Airbnb open-sources Skipper, an embedded workflow engine for Java and Kotlin

Details

Airbnb has released Skipper, an embedded workflow engine used in production across the company, under the Apache 2.0 license.
Skipper runs inside the service's existing deployment and database, eliminating the need for a separate central orchestration cluster or external coordinator between steps.
Workflows are defined as Java or Kotlin classes where actions perform side effects and the engine persists progress to recover from crashes and transient failures.
The release includes the core engine, MySQL and SQLite adapters, test utilities, an admin UI, and Skipper State Machine, a Kotlin DSL for state-based processes.
Recovery relies on deterministic code and replay; actions with persisted checkpoints return saved results, though side effects remain at-least-once due to the non-atomic nature of downstream calls and checkpointing.
Future plans include adding storage plugins for Postgres and DynamoDB, improving tooling for workflow evolution, and enhancing replay debugging.

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