Mental Map
Verist can feel bigger than it is. This page shows what you must know first, what is optional, and when to come back for the rest.
See the full picture
For a system-level view of how all the pieces connect, see Architecture Overview.
Adoption levels
Level 1 – One step, immediate value
Goal: Replay + diff without workflow ceremony.
What to learn:
defineStep+run()- Audit events
- Capture a snapshot and recompute diff
TIP
Most users can stop here and still get 80% of the value.
Read: Your First Step, Replay and Diff
Level 2 – Stable identity
Goal: Make decisions reproducible across deploys.
What to learn:
- Explicit
workflowId/workflowVersion - Storing snapshots
- Human review of diffs
Read: Workflows, Human Overrides
Level 3 – Multi-step workflows
Goal: Compose steps safely.
What to learn:
defineWorkflow- Typed
invoke/fanout - Commands as control flow
Read: Workflows, Storage and State
Level 4 – Persistence and human review
Goal: Production correctness under review.
What to learn:
- Storage adapters
- Computed vs overlay state
- Overrides and audit trails
- Runner wiring
Read: Storage and State, Human Overrides, Reference Runner
Level 5 – Advanced
Goal: Scale, pause, and batch safely.
What to learn:
- Suspend / resume
- Batch recompute
- Pipelines
Read: Suspend and Resume, Batch Runs, Pipelines
What you can ignore (for now)
- Specs and ADRs – useful for guarantees and deep details, not required to use Verist
- Pipelines – only needed for strict linear orchestration
- Suspend / resume – only for long-running or human-in-the-loop steps
Decision checklist
| If you... | Stay at... |
|---|---|
| Only need replay + diff | Level 1 |
| Need stable IDs across deployments | Level 2 |
| Have multiple steps | Level 3 |
| Need human review or overrides | Level 4 |
| Need pause/batch/linear pipelines | Level 5 |