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layout default
title Windmill Tutorial
nav_order 198
has_children true
format_version v2

Windmill Tutorial: Scripts to Webhooks, Workflows, and UIs

Turn scripts into production-ready webhooks, workflows, and internal tools with Windmill -- the open-source alternative to Retool + Temporal.

Open-Source Developer Platform

GitHub

Why This Track Matters

Windmill occupies a unique position in the developer tooling landscape: it combines the script-first approach of infrastructure-as-code with the visual building capabilities of low-code platforms. Unlike pure low-code tools (Retool, Appsmith) or pure workflow engines (Temporal, n8n), Windmill lets you write real code in TypeScript, Python, Go, Bash, SQL, or any language -- then instantly exposes that code as APIs, scheduled jobs, workflows, and UIs.

This track focuses on:

  • Script-to-Production Pipeline -- write a function, get a webhook, UI, and schedule automatically
  • Polyglot Runtimes -- use TypeScript, Python, Go, Bash, SQL, and more in one platform
  • Flow Builder -- compose scripts into complex DAG workflows with retries and error handling
  • App Builder -- drag-and-drop internal tool builder connected to your scripts
  • Self-Hosted Control -- run on your own infrastructure with full audit trails

Current Snapshot

Mental Model

flowchart TB
    subgraph Authors["Script Authors"]
        TS[TypeScript]
        PY[Python]
        GO[Go]
        SH[Bash / SQL]
    end

    subgraph Windmill["Windmill Platform"]
        direction TB
        RT[Runtime Executors]
        WH[Webhook Endpoints]
        FL[Flow Builder]
        AB[App Builder]
        SC[Scheduler]
        VS[Variables & Secrets]
        RS[Resources]
    end

    subgraph Consumers["Consumers"]
        API[REST API Callers]
        UI[Internal Tool Users]
        CRON[Scheduled Jobs]
        WF[Workflow Chains]
    end

    TS --> RT
    PY --> RT
    GO --> RT
    SH --> RT

    RT --> WH
    RT --> FL
    RT --> AB
    RT --> SC

    WH --> API
    AB --> UI
    SC --> CRON
    FL --> WF

    classDef author fill:#e1f5fe,stroke:#01579b
    classDef platform fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#4a148c
    classDef consumer fill:#e8f5e8,stroke:#1b5e20

    class TS,PY,GO,SH author
    class RT,WH,FL,AB,SC,VS,RS platform
    class API,UI,CRON,WF consumer
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Chapter Guide

  1. Chapter 1: Getting Started -- Installation, first script, auto-generated UI
  2. Chapter 2: Architecture & Runtimes -- Workers, job queue, polyglot execution
  3. Chapter 3: Script Development -- TypeScript, Python, resources, error handling
  4. Chapter 4: Flow Builder & Workflows -- DAG flows, branching, retries, approval steps
  5. Chapter 5: App Builder & UIs -- Drag-and-drop internal tools
  6. Chapter 6: Scheduling & Triggers -- Cron, webhooks, email, Kafka triggers
  7. Chapter 7: Variables, Secrets & Resources -- Credentials, OAuth, resource types
  8. Chapter 8: Self-Hosting & Production -- Docker Compose, Kubernetes, scaling workers

What You Will Learn

  • Deploy Windmill locally with Docker or in production on Kubernetes
  • Write Scripts in TypeScript, Python, Go, Bash, and SQL with auto-generated UIs
  • Build Workflows using the visual Flow Builder with branching, loops, and error handling
  • Create Internal Tools with the drag-and-drop App Builder
  • Schedule and Trigger jobs via cron, webhooks, and event streams
  • Manage Secrets securely with encrypted variables and resource types
  • Scale Workers horizontally for high-throughput job execution
  • Integrate Everything via 300+ pre-built resource types and OAuth connectors

Prerequisites

  • Docker and Docker Compose (for local setup)
  • Basic familiarity with TypeScript or Python
  • A terminal / command-line environment

Quick Start

# Clone the official docker-compose setup
git clone https://github.com/windmill-labs/windmill.git
cd windmill/docker-compose

# Start Windmill
docker compose up -d

# Open http://localhost:8000
# Default credentials: admin@windmill.dev / changeme

Key Concepts at a Glance

Concept Description
Script A function in any supported language; auto-generates UI + API
Flow A DAG of scripts with branching, loops, retries
App A drag-and-drop UI connected to scripts and flows
Resource A typed connection to external services (DB, API, etc.)
Variable A key-value pair, optionally encrypted as a secret
Schedule A cron expression that triggers a script or flow
Webhook An HTTP endpoint auto-created for every script and flow
Worker A process that executes jobs from the queue
Workspace An isolated tenant with its own scripts, flows, and permissions

Source References

Related Tutorials

Navigation & Backlinks

Full Chapter Map

  1. Chapter 1: Getting Started
  2. Chapter 2: Architecture & Runtimes
  3. Chapter 3: Script Development
  4. Chapter 4: Flow Builder & Workflows
  5. Chapter 5: App Builder & UIs
  6. Chapter 6: Scheduling & Triggers
  7. Chapter 7: Variables, Secrets & Resources
  8. Chapter 8: Self-Hosting & Production

Ready to turn scripts into production infrastructure? Start with Chapter 1: Getting Started.

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