Flows

Flows are named execution pipelines that define how requests are processed through a series of lifecycle stages. Every MCP operation (calling a tool, reading a resource, getting a prompt) passes through a flow that controls pre-processing, execution, post-processing, and finalization.

Flows are part of the FrontMCP execution model. They provide hook points for cross-cutting concerns like logging, caching, validation, and error handling.

Why Flows?

Flows give you fine-grained control over request processing without modifying tool, resource, or prompt code directly.

Aspect	Flow	Tool	Plugin
Purpose	Request lifecycle management	Execute actions	Cross-cutting extensions
Scope	Per-request pipeline	Single action	Across all requests
Customization	Stage-level hooks	Execute method	Registration hooks
Use case	Logging, caching, auth checks	Business logic	Feature extensions

Flows are ideal for:

Request validation — check permissions, validate inputs before execution
Caching — intercept responses and serve from cache
Logging and auditing — trace every request through the system
Error handling — centralized error recovery and formatting
Performance monitoring — measure timing across stages

Flow Lifecycle

Every request passes through these stages in order:

Stage	Purpose	Example
pre	Validation, auth checks, input transformation	Check API key, parse headers
execute	Run the core operation (tool, resource, prompt)	Call `execute()` on the tool
post	Transform output, apply caching, logging	Cache response, format output
finalize	Send response, cleanup	Emit response to client, release resources
error	Handle failures from any stage	Log error, return formatted error response

Built-in Flows

FrontMCP provides built-in flows for all MCP protocol operations:

Flow Name	Trigger	Description
`tools:call-tool`	`tools/call` request	Execute a tool with validated arguments
`tools:list-tools`	`tools/list` request	List all available tools
`resources:read-resource`	`resources/read` request	Read a resource by URI
`resources:list-resources`	`resources/list` request	List all available resources
`resources:subscribe`	`resources/subscribe` request	Subscribe to resource changes
`prompts:get-prompt`	`prompts/get` request	Generate a prompt with arguments
`prompts:list-prompts`	`prompts/list` request	List all available prompts

Creating Custom Flows

Custom flows are defined with the @Flow decorator, a typed FlowPlan, and stage handlers attached via FlowHooksOf(...).Stage(...). The plan is keyed by phase (pre, execute, post, finalize) and lists the stage names that run in that phase. Each named stage in the plan is implemented by a method on the flow class decorated with @Stage('<stage-name>').

import { Flow, FlowBase, FlowHooksOf, z, type FlowPlan } from '@frontmcp/sdk';

const name = 'custom:my-flow' as const;

const inputSchema = z.object({ query: z.string() });
const outputSchema = z.object({ result: z.string() });
const stateSchema = z.object({ result: z.string().optional() });

const plan = {
  pre: ['validate'],
  execute: ['process'],
  post: ['format'],
  finalize: ['send'],
} as const satisfies FlowPlan<string>;

const { Stage } = FlowHooksOf(name);

@Flow({
  name,
  access: 'authorized',
  inputSchema,
  outputSchema,
  plan,
})
export default class MyCustomFlow extends FlowBase<typeof name> {
  @Stage('validate')
  async validate() {
    if (!this.input.query) {
      this.fail(new Error('Missing query'));
    }
  }

  @Stage('process')
  async process() {
    this.state.set('result', `processed: ${this.input.query}`);
  }

  @Stage('format')
  async format() {
    const result = this.state.get('result') ?? '';
    this.state.set('result', result.toUpperCase());
  }

  @Stage('send')
  async send() {
    this.respond({ result: this.state.get('result') ?? '' });
  }
}

Flow Metadata

@Flow({
  name: string,              // Required: registered FlowName from ExtendFlows
  access?: 'public' | 'authorized', // Default: 'public'
  inputSchema: ZodSchema,    // Required: input validation
  outputSchema?: ZodSchema,  // Optional: output validation
  plan: FlowPlan,            // Required: phase → stage names
  dependsOn?: Token[],       // Optional: DI tokens this flow depends on
  middleware?: FlowMiddlewareOptions, // Optional: HTTP middleware mounting
  description?: string,      // Optional: documentation
})

Hooking into Flows

You don’t need to create a full custom flow to customize behavior. Use hooks to intercept specific stages of existing flows.

Hook Types

Hook Type	When It Runs	Use Case
Will	Before a stage executes	Validate, transform input
Did	After a stage completes	Log, cache, transform output
Around	Wraps the entire stage	Timing, retry logic, circuit breakers
Stage	Implements the stage itself	Define custom stage behavior

Applying Hooks

Hooks are method decorators returned from a flow-specific factory. Use the pre-built hook factories (e.g. ToolHook, ResourceHook) or build your own with FlowHooksOf(flowName).

import { Tool, ToolContext, ToolHook } from '@frontmcp/sdk';
import { z } from '@frontmcp/sdk';

const { Will, Did } = ToolHook;

@Tool({
  name: 'my-tool',
  inputSchema: { query: z.string() },
})
class MyTool extends ToolContext {
  @Will('execute')
  async beforeExecute() {
    console.log('About to execute tool');
  }

  @Did('execute')
  async afterExecute() {
    console.log('Tool execution complete');
  }

  async execute({ query }: { query: string }) {
    return `Result for: ${query}`;
  }
}

For other flows, build hook decorators with FlowHooksOf(flowName):

import { FlowHooksOf } from '@frontmcp/sdk';

const { Will, Did, Around, Stage } = FlowHooksOf('http:request');

Around Hooks

Around hooks wrap a stage completely, giving you control over whether the stage executes:

import { ToolHook } from '@frontmcp/sdk';

const { Around } = ToolHook;

class TimingHook {
  @Around('execute')
  async timeExecution(next: () => Promise<void>) {
    const start = Date.now();
    try {
      await next();
    } finally {
      console.log(`Execution took ${Date.now() - start}ms`);
    }
  }
}

For a complete guide to hooks, see the Hooks decorator reference.

Flow Control

Within flow stages, you have access to control methods:

Method	Description
`this.respond(value)`	End the flow and send a response to the client
`this.fail(error)`	Abort the flow with an `Error` instance
`this.state.get(key)`	Read from flow state
`this.state.set(key, value)`	Write to flow state

State Management

Flows expose this.rawInput (raw request payload) and this.input (validated against inputSchema). Use this.state to pass data between stages — never mutate rawInput directly.

@Stage('pre')
async pre() {
  // Validated input from the request
  const input = this.input;

  // Transform and store in state for later stages
  this.state.set('normalizedInput', {
    ...input,
    timestamp: Date.now(),
  });
}

@Stage('execute')
async execute() {
  // Read from state set in previous stage
  const input = this.state.get('normalizedInput');
  const result = await this.process(input);
  this.state.set('result', result);
}

Never mutate rawInput in flows — use state.set() for flow state. This ensures each stage works with clean, immutable inputs.

Generating Flows

Use the Nx generator to scaffold a new flow:

nx g @frontmcp/nx:flow --name audit-log --project my-app

This generates a flow class with all lifecycle methods:

src/flows/
  audit-log.flow.ts

Best Practices

Do:

Use hooks for cross-cutting concerns instead of duplicating logic in tools
Keep flow stages focused — each stage should have a single responsibility
Use state.set() / state.get() for passing data between stages
Handle errors in the error() stage for centralized error management
Validate hook flows match their entry type (e.g., tool hooks use tools:call-tool)

Don’t:

Mutate rawInput directly — use flow state instead
Create custom flows for simple operations that built-in flows already handle
Skip the error() stage — unhandled errors surface as generic MCP errors
Add business logic to hooks — keep hooks lightweight, delegate to providers

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Guides

Why Flows?

Flow Lifecycle

Built-in Flows

Creating Custom Flows

Flow Metadata

Hooking into Flows

Hook Types

Applying Hooks

Around Hooks

Flow Control

State Management

Generating Flows

Best Practices

​Why Flows?

​Flow Lifecycle

​Built-in Flows

​Creating Custom Flows

​Flow Metadata

​Hooking into Flows

​Hook Types

​Applying Hooks

​Around Hooks

​Flow Control

​State Management

​Generating Flows

​Best Practices

Why Flows?

Flow Lifecycle

Built-in Flows

Creating Custom Flows

Flow Metadata

Hooking into Flows

Hook Types

Applying Hooks

Around Hooks

Flow Control

State Management

Generating Flows

Best Practices