When to Use Habits

Habits is a lightweight runtime engine designed for specific scenarios where you need a minimal, embeddable, or serverless-friendly execution layer.

When to Use Habits

Serverless & Edge Deployments

You need to run automations in lightweight environments:

AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, Azure Functions
Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge Functions
Docker containers with minimal footprint
IoT devices or embedded systems

Building SaaS Products

You want to bundle automation with a frontend to create complete web applications:

Ship automation as a product feature
White-label workflow execution
Embed automation in your existing app

Fully Open-Source Stack

You need a 100% open-source solution:

Habits (AGPL-3.0) + Bits (MIT) = fully open-source
Strong copyleft ensures modifications stay open
Complete freedom to modify and distribute

Combining Bits and Scripts

You want to combine pre-built integrations with custom logic:

json

{
  "nodes": [
    { "type": "bits", "data": { "module": "@ha-bits/bit-http" } },
    { "type": "bits", "data": { "module": "@ha-bits/bit-openai" } },
    { "type": "script", "data": { "params": { "language": "javascript" } } }
  ]
}

License Freedom

You need a fully AGPL-3.0 licensed runner that you can:

Use in commercial products (with source disclosure)
Distribute to customers with the same license
Modify with source-available obligations

Distribution to Customers

You want to ship automation workflows to your customers:

No per-seat licensing concerns
Full control over the runtime
White-label capability

Custom Execution Flow

You need:

Out-of-order node execution
Conditional branching based on runtime data
Custom retry and error handling logic

Automation with REST and CLI support

You want to run workflows as CLI commands for:

CI/CD pipelines
Cron jobs
Shell scripts

When NOT to Use Habits

You Need a Full Visual Builder

If you're starting from scratch and need a complete visual workflow designer with all the bells and whistles, Habits' Base is experimental and may not have all features of mature workflow builders.

You Want a Managed Platform

If you prefer a hosted solution with built-in monitoring, user management, and team features, consider cloud automation platforms.

You Don't Need Lightweight Deployment

If you're running on traditional servers with plenty of resources, full automation platforms may be more suitable.

License Considerations

All Habits core and Bits are open-source:

Module Source	License	Distribution Impact
Habits core	AGPL-3.0	Source disclosure required
Habits bits	MIT	No restrictions

Next Steps

Running Habits: Get Habits up and running
Creating Habits: Build your own automation workflows

When to Use Habits ​