This seems pretty similar to Cloudflare Workflows (https://developers.cloudflare.com/workflows/), but with code-rewriting to use syntax magic (functions annotated with "use workflow" and "use step") instead of Cloudflare's `step.do` and `step.sleep` function calls. (I think I lightly prefer Cloudflare's model for not relying on a code-rewriting step, partly because I think it's easier for programmers to see what's going on in the system.) Workflow's Hooks are similar to Cloudflare's `step.waitForEvent` + `instance.sendEvent`. It's kind of exciting to see this programming model get more popular. I wonder if the ecosystem can evolve into a standardized model.
Actually, both Vercel and Cloudflare are based off of the API that we built at https://inngest.com (disclaimer, I'm a founder).
I strongly believe that being obvious about steps with `step.run` is important: it improves o11y, makes things explicit, and you can see transactional boundaries.