uipath-maestro-bpmn

UiPath Maestro BPMN

Work with UiPath Maestro (Process Orchestration) .bpmn projects across their lifecycle: author, validate, package, operate, and diagnose. Authoring is registry-driven: every uipath:* extension payload comes from a template the registry serves; the structural BPMN that holds those nodes together (process scaffold, sequence flows, gateways, events, boundary events, containers, multi-instance markers, and the diagram) is authored from the documented spec + canvas contract. Packaging, operating (upload, publish, run, manage), and diagnosing are driven through the UiPath CLI, covered in the capability references below.

When to use

• Create a Maestro .bpmn from a description.
• Edit .bpmn structure: gateways, events, boundary events, subprocesses, call activities, multi-instance loops, sequence-flow conditions, variables.
• Add a UiPath extension node (RPA job, agent, HITL, queue, business rule, API workflow, Integration Service connector, internal message, timer).
• Validate a .bpmn against the canvas rules before import.
• Package, upload, publish, or run a project, and manage its jobs and instances.
• Diagnose a failed or misbehaving run.

Editing an existing .bpmn (preserve what you did not author)

The skill can edit an existing file. Make surgical edits and preserve content you did not author: unknown uipath:* elements, uipath:migrationVersion, tags, imported Integration Service payloads, and stable element IDs. Do not regenerate the whole file or drop extension data the skill does not recognize — preserve-only structures (see the blocklist in references/structural-bpmn.md) round-trip untouched.

For .flow JSON use uipath-maestro-flow; for XAML/coded workflows use uipath-rpa; for Python agents use uipath-agents; for Case plans use uipath-maestro-case.

The model

Two halves make a valid Maestro .bpmn:

1. uipath:* payloads — registry-owned. Each node's extension XML (uipath:activity / uipath:event / uipath:mapping, its context, input, output, and bindingInfo) comes from uip maestro bpmn registry get <type>'s xmlTemplate. Never hand-author a uipath:* element from prose.
2. Structural BPMN — spec/canvas-owned. The registry emits no <bpmn:definitions>/<bpmn:process>, no sequence flows, no gateway conditions/defaults, no event-definition payloads, no boundary-event attributes, no subprocess/loop structure, and no diagram. Author all of these from references/structural-bpmn.md, which is grounded in the registry spec and the Studio Web canvas serializer.

Workflow

Work the four steps quickly and author early — do not pre-read every reference before writing. Read a reference only when you reach the structure it covers.

1. Discover. uip maestro bpmn registry pull once (cached for the session — do not re-pull), then list / search to map intent to extension types; uip is connections list --all-folders for live connections (always --all-folders — a folder-scoped list silently misses connections). Confirm every selection with the user (use AskUserQuestion). Never fabricate an identifier. See references/registry-workflow.md.

2. Get templates. uip maestro bpmn registry get <type> --output json for each chosen node. Enrich Intsvc.* connector nodes with --connection-id/--object-name.

3. Assemble. Author directly from the complete minimal file in references/structural-bpmn.md plus each node's xmlTemplate (fill placeholders only). That skeleton already shows variables, the entry point, a branch, and the diagram. Do not read the validator's test/fixtures/ to infer the pattern — it is the top reason authoring runs out of time. Add only the structural pieces your process needs (extra gateways, events, boundary events, containers, multi-instance markers), then generate one BPMNShape/BPMNEdge per node and flow.

4. Validate. There is no uip maestro bpmn validate CLI command. Run the bundled validator — it reconstructs the canvas model and runs every PO.Frontend rule:

   cd skills/uipath-maestro-bpmn/validator && npm install --silent
   node validate-bpmn.mjs <file.bpmn>   # prints VALID (exit 0) or the errors (exit 1)
   

   A well-formed-XML parse is the secondary fallback if Node is unavailable. See references/structural-bpmn.md#validation. Validate once; fix only ERROR-severity findings (warnings do not block import). Do not re-validate in a loop chasing warnings.

Operate and diagnose

Beyond authoring, this skill packages, ships, runs, and diagnoses Maestro projects through the UiPath CLI.

• Package and operate (package a project, upload to Studio Web, publish or deploy, run or debug instances, and manage jobs, instances, incidents, and lifecycle actions): see references/operate/CAPABILITY.md.
• Diagnose (fetch incidents, variables, and element executions, and trace a failed run back to its BPMN element): see references/diagnose/CAPABILITY.md.

Any cloud-side change (upload, publish, deploy, run, pause, resume, cancel, retry, migrate) requires explicit user consent, and local validation should pass first.

Structural coverage

This skill teaches authoring of the full surface the canvas supports. What the registry serves a template for vs. what you author by hand:

Structure	Source
Node uipath:* payloads (RPA, agent, HITL, queue, business rule, API workflow, IS connector, internal message, timer, script, variables)	Registry xmlTemplate
<bpmn:definitions>/<bpmn:process> scaffold + namespaces	Authored (registry gap)
Sequence flows, conditionExpression, gateway default	Authored (registry gap)
Gateways: exclusive, parallel, inclusive, event-based (complex is preserve-only)	Authored (registry gap)
Events + event-definition matrix: message, timer, error, terminate (end-only). Signal/escalation/conditional/link/compensate/cancel/multiple are preserve-only	Authored (registry gap); payload per canvas serializer
Boundary events: attachedToRef, interrupting/non-interrupting (cancelActivity)	Authored (registry gap)
Subprocess, event subprocess (triggeredByEvent), call activity	Authored (registry gap); call-activity payloads from registry
Multi-instance / loop characteristics	Authored from canvas contract — registry exposes no template (registry gap)
bpmndi:BPMNDiagram (shape per node, edge per flow)	Always generated — registry emits none (registry gap)

Flagged registry gaps: the registry serves no template for structural BPMN, sequence-flow conditions, event-definition payloads, boundary-event attributes, multi-instance markers, or the diagram. These are authored from the spec + canvas contract in references/structural-bpmn.md and honestly surfaced to the user as gaps when asked.

Rules

1. Registry owns every uipath:* payload. Author from registry get templates; never hand-write uipath: XML from prose.
2. Never fabricate an identifier. Connection IDs, process/queue/connector keys, app IDs, folder ids/paths come from discovery or the user.
3. Structural BPMN is authored, not invented. Follow the spec/canvas contract in references/structural-bpmn.md; flag honestly what the registry does not expose.
4. Confirm before authoring. Confirm the chosen connector/connection/process and the process structure with the user (AskUserQuestion).
5. The diagram is mandatory. Import is diagram-driven — every node needs a BPMNShape, every flow a BPMNEdge, or it will not appear on the canvas.
6. Node type is a child element, never an attribute. Every uipath:activity / uipath:event / uipath:mapping declares its type as <uipath:type value="<Type>" version="v1" /> inside the wrapper. Never write <uipath:activity type="…"> — the canvas will not recognize the node.
7. No -- in XML comments. XML forbids -- (double-hyphen) inside <!-- … -->, so never paste CLI commands or flags (--output, --connection-id, --object-name) into a comment — it makes the file unparseable. Keep comments minimal.
8. Use --output json for parsed CLI calls.
9. Public-safe always. No customer XML, tenant URLs, real IDs, or private names — see references/public-safety.md.
10. Confirm before any cloud change. Upload, publish, deploy, run, pause, resume, cancel, retry, and migrate require explicit user consent; validate locally first.

References

Topic	Read
Discover → template → bind → assemble loop	references/registry-workflow.md
Structural BPMN, event matrix, boundary events, containers, multi-instance, diagram, validation	references/structural-bpmn.md
Runtime expressions, vars./bindings./iterator., =js: (Jint) syntax	references/expression-authoring.md
CLI conventions and the side-effect boundary	references/cli-conventions.md
Keeping content public-safe	references/public-safety.md
Bundled offline validator (every PO.Frontend rule)	validator/README.md
Package, upload, publish, run, or manage instances	references/operate/CAPABILITY.md
Diagnose a failed or misbehaving run	references/diagnose/CAPABILITY.md
Project layout and generated package files	references/shared/project-layout.md