7. Shared Workflows

Walk through the visual explanation →

Mechanics and subject ownership

A Workflow provides common review and transition mechanics. The subject domain still owns the business record and its policy. A resource version, financial submission and reviewed call-sheet draft can share infrastructure without becoming the same product object.

Subject adapters connect source ownership to the common engine. They are an explicit seam, not permission to invent authorization for an unsupported subject. Coverage must be described per adapter and integration.

Freeze the submitted process

A Workflow Definition describes the stages and reviewer audiences. Submission captures the applicable configuration. Editing a template later should affect future submissions rather than silently rewriting the process an earlier submission entered.

Review concerns exact submitted content. A changed resource version starts a new review. Decisions remain attached to the version and process in which they were made, and audit history explains accepted transitions.

ANY and ALL

ANY conceptually requires one eligible approval in the configured stage. ALL requires every required eligible reviewer to approve. A partially approved ALL stage remains under review. Eligibility and authority still apply; a job title alone cannot authorize a decision.

A storyboard might pass through director and cinematography review. VFX might involve a comp lead, supervisor and client. A call sheet might involve coordination and production leadership. These are illustrative process configurations, not assertions that a title automatically grants access.

What reuse buys

A shared transition layer reduces duplicated retry, revision and audit behavior. It also creates an obligation to preserve domain-specific validation and transaction boundaries. Reuse is incomplete if every adapter reimplements the engine, and it is dangerous if the engine takes over every subject’s authority.

Financial, creative and operational integrations have separate acceptance scopes. The public evidence page summarizes the documented implementation without exposing private receipts. A common engine does not establish that every future artifact or workflow template is implemented or released.