Stations and lines

Stations and lines live in the Orchestrator. You keep a copy of each as a JSON file in your worker repo, edit it there, and sync it with fob-orc:

.orchestrator/
  lines/IN.json                       one file per line
  stations/IN0__seed_invoices.json    one file per station
  stations/IN1__check_invoices.json
  scenarios/…                         test configs for fob-worker (not synced)

fob-orc lines pull --all          # Orchestrator → files
fob-orc stations pull --all
fob-orc lines push --all          # files → Orchestrator (push lines first)
fob-orc stations push --all

fob-worker reads these files to show your lines and to give steps run a station's config. Pull again whenever someone else may have changed them.

Line files#

{ "code": "IN", "name": "Invoice intake", "location": "acme" }

code and location are required. location must match the WORKER_LOCATION of the worker that should run the line's stations.

Station files#

{
  "short_code": "IN1",
  "line": "IN",
  "name": "check_invoices",
  "is_enabled": true,
  "dependencies": ["IN0"],
  "schedule_cron": "*/5 * * * *",
  "schedule_enabled": true,
  "steps": [
    { "slug": "lib-worker:move_files", "config": { "source_bin": "IN0/output", "target_bin": "IN1/input" } },
    { "slug": "IN1_01_check", "config": { "approval_limit": 5000 } }
  ]
}

Field
`short_code`	The station's code, such as `IN1`. fob-worker and fob-orc accept it wherever they take a station
`line`	The line's `code`
`name`	A name, also used in the file name
`steps`	The steps to run, in order, each with its `config`
`dependencies`	Stations this one comes after. fob-worker uses them to order a line's stations
`schedule_cron`, `schedule_enabled`	Run on a cron schedule
`is_enabled`	Whether the station can run at all

After a pull, files also carry the station's Orchestrator id; keep it, so a push updates the station instead of creating a new one.

The move_files conveyor#

The first step of every station after the line head moves workpieces in from the station before it:

{ "slug": "lib-worker:move_files", "config": { "source_bin": "IN0/output", "target_bin": "IN1/input" } }

Config
`source_bin`, `target_bin`	`STATION/bin`, or `STATION/bin/sub-folder`
`batch_size`	Most workpieces to move per run (default 100)
`moves`	Instead of the two above: a list of `{ source_bin, target_bin }`
`report`	`true` to attach the summary as the run's report

It moves only workpiece folders (folders with a pointer.json), in name order. If a workpiece with the same name is already in the target bin, the two are merged. Register it in your worker's src/index.js, as the template does.

fob-worker lines show IN lists each station's conveyor, so you can check the wiring:

--- Conveyors ---

AT STATION  FROM BIN    TO BIN     MODE
---------------------------------------
IN1         IN0/output  IN1/input  —

Running a station#

On a schedule: set schedule_cron and schedule_enabled.
On demand: fob-orc stations run IN1, or from the Orchestrator.

Either way, your worker must be running at the line's location for the steps to run. See Run your worker in the background.

Updating step names#

fob-worker stations update-step-metadata copies each step's name and description from your code into the local station files that have an Orchestrator id (files you've pulled, or pushed and pulled back). Push afterwards to update the Orchestrator.