {
    *  scopes, sorted. */
   fieldKinds: FieldKind[];
   guardCount: number;
-  /** Effects declared across activities, actions, and transitions. */
+  /** Effects declared across the definition's actions. */
   effectCount: number;
-  /** Activities carrying a `subworkflows` block. */
+  /** Actions carrying a `spawn` block. */
   subworkflowCount: number;
   lifecycle: WorkflowLifecycle;
 }
@@ -8114,7 +8348,7 @@ export declare type WorkflowDefinitionInput<T> = string extends keyof T
  * mints the next version.
  */
 declare const WorkflowDefinitionSchema: v.GenericSchema<
-  WorkflowFields<FieldEntry, Stage>
+  WorkflowFields<FieldEntry, Stage, StartBlock>
 >;
 
 export declare type WorkflowDeployment = WorkflowConfig["deployments"][number];
@@ -8175,6 +8409,7 @@ export declare type WorkflowErrorKind =
   | "partial-guard-deploy"
   | "concurrent-fire-action"
   | "concurrent-edit-field"
+  | "concurrent-complete-effect"
   | "cascade-limit"
   | "field-value-shape"
   | "model-version-ahead"
@@ -8235,14 +8470,14 @@ export declare interface WorkflowFieldEditedData extends InstanceScopedEventData
   mode: EditMode;
 }
 
-/** Type-mirror of {@link workflowFields}, parameterised over field/stage. */
-declare type WorkflowFields<TField, TStage> = {
+/** Type-mirror of {@link workflowFields}, parameterised over field/stage/start. */
+declare type WorkflowFields<TField, TStage, TStart> = {
   name: string;
   title: string;
   description?: string | undefined;
   groups?: Group[] | undefined;
   lifecycle?: WorkflowLifecycle | undefined;
-  applicableWhen?: string | undefined;
+  start?: TStart | undefined;
   initialStage: string;
   fields?: TField[] | undefined;
   stages: TStage[];
@@ -8307,10 +8542,11 @@ export declare interface WorkflowInstance extends SanityDocument {
    */
   fields: ResolvedFieldEntry[];
   /**
-   * Stable named params the runtime hands to effect handlers via binding
-   * resolution. Set at `startInstance`. **Not read by transition filters.**
+   * The start seed: named values set once at `startInstance` (or by a
+   * parent's `spawn.context`) and never mutated after. Conditions and
+   * effect bindings read them as `$context.<name>`.
    */
-  effectsContext: EffectsContextEntry[];
+  context: ContextEntry[];
   /**
    * Chain of ancestor workflow instances, root-first. Each entry is a
    * GDR pointing at a {@link WORKFLOW_INSTANCE_TYPE} document in the