Interface StartInstanceArgs

Stable named values supplied when starting this instance. They cannot be changed after start. Effect bindings and conditions read them as $context.<name>; the $effects bag is separate (completed effects' outputs only).

Values supplied directly to start may be any JSON: a scalar, a GlobalDocumentReference, or an arbitrary object/array. Scalars and GDRs store as their typed context entries; anything else stores as one context.json entry, so all forms read back the same under $context.<name>. A parent's spawn.context has a narrower contract: only strings, numbers, booleans, and full GDRs are accepted; nullish results are omitted, and other objects or arrays reject the spawn.

The definition's name — which deployed workflow to instantiate.

URL path on the supplied client where the engine fetches the caller's ACL grants. Identity is always token-resolved — actor is resolved from the supplied client's token, never passed in — and grants feed the advisory $can.* params action conditions can read; omitting this leaves the rendered $can undefined (conditions referencing it fail closed, nothing else is gated engine-side — the real Sanity write boundary still enforces).

Canvas-style: /canvases/<resourceId>/acl. Project/dataset: /projects/<id>/datasets/<ds>/acl.

Initial values for input-sourced field entries declared on the workflow definition. Each value is a typed InitialFieldValue whose type + name must match an entry on definition.fields[]. Entries not present here resolve to their default (null for scalars, [] for arrays, or the entry's own initialValue resolution for query/working-memory entries).

To start an instance "about" a specific document, declare a { type: "subject", name: "subject", initialValue: { type: "input" } } entry on the workflow and pass { type: "subject", name: "subject", value: { id, type } } here. Conditions then read it as $fields.subject, and document pickers key on the subject kind.

Caller-supplied id; auto-generated otherwise (mint one with instanceDocId). This is start's idempotency key: a retry carrying the same id resumes the earlier attempt's outstanding commits instead of creating a duplicate — the per-instance request ledger can't cover the create (it lives on the instance document), so id identity is the rail. Inputs bind on the create only; a resume never re-reads them.

Perspective for content reads, including field queries and subworkflow discovery. An explicit value applies to workflow-field initialization and subsequent reads.

When omitted, workflow-field queries at start use drafts. After those fields resolve, the instance uses [releaseName] from its first populated workflow release.ref field, or drafts when none is populated. Under drafts, drafts take precedence over published content.

A child's workflow fields initialize under its parent's perspective. Afterward, the child's first populated workflow release.ref field selects its release perspective; otherwise it inherits the parent's.

Pass [releaseName] to read under a Content Release, or [releaseName, 'drafts'] to include drafts. Engine-owned instance and definition documents, and system.release documents, always read under raw.

Optional explicit version. Defaults to the highest deployed version.