SAAGE: a deterministic agentic workflow engine, distilled

SAAGE hydrates YAML flow specs into a PocketFlow graph built from three composable loop primitives (counting_loop, retry_loop, polling_loop), each exposing as a single node, and runs a bounded max-step LLM tool-use loop with real harness tools for file operations. The differentiator is the combination of normalized loop primitives that compose cleanly, per-node checkpoints with atomic terminal-status writes, and nested-loop-aware resume, plus a remote lifecycle model that hands off execution via a git ref rather than a bespoke RPC layer. Complexity stays low (cyclomatic max 27, average 5, across 8 packages), which is unusual for a project doing this much control-flow work.

It is not production-hardened. The forked PocketFlow orchestration method is a documented silent-drift hazard against upstream. Several failure paths defer rather than fail loudly: an absent API key pushes auth past the trust boundary instead of rejecting the request up front, an environment-variable pricing override can zero out budget gates, and a blind ssh-keygen -R disables TOFU host-key checking. Contrib flows are hydration-checked but not run end-to-end, docs lag the shipped code, and the project has a bus factor of one. The verdict from the panel: a credible Beta for a single-user researcher running trusted flows, not yet a safe default for untrusted input or multi-tenant use.