What it is

Flowable is an open-source workflow and Business Process Management platform written in Java and distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. It bundles three engines in one project: a BPMN process engine, a CMMN case engine, and a DMN rule engine. The project lives in the Java ecosystem, integrates with Spring, and exposes both a Java API and a REST API for orchestrating human or system activities.

The concrete problem it solves is process orchestration without a proprietary vendor lock-in. Teams that need to model, execute, and track long-running business processes — approvals, case handling, decision tables — can embed the engine directly in a Java application or run it as a standalone service. Because the engines are Apache 2.0 licensed and published to Maven Central, the same artifact can run embedded in a single JVM, on a server, across a cluster, or in the cloud.

Key capabilities

• BPMN process engine for modelling and executing business processes.
• CMMN case engine for adaptive, less structured case work.
• DMN rule engine for decision tables and business rules.
• Java API and REST API for programmatic control of deployments and runtime.
• Embedded deployment inside a Java application, or standalone service deployment on a server, cluster, or cloud.
• Spring integration for wiring the engine into Spring-based applications.
• Docker image published as flowable/flowable-rest for running the REST service.

Who uses it and how

• Developers embed the engine as a Maven dependency inside a Java application and drive it through the Java API.
• System admins deploy the REST service, including via the flowable/flowable-rest Docker image, and expose workflow operations over HTTP.
• Business users model BPMN, CMMN, and DMN diagrams in the free Flowable Cloud Design application.
• Teams running at scale deploy the engine across a cluster or in the cloud rather than in a single JVM.
• Spring-based projects integrate the engine directly into their existing application context.

Getting started

Artifacts are published to Maven Central under the org.flowable group, including flowable-engine, flowable-cmmn-engine, and flowable-dmn-engine, so a Maven or Gradle build can pull them directly. A Docker image is available as flowable/flowable-rest, and downloads are listed on the project's downloads page; Flowable V7 requires JDK 17 or higher, while the maintained V6 branch supports Java 8 and above.

When to use it — and when not to

Flowable fits teams that want an Apache 2.0 licensed engine they can embed, extend, and run themselves rather than depend on a closed platform. A self-hoster takes on operating the engine and its runtime environment, including cluster or cloud deployment if that scale is needed, and must track the JDK 17+ requirement for V7. The project carries 411 open issues, so adopters should expect to follow the issue tracker and forum rather than assume every edge case is already resolved.