Building Processes with AI

BPMNKit’s AI pipeline never asks an LLM to write BPMN XML. Every process is authored as a ProcessPlan JSON file and compiled deterministically by casen synth — this is what makes generated processes reliably valid, deployable, and easy to diff. The LLM’s job is narrower and more reliable: write the plan, resolve connectors, and fix reported problems.

The pipeline

"implement X" (natural language)
        │
        ▼
  ProcessPlan JSON  ──casen synth──▶  laid-out, deployable .bpmn
        │                                    │
        │                            casen lint --profile deploy
        │                                    │
        └──casen plan extract◀────────  casen test
                (for later edits)

1. Check for a reusable domain pattern — casen pattern list/get (see Pattern Library) surfaces domain context (regulations, conventions) and realistic worker specs, used as reference while writing the plan below — not pasted in as a ProcessPlan directly.
2. Resolve external interactions — casen connector search "<system>" / casen connector show <template-id> find the right Camunda connector template and its required inputs, instead of guessing property keys.
3. Write the plan — a ProcessPlan JSON file (casen plan schema prints the full format reference).
4. Compile — casen synth <plan>.json --output <file>.bpmn. Problems are reported keyed by JSON path (e.g. steps[2].connector.values.token) — fix the plan, never the XML, and re-run.
5. Test — a tests array in the plan compiles to a <file>.bpmn.tests.json sidecar automatically; run it with casen test <file>.bpmn.
6. Deploy-readiness gate — casen lint <file>.bpmn --profile deploy must report zero errors before deploying.
7. Deploy — casen deploy deploy <file>.bpmn (local Reebe) or --target camunda8.

The Claude Code plugin

The richest way to drive this pipeline is the bpmnkit Claude Code plugin:

/plugin marketplace add github:bpmnkit/monorepo
/plugin install bpmnkit

It’s CLI-first: every skill drives casen via Bash — no MCP server, no proxy daemon. Each skill reads the relevant generated/hand-written reference doc (plan format, connector catalog, agentic pattern, FEEL syntax, modeling conventions) before authoring a plan.

/bpmnkit:implement an invoice approval process for accounts payable

Claude works through: resolve connectors → write the plan → compile → test → scaffold missing workers → present a summary → ask where to deploy.

Related skills: /bpmnkit:extend <file> <change> (lift an existing process to a plan, apply a targeted delta, merge), /bpmnkit:agent (design an AI Agent Sub-process — see AI Agents), /bpmnkit:connect <file> <step> <service> (wire an existing step to a connector), /bpmnkit:review, /bpmnkit:test, /bpmnkit:deploy.

Lightweight alternative: casen skills install

If you don’t want the full plugin, four minimal slash commands are available directly from the CLI — see AIKit Skills:

casen skills install

This installs /implement, /review, /test, /deploy into .claude/commands/. Same underlying pipeline, less scaffolding around it (no /extend//agent//connect, no generated reference docs).

What gets created

project/
  invoice-approval.plan.json         ← the source of truth — edit this, not the XML
  invoice-approval.bpmn              ← compiled by casen synth
  invoice-approval.bpmn.tests.json   ← scenarios, if the plan had a `tests` array
  workers/
    validate-invoice/
      index.ts                       ← implement the job logic here
      package.json
      tsconfig.json
      README.md

Deploying

Deploy to local Reebe, deploy to Camunda 8, or skip?

• Local Reebe — deploys via ZEEBE_ADDRESS (default http://localhost:26500). Start Reebe first: casen reebe start --port 26500.
• Camunda 8 — deploys using the active casen profile. Set one up with casen profile create.
• Skip — leaves the plan and BPMN file on disk for manual review and deployment.

Implementing workers

Each scaffolded worker uses @bpmnkit/worker-client’s real polling API:

// workers/validate-invoice/index.ts
import { createWorkerClient } from "@bpmnkit/worker-client"

const client = createWorkerClient({ workerName: "validate-invoice-worker" })

for await (const job of client.poll("validate-invoice:1")) {
  try {
    // TODO: implement invoice validation
    await job.complete({ /* output variables */ })
  } catch (err) {
    await job.fail(String(err))
  }
}

Start a worker for development:

cd workers/validate-invoice
npm install
npm start

Or start all workers at once:

casen worker start

See Standalone Workers for deployment options.

Extending an existing process

/bpmnkit:extend invoice-approval.bpmn add a timeout boundary event to the approval task

This lifts the process back into plan form (casen plan extract), writes a small delta plan touching only the changed step, and merges it in (casen synth --merge) — the diff is reported at the element level, not as an XML diff.