---
id: ORC-2
family: RT-ORC
level: core
profiles: [runtime]
posture: normative-target
added: "1.0"
changed: "1.0"
source: https://flowdrop.io/spec/rules/rt-orc/orc-2
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# ORC-2 — How the execution strategy for a run is resolved

*RT-ORC (Part II) · level: core · profiles: runtime · added in 1.0*

Every configured step is checked before it is honoured, so an engine that is configured but not available cannot capture the default and strand a run.

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. The strategy for a run is resolved in this order: a run started from a pre-save trigger uses direct synchronous execution; otherwise the strategy configured on the trigger; otherwise the strategy configured for the implementation; otherwise asynchronous.
>
> 2. A configured strategy is accepted only if it validates as usable, and a step that does not validate is skipped in favour of the next.


## What it means

The chain runs presave first, unconditionally. Even where a trigger declares
asynchronous and the implementation's own default is state graph, a run fired
by a presave event still executes synchronously, because the record's save is
still in flight and only an in-request pass can observe it before it lands.

What counts as presave is a substring match, not a fixed prefix: any event
name that carries `.presave` anywhere in it qualifies. A differently-prefixed
event forces the same synchronous strategy as the conventional one.

Past that first step, each remaining step in the chain is honoured only if it
validates as usable — a step naming a strategy the implementation cannot
resolve is skipped in favour of the next, so a stale or uninstalled
configuration cannot silently capture the default.

## Example

A run whose trigger defaults to asynchronous and whose implementation
defaults to state graph, fired by two differently-named presave events:

```json title="A conventionally-prefixed presave event" verdict="synchronous"
"entity.node.presave"
```

```json title="A presave event with an unrelated prefix" verdict="synchronous"
"flowdrop.custom.presave.something"
```

Both resolve to the synchronous strategy, ahead of either configured
default.

## Related rules

- Names: ORC-1, ORC-3, ORC-4
- Referenced by: ORC-1, ORC-3, ORC-4, ORC-12

---

Rule identifiers are permanent and are never renumbered. This specification carries
no implementation status: each implementation publishes its own standing against
these rules. Licensed CC BY 4.0.