Enriching the User Interface - PHP SDK

Temporal supports adding context to Workflows and Events with metadata. This helps users identify and understand Workflows and their operations.

Adding Summary and Details to Workflows

Starting a Workflow

When starting a Workflow, you can provide a static summary and details to help identify the Workflow in the UI:

use Temporal\Client\WorkflowClient;
use Temporal\Client\WorkflowOptions;

// Create workflow client
$workflowClient = WorkflowClient::create($serviceClient);

// Start a workflow with static summary and details
$workflow = $workflowClient->newWorkflowStub(
    YourWorkflow::class,
    WorkflowOptions::new()
        ->withWorkflowId('your-workflow-id')
        ->withTaskQueue('your-task-queue')
        ->withStaticSummary('Order processing for customer #12345')
        ->withStaticDetails('Processing premium order with expedited shipping')
);

$result = $workflow->yourWorkflowMethod('workflow input');

withStaticSummary() sets a single-line description that appears in the Workflow list view, limited to 200 bytes. withStaticDetails() sets multi-line comprehensive information that appears in the Workflow details view, with a larger limit of 20K bytes.

The input format is standard Markdown excluding images, HTML, and scripts.

You can also start a Workflow asynchronously:

// Start workflow asynchronously
$workflowClient->start($workflow, 'workflow input');

Adding Summary to Activities and Timers

You can attach a summary to timers within a workflow:

use Temporal\Workflow;
use Temporal\Workflow\TimerOptions;

#[WorkflowInterface]
interface YourWorkflow
{
    #[WorkflowMethod]
    public function yourWorkflowMethod(string $input): string;
}

class YourWorkflowImpl implements YourWorkflow
{
    public function yourWorkflowMethod(string $input): \Generator
    {
        // Create a timer with a summary
        yield Workflow::timer(
            300, // 5 minutes in seconds
            TimerOptions::new()->withSummary('Waiting for payment confirmation')
        );
        
        return 'Timer completed';
    }
}

For Activities, you can set a summary using Activity options:

use Temporal\Activity\ActivityOptions;
use Temporal\Workflow;

class YourWorkflowImpl implements YourWorkflow
{
    private YourActivitiesInterface $activities;
    
    public function __construct()
    {
        $this->activities = Workflow::newActivityStub(
            YourActivitiesInterface::class,
            ActivityOptions::new()
                ->withStartToCloseTimeout('10 seconds')
                ->withSummary('Processing user data')
        );
    }
    
    public function yourWorkflowMethod(string $input): \Generator
    {
        // Execute the activity with the summary
        $result = yield $this->activities->yourActivity($input);
        
        return $result;
    }
}

The input format for summary is a string, and limited to 200 bytes.

Viewing Summary and Details in the UI

Once you've added summaries and details to your Workflows, Activities, and Timers, you can view this enriched information in the Temporal Web UI. Navigate to your Workflow's details page to see the metadata displayed in two key locations:

Workflow Overview Section

At the top of the Workflow details page, you'll find the Workflow-level metadata:

• Summary & Details - Displays the static summary and static details set when starting the Workflow
• Current Details - Displays the dynamic details that can be updated during Workflow Execution

All Workflow details support standard Markdown formatting (excluding images, HTML, and scripts), allowing you to create rich, structured information displays.

Event History

Individual events in the Workflow's Event Gistory display their associated summaries when available.

Workflow, Activity and Timer summaries appear in purple text next to their corresponding Events, providing immediate context without requiring you to expand the event details. When you do expand an Event, the summary is also prominently displayed in the detailed view.