Concepts

Wave is a multi-agent pipeline orchestrator. Understanding these core concepts will help you design effective AI workflows.

🔀

Pipelines

Multi-step AI workflows with dependencies and artifact passing

🎭

Personas

Specialized AI agents with scoped permissions and system prompts

📜

Contracts

Output validation rules ensuring AI outputs meet requirements

📦

Artifacts

Files passed between pipeline steps for data sharing

📁

Workspaces

Git-native worktrees that give every pipeline a real checkout on a dedicated branch

⚡

Execution

How pipelines run, with fresh memory at step boundaries

How They Fit Together

kind: WavePipeline
metadata:
  name: example
steps:
  - id: analyze              # Pipeline step
    persona: navigator       # Uses navigator persona
    exec:
      type: prompt
      source: "Analyze the codebase"
    output_artifacts:        # Produces artifacts
      - name: analysis
        path: .wave/output/analysis.json
    handover:
      contract:              # Validates output
        type: json_schema
        schema_path: .wave/contracts/analysis.schema.json

Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Wave Manifest                        │
│                      (wave.yaml)                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                           │
        ┌──────────────────┼──────────────────┐
        ▼                  ▼                  ▼
┌───────────────┐  ┌───────────────┐  ┌───────────────┐
│   Personas    │  │   Pipelines   │  │   Contracts   │
│  (AI agents)  │  │  (workflows)  │  │ (validation)  │
└───────────────┘  └───────────────┘  └───────────────┘
        │                  │                  │
        └──────────────────┼──────────────────┘
                           ▼
                ┌───────────────────┐
                │    Execution      │
                │   (orchestrator)  │
                └───────────────────┘
                           │
        ┌──────────────────┼──────────────────┐
        ▼                  ▼                  ▼
┌───────────────┐  ┌───────────────┐  ┌───────────────┐
│   Workspace   │  │   Artifacts   │  │  Audit Logs   │
│  (isolated)   │  │   (output)    │  │  (tracking)   │
└───────────────┘  └───────────────┘  └───────────────┘

Next Steps

• Pipelines - Start with the core execution model
• Quick Start - Run your first pipeline in 60 seconds
• Use Cases - See complete working examples