Manifest reference

Full schema for a Cori workflow manifest — required fields, optional fields, parameter types, and validation rules.

A workflow manifest is the manifest.md file at the root of a workflow folder. The frontmatter block contains the workflow's identity and configuration. The body (below the frontmatter) is human-readable documentation.

Required fields

Field	Type	Description
`id`	string	Unique identifier, kebab-case. Used in run keys and traces.
`name`	string	Human-readable name, shown in `cori show` and run lists.
`description`	string	One-sentence description of what the workflow does.
`created`	string	ISO 8601 date of initial creation (`"2025-01-15"`).
`version`	string	Semver string (`"1.0.0"`). Increment on breaking changes.

Optional fields

Field	Type	Description
`updated`	string	ISO 8601 date of last update.
`parameters`	array	List of parameter objects (see below).
`tools_required`	array of strings	CLI binaries required by `cli` steps. Validated at `cori check` time.
`mcp_servers`	array of strings	MCP server names required by `mcp_tool` steps. Validated at `cori check` time.
`tags`	array of strings	Free-form tags for organization.
`schedule`	string	Cron expression for automatic scheduling.
`schedule_tz`	string	IANA timezone for schedule (default: `"UTC"`).

Parameter object

Field	Type	Required	Description
`name`	string	✓	Parameter name, used on the CLI (`name=value`).
`type`	enum	✓	One of: `string`, `number`, `boolean`, `enum`, `path`.
`description`	string	✓	What this parameter is for.
`default`	any		Default value. If omitted, the parameter is required.
`options`	array	For `enum` only	Allowed values for `enum` type.

Full example

---
id: translate-product-sheets-fr
name: Translate product sheets to French
description: Reads a product CSV, translates the description column to French using an LLM, and writes results to a Google Sheet.
version: "1.0.0"
created: "2025-01-15"
updated: "2025-02-03"
parameters:
  - name: input_file
    type: path
    description: Path to the source CSV file
  - name: spreadsheet_id
    type: string
    description: Google Sheets spreadsheet ID to write results to
  - name: dry_run
    type: boolean
    default: false
    description: If true, skip the write step
tools_required:
  - csvkit
mcp_servers:
  - google-sheets
tags:
  - translation
  - sheets
---

Reads `input_file`, translates the `description` column to French using GPT-4o-mini,
validates GPSR compliance for each row, and writes the results to the `FR` tab
of the specified Google Sheet.

Validation rules

All validation happens at cori check time (i.e., when the workflow compiles), not at any separate registration step. There is no registry.

id must be unique within a folder. Globally, refs differentiate by path.
version must be valid semver.
All entries in tools_required must be findable on PATH of the running worker.
All entries in mcp_servers must be declared and available in the worker's MCP config.
Parameters without a default are required; cori run fails with a clear error if they're missing.

What not to put in frontmatter

Credentials or API keys — use ~/.cori/config.toml and the OS keychain.
Worker routing — task queues and worker assignment are computed, not authored. Do not put routing configuration in the manifest.
Provider configuration — model providers are configured at the worker level, not per-workflow.

The schedule and schedule_tz fields are accepted by the compiler. Confirm scheduling is wired in the v1 runtime before relying on it. See Schedule a workflow.