standardhow

Standardhow is a framework and notation for describing procedures and workflows in a standardized, machine-readable form. It aims to improve clarity, reusability, and interoperability of manuals, training materials, and automated processes by combining natural-language guidance with structured metadata.

Core concepts include steps, actors, tools, inputs, outputs, preconditions, postconditions, duration estimates, and quality checks. The framework defines a formal grammar that enables validation, parsing, and partial automation by software tools and workflow engines.

A standardhow document presents a sequence of steps. Each step specifies the action to be performed by an actor, the tool or device used, the inputs consumed, and the outputs produced. Preconditions must be satisfied before execution, while postconditions describe the intended state after completion. Optional notes, risk indicators, and success criteria may be included.

Applications span manufacturing, logistics, software deployment, health care, and education. It is used to create standardized operating procedures, enable rapid knowledge transfer, support auditing and compliance, and facilitate automation or robotic execution where appropriate.

Origin and status. Standardhow emerged from cross-disciplinary efforts to harmonize procedural documentation and knowledge representation. While several organizations maintain draft specifications and tooling, there is no single official international standard, and adoption remains voluntary and domain-specific.

Related concepts include procedural markup languages, task models, and work instruction ontologies.