Azure Workflow Execution Models

Research verified as of 2026-05-13. Re-verify before reuse in any client-facing artifact.

This skill is time-bound by design. The "Before You Compare" section is the first stop — corrections here have already invalidated claims in production evaluation memos.

Before You Compare

Seven material corrections relative to common 2024-era evaluation memos. Verify each against vendor docs before citing:

1. Camunda official Python SDK exists — camunda-python-sdk (REST-based, sync/async, OAuth/Basic auth). pyzeebe (community, gRPC) is no longer the canonical Python SDK.
2. Zeebe gRPC streaming since Camunda 8.3 (Sept 2023) — opt-in; Camunda benchmarks show ~50% p50 / ~75% p99 latency improvement. Poll-only latency-penalty claims that omit the streaming caveat misrepresent Camunda 8.3+ performance.
3. Camunda Self-Managed commercial license since 8.6 (Oct 2024) — Zeebe was Apache 2.0 free for production pre-8.6; now requires a commercial license for production deployment.
4. Camunda Web Modeler git sync since 8.6 — two-way sync with GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps. BPMN-not-in-code risk is now a configuration choice, not structural.
5. Dapr graduated CNCF November 2024 — same tier as Kubernetes, Prometheus. "Incubating" claims are factually wrong.
6. Azure Functions Premium plan timeout is configurable to unbounded — 30 min is the default, not a hard cap.
7. Azure Functions Service Bus extension v4.x retired March 2025 — use v5.x.

Quick Reference

Azure Functions — Additional Verification Items

Two commonly mis-stated facts to pin before citing Functions in feasibility or handoff docs:

• Handler-load isolation check — cheapest CI gate for "is this Function App well-formed" without deploying the host. The one-liner that imports the app and asserts trigger registration lives in reference.md (and the build-side detail is owned by azure-functions-python-v2).
• Dynatrace Functions extension is App-level, not container-level — installed as a siteExtensions resource on the Function App (portal or ARM/Bicep), not via RUN apt-get install in a custom container Dockerfile. Custom containers are compatible with the extension. The common misread is that a custom container image precludes the extension.

Freshness Discipline

Vendor-specific facts age at different rates. Licensing models, SDK ecosystem shifts (official vs community), CNCF tier transitions, broker transport modes, and default-on flags churn annually to sub-annually. Language runtimes and mature CNCF post-graduation contracts are stable for multiple years. When one claim is flagged outdated, sweep all comparable claims — outdated facts cluster. See reference.md for the full fast/slow taxonomy and arch-decision-records for the cluster-sweep rule.

Anti-Patterns

Cross-References

• azure-functions-python-v2 — implementation-side companion for Functions: function_app.py shape, host.json, startup-state pattern, container deployment, Dynatrace extension wiring
• arch-decision-records — fast/slow churn taxonomy; cluster-sweep rule; vendor-doc-first sourcing
• azure-service-bus-messaging — Service Bus trigger details, v5.x extension, session handling
• azure-identity-m2m-auth — workload identity for KEDA, Dapr component auth

See reference.md for per-claim source citations organized by technology.