ActionBlock API

The ActionBlock API provides functionality for managing and executing ActionBlocks, which are reusable, executable code blocks that can perform specific tasks within the Codebolt system.

Overview

The ActionBlock module enables you to:

• Discover: List and search available ActionBlocks by type
• Inspect: Get detailed information about ActionBlock capabilities
• Execute: Run ActionBlocks with custom parameters
• Integrate: Use ActionBlocks as building blocks for complex workflows

ActionBlock Types

The system supports three types of ActionBlocks:

• Filesystem: ActionBlocks that interact with the file system
• Runtime: ActionBlocks that perform runtime operations
• Builtin: Built-in system ActionBlocks for common tasks

Quick Start Example

import codebolt from '@codebolt/codeboltjs';

// Initialize connection
await codebolt.waitForReady();

// List available ActionBlocks
const blocks = await codebolt.actionBlock.list();
console.log('Available ActionBlocks:', blocks.actionBlocks);

// Get details about a specific ActionBlock
const detail = await codebolt.actionBlock.getDetail('file-reader');
console.log('ActionBlock details:', detail.actionBlock);

// Execute an ActionBlock
const result = await codebolt.actionBlock.start('file-reader', {
  path: '/path/to/file.txt'
});

console.log('Execution result:', result);

Response Structure

All ActionBlock API functions return responses with a consistent structure:

{
  type: 'responseType',
  success: boolean,
  data?: any,
  error?: string,
  requestId?: string
}

Common Use Cases

1. File Operations

// List filesystem ActionBlocks
const fsBlocks = await codebolt.actionBlock.list({ type: 'filesystem' });

// Execute a file reader
const content = await codebolt.actionBlock.start('file-reader', {
  path: 'data.json'
});

2. Data Processing

// Get ActionBlock details to understand parameters
const detail = await codebolt.actionBlock.getDetail('data-processor');

// Execute with parameters
const result = await codebolt.actionBlock.start('data-processor', {
  input: 'raw-data.csv',
  output: 'processed-data.json',
  transformations: ['clean', 'normalize', 'validate']
});

3. Workflow Automation

// Chain multiple ActionBlocks
const step1 = await codebolt.actionBlock.start('data-fetcher', { url: 'api/data' });
const step2 = await codebolt.actionBlock.start('data-transformer', { input: step1.result });
const step3 = await codebolt.actionBlock.start('data-saver', { data: step2.result, path: 'output.json' });

4. Dynamic Execution

// Build dynamic workflows based on available ActionBlocks
const blocks = await codebolt.actionBlock.list();
const processorBlocks = blocks.actionBlocks.filter(b =>
  b.name.includes('process') || b.name.includes('transform')
);

for (const block of processorBlocks) {
  console.log(`Executing ${block.name}...`);
  await codebolt.actionBlock.start(block.name, { data: 'input-data' });
}

ActionBlock Metadata

ActionBlocks include metadata that helps you understand their capabilities:

• Inputs: Required and optional parameters
• Outputs: What the ActionBlock returns
• Dependencies: Other ActionBlocks or resources needed
• Author: Creator information
• Tags: Categorization tags for discovery

• list - Lists all available ActionBlocks with optional filtering by type (filesystem, runtime, or builtin).
• getDetail - Retrieves detailed information about a specific ActionBlock including metadata, inputs, and outputs.
• start - Starts execution of an ActionBlock by name with optional parameters.