NoETL DSL Reference

The NoETL Domain-Specific Language (DSL) defines how workflows are structured and executed. This section covers the complete syntax, patterns, and features of the DSL.

Core Specification

• DSL Specification - Complete reference for playbook syntax, step structure, and workflow patterns

Variables & Data Flow

• Variables Design - Architecture for workflow variables and data passing
• Vars Block Reference - Quick reference for extracting values from step results
• Vars Block Implementation - Detailed implementation guide

Control Flow

• Unified Retry - Retry patterns for error recovery and success-driven repetition
• HTTP Pagination Reference - Quick reference for pagination patterns

DSL Overview

Playbook Structure

apiVersion: noetl.io/v2
kind: Playbook
metadata:
  name: example_workflow
  path: workflows/example
workload:
  variable: value
workbook:
  - name: reusable_task
    tool:
      kind: python
      libs: {}
      args:
        input_var: "{{ workload.variable }}"
      code: |
        # Pure Python code - no imports, no def main()
        result = {"status": "success", "data": {"value": input_var}}
workflow:
  - step: start
    next:
      - step: process
  - step: process
    tool:
      kind: workbook
      name: reusable_task
    next:
      - step: end
  - step: end

Key Concepts

Concept	Description
Playbook	Top-level workflow definition with metadata, workload, workbook, and workflow
Workload	Global variables merged with payload, available via Jinja2 templates
Workbook	Library of named reusable tasks
Workflow	Ordered list of steps defining execution flow
Step	Execution unit with tool, args, vars, and routing
Tool	Action executor (python, http, postgres, duckdb, etc.)

Template Namespaces

Access data in templates using these namespaces:

# Global variables from workload
"{{ workload.api_url }}"

# Extracted variables from vars blocks
"{{ vars.user_id }}"

# Previous step results
"{{ fetch_data.records }}"

# Current step result (in vars block)
"{{ result.status }}"

# Execution context
"{{ execution_id }}"

Step Routing

# Unconditional routing
next:
  - step: next_step

# Conditional routing
next:
  - when: "{{ result.status == 'success' }}"
    then:
      - step: success_handler
  - when: "{{ result.status == 'error' }}"
    then:
      - step: error_handler
  - step: default_handler  # Fallback

See Also

• Playbook Structure - Getting started with playbooks
• Iterator Feature - Looping over collections
• Pagination - HTTP pagination patterns
• Tools Reference - Available action tools