Architecture

Hyphen is easiest to understand as three connected layers:

design
runtime
delivery

The runtime is the execution contract at the center of the platform, but it is not the whole story.

flowchart LR A["Design layer Process Studio, AI drafting, DSL"] --> B["Runtime layer workflows, agents, approvals, tables"] B --> C["Delivery layer gateway, SDK, API"]

1. Design layer

The design layer is where teams shape process intent before execution.

That can happen through:

Process Studio for guided authoring
AI workflow generation for advanced prompt-to-draft creation
Workflow DSL for direct workflow authoring

These are different authoring levels, but they all target the same runtime.

2. Runtime layer

The runtime executes the published process.

It combines:

deterministic workflow steps
declared actions that connect to external systems
bounded agents where reasoning is useful
approvals and forms where humans or external parties need to step in
durable state through custom tables, documents, and runs

This is the layer where governance and auditability matter most.

3. Delivery layer

The delivery layer is how Hyphen reaches real users and products.

It includes:

the gateway for auth, tenancy, keys, and browser-safe access
the SDK for embedded browser surfaces
direct APIs for low-level integration

Why the runtime is explicit

The runtime is intentionally structured around inspectable artifacts.

Workflows are not hidden behind a black box. Agents run with declared tools and iteration bounds. Runs persist the state transitions and outcomes that matter. That gives teams a system they can reason about, not just a system they can trigger.

AI in the architecture

Hyphen uses AI in more than one place.

AI for authoring

AI can help generate workflow drafts from natural language.

AI for runtime reasoning

AI can also operate inside the runtime as a bounded agent. In that role, it reasons within the constraints of the published process rather than redefining the process while it runs.

That distinction matters:

authoring-time AI shapes the draft
runtime AI operates inside the published system

Position in the stack

Hyphen sits between model providers and business systems.

text

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Your product or operator surface   │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Hyphen delivery layer              │
│  Gateway, SDK, API                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Hyphen runtime                     │
│  Workflows, agents, approvals, data │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│  LLM providers + business systems   │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

This is why Hyphen can support different adoption paths:

direct runtime use
guided authoring and publish
embedded delivery through the gateway and SDK