Concepts

Runs

A run is a single execution of a workflow, tracked from start to finish with full state and audit history.

A run is a single execution of a workflow. Every time a workflow is triggered — manually, via the API, the UI, or by an event — the platform creates a new run and tracks its progress from start to finish.

Runs are the operational unit of a workflow: they carry the run-time inputs, the outputs of each phase, the execution logs, and the final status.

Run states

A run moves through a defined set of states during its lifetime:

State	Meaning
`SCHEDULED`	The run will begin at a particular time in the future.
`PENDING`	Created, waiting for resources or a scheduled trigger
`RUNNING`	Actively executing
`PAUSED`	Paused by user or system. Can be resumed.
`AWAITING_INPUT`	Waiting for human/machine input (see Human in the Loop)
`COMPLETED`	All phases finished successfully
`FAILED`	A phase or step raised an unrecoverable error
`CANCELLED`	Manually cancelled before completion
`CRASHED`	The run crashed due to an infrastructure error

What a run tracks

Inputs: the parameter values provided when the run was started
Phase results: the output or status of each phase, in order
Logs: a structured execution log from every step (see Logs)
Artifacts: any data produced by phases (see Artifacts)
Workflow version: the exact version of the workflow code that was executed

Starting a run

You can start a run from the platform UI or the REST API. The workflow ID is visible in the platform UI on the workflow's detail page.

Terminal

curl -X POST https://api.unitelabs.io/v1/workflows/{workflow_id}/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"inputs": {"sample_id": "S001"}}'

Phase-level execution

Operators can run a workflow starting from a specific phase, or run a range of phases. This is useful for:

Resuming after a manual intervention
Debugging a specific stage in isolation
Replaying a phase with different inputs

Campaigns

A campaign is a collection of runs of the same workflow type — for example, running the same ELISA protocol across 50 samples. The platform groups these runs so you can track aggregate results, identify outliers, and compare outcomes across runs.

Workflow: the process being executed
Logs: execution output for each run
Artifacts: data produced by a run
Human in the Loop: pausing a run for manual input

Step

The smallest scientifically atomic unit of intent — a single device action that either happened or did not.

Input