BPMN Overview

The BPMN surface in QuantumBPM is a BPMN 2.0 process engine with a visual modeler, a running-instance view, and a poll-based external-worker API. It runs alongside the DMN engine in the same product and shares projects, identity, and audit history with it.

What's supported

Modeling

A full BPMN 2.0 modeler with canvas, palette, context pad, and a properties panel. Supported flow elements:

• Events - start, end, intermediate (catch and throw), and boundary, with none, message, signal, timer, link, error, escalation, compensation, conditional, and terminate definitions. Boundary events come in interrupting and non-interrupting variants.
• Tasks - service, user, script (FEEL), business-rule (calls a DMN decision), send, receive, manual, generic.
• Gateways - exclusive, parallel, inclusive, event-based.
• Structure - embedded sub-processes, event sub-processes (interrupting and non-interrupting), ad-hoc sub-processes, call activities, and multi-instance / standard loops.
• Advanced behaviour - compensation handlers, escalation that traverses scope hierarchies, error boundaries, and ad-hoc node triggering.

The full element catalog with attributes, behaviours, and validation rules is documented under Elements.

Execution

Processes run as deterministic workflows backed by a durable execution substrate. Every event is recorded so an instance can be inspected at any point - and replayed step-by-step in the UI through the replay slider.

Operating live instances

• Resolve incidents in the instance detail UI.
• Send messages or signals to correlated instances from the UI.
• Modify token state (insert tokens, cancel tokens) - exposed via API today, UI is on the roadmap.
• Migrate running instances to a new process version with an explicit migration plan - exposed via API today, UI is on the roadmap.

Integration

• External worker queue - poll-based HTTP API for service-task workers in any language (Camunda-style).
• REST API - every operation above is exposed via the OpenAPI surface.
• quantum: extensions - the modeler attaches runtime metadata (task definition, I/O mappings, headers, assignment, form, called element, called decision) inside <extensionElements> while staying inside standard BPMN validity.

Where to go next

• Elements - the BPMN element reference.
• Definitions and deployment - how saving, versioning, and deploying processes works, how to start an instance.
• Operating live instances - incident handling, messages, signals, modify, migrate.
• External workers - building service-task workers.
• User tasks - assignment, completion, and error handling for human-handled tasks.
• Messages and signals - correlation, point-to-point vs broadcast, TTL.