Architecture: System Philosophy#

📝 What FlexiRule Is#

FlexiRule is a declarative automation orchestration platform built for the Frappe ecosystem. It bridges the gap between hardcoded Python hooks and complex business requirements by providing a graph-based execution runtime.

The Foundational Shift#

• Traditional Frappe: Logic is buried in .py files, scattered across hooks. Changing it requires code deployment.
• FlexiRule: Logic is a data structure (Rule DocType) that is interpreted at runtime. Changing it is a metadata update.

🏛️ Orchestration Philosophy#

FlexiRule views business logic as a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) of actions. This “graph-thinking” allows for:

1. Visual Clarity: The flow of logic is explicit, not implicit.
2. Predictable Execution: The engine handles the “how” (loops, errors, context), while the user defines the “what.”
3. Reusability: Logic is encapsulated into “Processes” which are then orchestrated by “Rules.”

The “Process” vs “Rule” Distinction#

This is a critical architectural pillar:

• Process: A reusable, file-backed (or DB-defined) library of Operations. It is the “What” can be done. It is rigid, version-controlled, and defined by developers.
• Rule: A database-native Orchestration. It is the “When” and “How” operations are combined. It is flexible, user-defined, and can change without code changes.

📐 Schema-First & Metadata-First Design#

The system is built on Contracts.

• A Process defines its Config Schema and Output Schema.
• The Rule engine uses these schemas to generate UI and validate data flow.
• This creates a Low-Code Safety Net: Users can’t pass invalid data because the system “knows” the requirements of every node.

🌍 Comparison with Other Platforms#

Why FlexiRule is Uniquely Powerful#

Unlike external tools (Zapier/n8n), FlexiRule lives inside the database transaction. It has access to the “old_doc” and “new_doc” states simultaneously, allowing for complex validation and side effects that external tools cannot perform reliably without excessive API roundtrips.

🚀 Low-Code Foundations#

FlexiRule isn’t just an automation tool; it is a Low-Code Framework.

• Primitives: Assignment, Condition, Switch, Loop.
• Extenders: Custom Processes.
• Orchestrator: Rule Engine.

By combining these, one can build entire “Apps” that are essentially collections of orchestrated Processes.