Workflow Timeouts - Go SDK

Workflow timeouts

Each Workflow timeout controls the maximum duration of a different aspect of a Workflow Execution.

Workflow timeouts are set when starting the Workflow Execution.

Before we continue, we want to note that we generally do not recommend setting Workflow Timeouts, because Workflows are designed to be long-running and resilient. Instead, setting a Timeout can limit its ability to handle unexpected delays or long-running processes. If you need to perform an action inside your Workflow after a specific period of time, we recommend using a Timer.

• Workflow Execution Timeout - restricts the maximum amount of time that a single Workflow Execution can be executed.
• Workflow Run Timeout: restricts the maximum amount of time that a single Workflow Run can last.
• Workflow Task Timeout: restricts the maximum amount of time that a Worker can execute a Workflow Task.

Create an instance of StartWorkflowOptions from the go.temporal.io/sdk/client package, set a timeout, and pass the instance to the ExecuteWorkflow call.

Available timeouts are:

• WorkflowExecutionTimeout
• WorkflowRunTimeout
• WorkflowTaskTimeout

workflowOptions := client.StartWorkflowOptions{
  // ...
  // Set Workflow Timeout duration
  WorkflowExecutionTimeout: 24 * 365 * 10 * time.Hour,
  // WorkflowRunTimeout: 24 * 365 * 10 * time.Hour,
  // WorkflowTaskTimeout: 10 * time.Second,
  // ...
}
workflowRun, err := c.ExecuteWorkflow(context.Background(), workflowOptions, YourWorkflowDefinition)
if err != nil {
  // ...
}

Workflow Retry Policy

A Retry Policy can work in cooperation with the timeouts to provide fine controls to optimize the execution experience.

Use a Retry Policy to retry a Workflow Execution in the event of a failure.

Workflow Executions do not retry by default, and Retry Policies should be used with Workflow Executions only in certain situations.

Create an instance of a RetryPolicy from the go.temporal.io/sdk/temporal package and provide it as the value to the RetryPolicy field of the instance of StartWorkflowOptions.

• Type: RetryPolicy
• Default: None

retrypolicy := &temporal.RetryPolicy{
  InitialInterval:    time.Second,
  BackoffCoefficient: 2.0,
  MaximumInterval:    time.Second * 100,
}
workflowOptions := client.StartWorkflowOptions{
  RetryPolicy: retrypolicy,
  // ...
}
workflowRun, err := temporalClient.ExecuteWorkflow(context.Background(), workflowOptions, YourWorkflowDefinition)
if err != nil {
  // ...
}