ZeitFlow

The automation platform AI agents actually use.

Website · Guides · Blog

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ZeitFlow is an open-source workflow automation platform where every workflow you publish becomes an MCP tool that AI agents can discover and execute autonomously. Build visually, trigger via API/webhook/form, and let agents orchestrate the rest.

Features

• Agent-native — Workflows are first-class tools AI agents discover and execute via MCP
• Visual builder — Drag-and-drop workflow editor built on React Flow
• Multi-model AI — GPT-4, Gemini, Claude, Llama, and more via OpenRouter
• 20+ integrations — Email, Slack, SMS, Telegram, Google Sheets, YouTube, and more
• API, webhook & form triggers — Start workflows from anywhere
• Conditional branching — Route execution based on expressions
• CLI & MCP packages — @zeitflow/cli and @zeitflow/mcp on npm
• Encrypted at rest — AES-256-GCM encryption for API keys, OAuth tokens, and secrets
• Full audit trail — Structured execution logs on every run

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• pnpm
• PostgreSQL (e.g. Neon)

Setup

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/benzend/zeitflow.git
cd zeitflow

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Set up environment variables
cp .env.example .env.local
# Edit .env.local with your values (see Environment Variables below)

# Generate an encryption key
openssl rand -hex 32
# Add the output as ENCRYPTION_KEY in .env.local

# Run database migrations
pnpm migrate

# Start the dev server
pnpm dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

Environment Variables

Copy .env.example to .env.local and fill in the values.

Required:

Variable	Description
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string
ENCRYPTION_KEY	64-char hex string (openssl rand -hex 32)
OPENROUTER_API_KEY	OpenRouter API key for AI nodes
NEXTAUTH_SECRET	Random secret for NextAuth.js sessions
NEXTAUTH_URL	App URL (e.g. http://localhost:3000)
HOST	Same as above

Optional (enable integrations as needed):

Variable	Description
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET	Google OAuth & Calendar
RESEND_API_KEY, RESEND_FROM_EMAIL	Email via Resend
SLACK_CLIENT_ID, SLACK_CLIENT_SECRET, SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET	Slack integration
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY, STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET	Payments
BLOB_READ_WRITE_TOKEN	Vercel Blob for asset storage

See .env.example for the full list.

Development

pnpm dev              # Start dev server (Turbopack)
pnpm build            # Production build
pnpm lint             # Lint
pnpm test             # Run tests
pnpm test:watch       # Watch mode
pnpm test:coverage    # Coverage report
pnpm migrate          # Run database migrations

Architecture

ZeitFlow is a Next.js app (Pages Router, with App Router for blog/guides) using:

• Database: PostgreSQL + Drizzle ORM
• Auth: NextAuth.js (Google OAuth + email/password)
• Workflow editor: React Flow (@xyflow/react)
• AI: OpenRouter + Vercel AI SDK
• Integrations: Plugin-based system in lib/integrations/
• MCP server: Streamable HTTP + stdio transports
• CLI: TypeScript CLI published as @zeitflow/cli

Project Structure

pages/api/          # API routes (workflow CRUD, execution, auth, MCP)
lib/                # Core logic (encryption, integrations, workflow parser)
components/         # React components (workflow builder, node types)
migrations/         # Drizzle SQL migrations
cli-npm/            # @zeitflow/cli npm package
mcp/                # @zeitflow/mcp npm package + server
app/blog/           # Blog (App Router)
app/guides/         # Guides (App Router)

Adding an Integration

1. Create a definition in lib/integrations/definitions/
2. Create an executor in lib/integrations/executors/
3. Add config keys to INTEGRATION_CONFIG_KEYS in lib/integrations/types.ts
4. Register in lib/integrations/registry.ts

CLI

npm install -g @zeitflow/cli

zeitflow auth login          # Authenticate
zeitflow workflow list       # List workflows
zeitflow workflow execute    # Execute a workflow
zeitflow template list       # Browse templates
zeitflow doctor              # Check setup

MCP

Every published workflow is automatically available as an MCP tool.

# Via npm package
npm install -g @zeitflow/mcp

# Or run locally
ZEITFLOW_API_TOKEN=your_token pnpm mcp

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

AGPLv3 — see LICENSE for details.