feat: MDL support for workflow microflow actions (GetWorkflowDataAction, WorkflowCallAction, etc.)

[engalar]

Problem

When a microflow in Studio Pro uses workflow built-in activities, mxcli cannot represent them in MDL. The cmd_microflows_format_action.go formatAction switch has no case for any of the following action types (which exist in generated/metamodel/types.go):

Mendix SDK Type	Studio Pro Activity	Use case
Microflows$GetWorkflowDataAction	Get workflow data	From System.Workflow → typed context entity
Microflows$GetWorkflowsAction	Get workflows	From context object → list of System.Workflow
Microflows$GetWorkflowActivityRecordsAction	Get workflow activity records	Audit/history
Microflows$WorkflowCallAction	Call workflow	Start a workflow from a microflow
Microflows$WorkflowOperationAction	Workflow operation	Abort/restart/jump
Microflows$OpenUserTaskAction	Open user task page	Navigation
Microflows$SetTaskOutcomeAction	Set task outcome	Programmatic completion
Microflows$LockWorkflowAction	Lock workflow	Admin
Microflows$UnlockWorkflowAction	Unlock workflow	Admin
Microflows$NotifyWorkflowAction	Notify workflow	Wake a waiting workflow
Microflows$OpenWorkflowAction	Open workflow admin page	Navigation

These all fall through to default: return fmt.Sprintf("-- Unknown action: %T", action) in DESCRIBE, and cannot be created via MDL at all.

Impact

The most commonly needed action is GetWorkflowDataAction. When a microflow is used as a datasource for a workflow task page, the standard pattern is:

// In Studio Pro (not expressible in MDL today):
$Issue = GET WORKFLOW DATA FROM $Workflow;   // returns OrderManagement.OrderIssue

Without this, developers are forced to write invalid workarounds like:

-- WRONG: "System.Workflow" is not an association name on OrderIssue
RETRIEVE $Issue FROM OrderManagement.OrderIssue
WHERE System.Workflow = $Workflow
LIMIT 1;

This silently produces an empty result at runtime because the XPath constraint is invalid.

Proposed MDL Syntax

Priority 1: GetWorkflowDataAction

-- Get typed workflow context entity from a Workflow instance
$Issue = GET WORKFLOW DATA $Workflow AS OrderManagement.OrderIssue;

Maps to:

{
  "typeName": "Microflows$GetWorkflowDataAction",
  "outputVariableName": "Issue",
  "workflowVariable": "Workflow",
  "workflow": "OrderManagement.WF_DeliveryDelay"
}

Priority 2: WorkflowCallAction

-- Start a workflow from a microflow (replaces the current Java action workaround)
$WfInstance = CALL WORKFLOW OrderManagement.WF_DeliveryDelay ($Issue);

Priority 3: GetWorkflowsAction

-- Get all workflow instances for a given context object
$Workflows = GET WORKFLOWS FOR $Issue;

Workaround

Currently the only workarounds are:

1. Manual Studio Pro editing after mxcli exec
2. Custom Java Action wrapping Core.getWorkflowContext() / workflows().call()
3. Redesigning to avoid the pattern entirely

Environment

• Mendix: 11.6.4
• mxcli: latest main

[github-actions]

Issue Triage

Summary:
The issue requests MDL support for workflow‑related microflow actions (e.g., GetWorkflowDataAction, WorkflowCallAction) so they can be expressed and generated correctly in mxcli.

Checklist for feature request

Required info	Present?
Use case – why the feature is needed / problem it solves	✅
Proposed syntax or behavior (if applicable)	✅
Mendix version relevance (if version‑specific)	✅

Comment:
All required information is included. Thank you for the detailed request!

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