Getting Started with uTask: Build Your First YAML Workflow

In this tutorial you will deploy uTask with Docker and create your first declarative workflow — a simple process with two sequential steps, a condition and a retry policy. No glue code required.

Step 1: Run uTask with Docker

The official image ovhcom/utask:latest is all you need:

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 \
  -v ./data/utask:/data \
  ovhcom/utask:latest

Open http://localhost:8080 — you will see the dashboard where you can create templates and start process instances.

Step 2: Define a Template in YAML

Create a template describing two steps. The second step runs only if the first succeeds, with one retry on failure:

name: my-first-process
description: "Demo process"
templates:
  - name: notify
    description: "Send notification"
    input: {}
    steps:
      - name: send-message
        plugin: http
        input:
          url: "https://example.com/hook"
          method: POST
        retry:
          count: 1
          delay: 5s

Step 3: Key Fields Explained

Step 4: Start and Track

Start an instance from the dashboard, then watch it move through states in real time. uTask shows each step, its status, and the retry history — exactly what you need for debugging human-in-the-loop processes.