Cloudflare Workflows Python support: new era for durable AI and data pipelines

Ethan Cole
Ethan Cole I’m Ethan Cole, a digital journalist based in New York. I write about how technology shapes culture and everyday life — from AI and machine learning to cloud services, cybersecurity, hardware, mobile apps, software, and Web3. I’ve been working in tech media for over 7 years, covering everything from big industry news to indie app launches. I enjoy making complex topics easy to understand and showing how new tools actually matter in the real world. Outside of work, I’m a big fan of gaming, coffee, and sci-fi books. You’ll often find me testing a new mobile app, playing the latest indie game, or exploring AI tools for creativity.
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Cloudflare Workflows Python support: new era for durable AI and data pipelines

Cloudflare is expanding its developer ecosystem again, and this time the spotlight is on Python. With the introduction of Cloudflare Workflows Python support, the company is opening the door to more durable, stateful, and automation-ready pipelines. As a result, developers working in AI, data engineering, or orchestration now have a more natural entry point into Cloudflare’s platform.

Until now, Workflows relied exclusively on TypeScript. However, Python remains the dominant language used in data pipelines, machine learning workflows, and engineering automation. Because of that, Cloudflare’s decision to introduce Python was both expected and highly requested.

Why Cloudflare Workflows Python support was introduced

Workflows were originally designed as a durable execution layer built on top of Workers and Durable Objects. These components provide the persistence and coordination required for long-running operations. By adding Python, Cloudflare is giving developers a chance to use the same orchestration model with a language they rely on daily.

Cloudflare highlights that the update is the result of several years of incremental improvements. First, Python arrived in Workers through Transcrypt. Later, Python gained direct integration into the workerd runtime. In addition, support for CPython and Pyodide-based packages enabled more advanced data processing. Therefore, expanding Workflows into Python was the natural next step.

Why the Cloudflare Workflows Python support update matters

The Cloudflare Workflows Python support release brings full feature parity with the existing JavaScript SDK. Consequently, Python developers can orchestrate multi-step applications without switching stacks. Furthermore, Workflows allow each step to persist state, retry safely, and resume execution after issues, which makes the entire system more resilient.

Another important point is the SDK’s “Pythonic” design. Instead of mirroring JavaScript syntax, Cloudflare built the tools to match familiar Python patterns. As a result, developers get idiomatic step definitions, clearer logic, and more intuitive error handling.

How Cloudflare Workflows Python support enables durable orchestration

Each Workflow consists of steps that run independently and are capable of storing state. Therefore, even if a later step fails, earlier results remain available. Thanks to Python’s async support, Cloudflare lets tasks run concurrently and manage dependencies more efficiently.

Developers have two main ways to define concurrency:

  • using asyncio.gather to run tasks in parallel, with Cloudflare converting JavaScript promises into Python awaitables
  • using Python decorators (@step.do) to define a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) of dependent steps

The second option provides a more structured and readable approach, especially when workflows become complex.

How Cloudflare Workflows Python support expands new possibilities

By supporting Python, Cloudflare is opening Workflows to a much broader range of use cases. Many long-running or state-heavy applications naturally align with Python.

AI and machine learning pipelines

AI workflows usually require step-by-step orchestration. For example, developers often need to:

  • label datasets
  • trigger model training
  • wait for job completion
  • evaluate metrics
  • re-run training until performance stabilizes

Because Workflows persist state between steps, they can continue even after interruptions.

Data ingestion and processing

Python is the backbone of the data engineering ecosystem. Therefore, adding it to Workflows allows developers to build ETL pipelines, incremental updates, and transformation flows directly on Cloudflare’s platform.

AI agents and multi-step automation

Multi-step agents — such as automated shopping bots, document processors, or scheduling assistants — depend heavily on state persistence. With Workflows, these agents can retry tasks, branch into new steps, or combine decisions without losing progress.

Where Cloudflare Workflows Python support fits in Cloudflare’s strategy

Cloudflare is steadily positioning itself as more than an edge network. Instead, the company is evolving into a full orchestration and compute platform. Python’s arrival strengthens that trajectory. Moreover, Cloudflare is simplifying the way developers build durable systems by reducing the need for external queues, schedulers, or state machines.

This approach gives developers a unified environment that is fast, globally distributed, and easier to maintain than traditional cloud orchestration tools.

Developer experience and SDK parity

Maintaining identical capabilities between JavaScript and Python was a major priority for Cloudflare. Because Workers now support Python natively, the company can ensure a consistent developer experience across languages. This helps organizations where backend teams use JavaScript while data teams prefer Python. Ultimately, it makes Workflows more inclusive and future-proof.

What comes next for Cloudflare Workflows

Python support is still in beta, but Cloudflare plans to continue refining concurrency performance, developer tooling, and integration with AI-focused features. As demand for orchestration platforms grows, Workflows are likely to become a core component of Cloudflare’s long-term strategy.

Conclusion

With the arrival of Cloudflare Workflows Python support, Cloudflare is significantly expanding what developers can build on its platform. The update allows teams to design durable AI workflows, complex data pipelines, and multi-step automations using a language that already dominates these fields. Ultimately, this upgrade transforms Workflows into a more powerful and accessible orchestration engine for modern cloud applications.

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