Output Control¶

This page describes what the current code actually does with the output section.

Output Section Shape¶

output:
  steps: [summary]
  format: markdown
  truncate:
    strategy: chars
    limit: 5000

Fields are defined in pkg/workflow/types.go, formatted in pkg/reporter/reporter.go, and finalized into audit files in pkg/audit/logger.go.

`steps`¶

output.steps controls which step results are included in the formatted stdout output.

Example:

output:
  steps: [security-review, summary]

Exact behavior¶

Each listed step ID is looked up in the results map.
Missing IDs are silently skipped.
Skipped workflow steps are rendered as skipped markers in markdown and plain output.

When `output.steps` is omitted¶

The behavior differs slightly between stdout output and audit output:

The reporter includes all completed steps in alphabetical order.
The audit finalizer writes final_output.md using completed steps in workflow declaration order.

So omitting output.steps can produce a different order in stdout vs final_output.md.

`format`¶

The current reporter supports these values:

Value	Exact behavior
`markdown`	Renders `# Workflow Results` and one `## Step:` section per step
`json`	Renders a JSON object with step status and output
`plain`	Renders step outputs with `=== step ===` separators
`text`	Alias of `plain`
empty or unknown	Falls back to `markdown`

Markdown example¶

# Workflow Results

## Step: summary

Actual step output here

JSON example¶

{
  "steps": {
    "summary": {
      "status": "completed",
      "output": "Actual step output here"
    }
  }
}

`truncate`¶

This is the setting that most needed clarification.

What exists today¶

The codebase contains a truncation helper in pkg/workflow/template.go with these strategies:

Strategy	Helper behavior
`chars`	Keeps the first `limit` Unicode characters
`lines`	Keeps the first `limit` lines
`tokens`	Approximates 1 token as 4 characters and keeps the first `limit * 4` characters

When truncation occurs, the helper appends a suffix that explains how much content was trimmed.

Why truncation is needed conceptually¶

Without truncation, a step that generates a very large output can make downstream prompts too large, too expensive, or impossible to send when that output is injected with {{steps.some-step.output}}.

What the current runtime actually does¶

Important: output.truncate is currently parsed, but it is not automatically applied by the main goflow run path.

That means:

prior step outputs are currently injected into later prompts at full size
reporter output is currently emitted at full size
setting output.truncate today does not change stdout output or template injection behavior

So truncate is forward-compatible configuration, not active behavior in the current CLI path.

Audit Output¶

Regardless of output format, the audit logger writes:

output.md for each completed step
final_output.md for the run summary

Those files currently contain the full stored outputs used by the run path.

Practical Recommendation¶

Use output.steps and format today.

Treat truncate as planned configuration until the executor or reporter is updated to call the truncation helper.