Zar Labs
Building an agentic workflow engine
Last reviewed: 2026-09-28
Executive summary
Agentic engines combine LLM planning with orchestration. Start with allowed tools, stop conditions, eval harnesses, and approval gates — not unbounded autonomy demos.
Core layers
- Planner (LLM) with schema-constrained actions
- Orchestrator for durable steps and retries
- Tool adapters with permissions
- Eval + logging + human takeover
Pros & cons
Pros
- Handles messy inputs
- Measurable autonomy
Cons / watch-outs
- More moving parts than Zaps
- Needs ops ownership
Comparison
| Layer | Job |
|---|---|
| Classic workflow | Deterministic path |
| Agentic engine | Plan + act in bounds |
Frequently asked questions
Do we need Temporal to be agentic?
Not always — but durable orchestration helps production. See /services/agentic-workflow-engine and /services/temporal-workflow-development.
Ready to scope your build?
Share goals, stack constraints, and timeline. We’ll respond with a discovery path and phased estimate.