SQLite is all you need for durable workflows

SQLite with asynchronous replication via Litestream offers a lightweight alternative to complex orchestration tiers and shared databases for managing durable workflow state, particularly well-suited for AI agents and experimental systems that are bursty and benefit from isolated, self-contained state management. This approach reduces infrastructure complexity and operational overhead while maintaining durability at a fraction of the cost of traditional database services, though it trades some high-availability guarantees for simplicity and fault isolation. IT organizations should evaluate this pattern for appropriate workloads, reserving Postgres-based solutions only when higher availability and shared scalability requirements genuinely justify the added complexity.