diff --git a/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/WorkflowRun.vue b/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/WorkflowRun.vue
index e0ef94bb4992..677761f278aa 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/WorkflowRun.vue
+++ b/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/WorkflowRun.vue
@@ -38,9 +38,20 @@
             <workflow-run-form
                 ref="run-form"
                 :model="model"
+                v-if="!simpleForm"
                 :setRunButtonStatus="setRunButtonStatus"
                 @submissionSuccess="handleInvocations"
             />
+            <div v-else>
+                <workflow-run-form-simple
+                    ref="run-form"
+                    :model="model"
+                    :setRunButtonStatus="setRunButtonStatus"
+                    @submissionSuccess="handleInvocations"
+                />
+                <!-- Options to default one way or the other, disable if admins want, etc.. -->
+                <a href="#" @click="showAdvanced">Expand to full workflow form.</a>
+            </div>
         </div>
     </span>
 </template>
@@ -51,6 +62,7 @@ import WaitButton from "components/WaitButton";
 import LoadingSpan from "components/LoadingSpan";
 import WorkflowRunSuccess from "./WorkflowRunSuccess";
 import WorkflowRunForm from "./WorkflowRunForm";
+import WorkflowRunFormSimple from "./WorkflowRunFormSimple";
 import { WorkflowRunModel } from "./model.js";
 import { errorMessageAsString } from "utils/simple-error";
 
@@ -59,10 +71,15 @@ export default {
         LoadingSpan,
         WaitButton,
         WorkflowRunSuccess,
-        WorkflowRunForm
+        WorkflowRunForm,
+        WorkflowRunFormSimple
     },
     props: {
-        workflowId: { type: String }
+        workflowId: { type: String },
+        preferSimpleForm: {
+            type: Boolean,
+            default: false
+        }
     },
     data() {
         return {
@@ -76,6 +93,7 @@ export default {
             runButtonWaitText: "",
             runButtonPercentage: -1,
             invocations: null,
+            simpleForm: null,
             model: null
         };
     },
@@ -83,6 +101,33 @@ export default {
         getRunData(this.workflowId)
             .then(runData => {
                 const model = new WorkflowRunModel(runData);
+                let simpleForm = this.preferSimpleForm;
+                if (simpleForm) {
+                    // These only work with PJA - the API doesn't evaluate them at
+                    // all outside that context currently. The main workflow form renders
+                    // these dynamically and takes care of all the validation and setup details
+                    // on the frontend. If these are implemented on the backend at some
+                    // point this restriction can be lifted.
+                    if (model.hasReplacementParametersInToolForm) {
+                        console.log("cannot render simple workflow form - has ${} values in tool steps");
+                        simpleForm = false;
+                    }
+                    // If there are required parameters in a tool form (a disconnected runtime
+                    // input), we have to render the tool form steps and cannot use the
+                    // simplified tool form.
+                    if (model.hasOpenToolSteps) {
+                        console.log(
+                            "cannot render simple workflow form - one or more tools have disconnected runtime inputs"
+                        );
+                    }
+                    // Just render the whole form for resource request parameters (kind of
+                    // niche - I'm not sure anyone is using these currently anyway).
+                    if (model.hasWorkflowResourceParameters) {
+                        console.log(`Cannot render simple workflow form - workflow resource parameters are configured`);
+                        simpleForm = false;
+                    }
+                }
+                this.simpleForm = simpleForm;
                 this.model = model;
                 this.hasUpgradeMessages = model.hasUpgradeMessages;
                 this.hasStepVersionChanges = model.hasStepVersionChanges;
@@ -90,6 +135,7 @@ export default {
                 this.loading = false;
             })
             .catch(response => {
+                console.log(response);
                 this.error = errorMessageAsString(response);
             });
     },
@@ -104,6 +150,9 @@ export default {
         },
         handleInvocations(invocations) {
             this.invocations = invocations;
+        },
+        showAdvanced() {
+            this.simpleForm = false;
         }
     }
 };
diff --git a/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/WorkflowRunFormSimple.vue b/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/WorkflowRunFormSimple.vue
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..34b797dee470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/WorkflowRunFormSimple.vue
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+<template>
+    <div ref="form"></div>
+</template>
+
+<script>
+import $ from "jquery";
+import _ from "underscore";
+
+import Form from "mvc/form/form-view";
+import { invokeWorkflow } from "./services";
+
+export default {
+    props: {
+        model: {
+            type: Object,
+            required: true
+        },
+        setRunButtonStatus: {
+            type: Function,
+            required: true
+        }
+    },
+    data() {
+        return {
+            form: null,
+            inputTypes: {}
+        };
+    },
+    computed: {},
+    created() {
+        this.form = new Form(this.formDefinition());
+        this.$nextTick(() => {
+            const el = this.$refs["form"];
+            $(el).append(this.form.$el);
+        });
+    },
+    methods: {
+        formDefinition() {
+            const inputs = [];
+
+            // Add workflow parameters.
+            _.each(this.model.wpInputs, (input, i) => {
+                // do we want to keep the color if we're not showing steps?
+                input["color"] = undefined;
+                inputs.push(input);
+                this.inputTypes[input.name] = "replacement_parameter";
+            });
+
+            // Add actual input modules.
+            _.each(this.model.steps, (step, i) => {
+                const is_input =
+                    ["data_input", "data_collection_input", "parameter_input"].indexOf(step.step_type) != -1;
+                if (!is_input) {
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                const stepName = new String(step.step_index);
+                const stepLabel = step.step_label || stepName;
+                const help = step.annotation;
+                const longFormInput = step.inputs[0];
+                const stepAsInput = Object.assign({}, longFormInput, { name: stepName, help: help, label: stepLabel });
+                inputs.push(stepAsInput);
+                this.inputTypes[stepName] = step.step_type;
+            });
+
+            const def = {
+                inputs: inputs
+            };
+            return def;
+        },
+        execute() {
+            const replacementParams = {};
+            const inputs = {};
+            const formData = this.form.data.create();
+            for (const inputName in formData) {
+                const value = formData[inputName];
+                const inputType = this.inputTypes[inputName];
+                if (inputType == "replacement_parameter") {
+                    replacementParams[inputName] = value;
+                } else if (inputType == "data_input" || inputType == "data_collection_input") {
+                    const values = value["values"];
+                    if (values.length > 1) {
+                        console.error("batch values not yet implemented");
+                    } else if (values.length > 0) {
+                        inputs[inputName] = value["values"][0];
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    inputs[inputName] = value;
+                }
+            }
+            const data = {
+                replacement_dict: replacementParams,
+                inputs: inputs,
+                inputs_by: "step_index"
+            };
+            // Consider: copy_inputs_to_history, target_history
+            invokeWorkflow(this.model.workflowId, data)
+                .then(invocation => {
+                    // emulate multi-invocation mode like other form for now.
+                    const invocations = [invocation];
+                    this.$emit("submissionSuccess", invocations);
+                })
+                .catch(error => {
+                    console.log(error);
+                });
+        }
+    }
+};
+</script>
diff --git a/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/model.js b/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/model.js
index 233373dd6e70..c764053d8ff9 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/model.js
+++ b/client/galaxy/scripts/components/Workflow/Run/model.js
@@ -10,16 +10,19 @@ export class WorkflowRunModel {
         this.runData = runData;
         this.name = runData.name;
         this.workflowResourceParameters = runData.workflow_resource_parameters;
+        this.hasWorkflowResourceParameters = !_.isEmpty(this.workflowResourceParameters);
         this.historyId = runData.history_id;
         this.workflowId = runData.id;
 
         this.hasUpgradeMessages = runData.has_upgrade_messages;
-        this.hasStepVersionChanges = runData.step_version_changes && runData.step_version_changes.length > 0;
+        this.hasStepVersionChanges = !_.isEmpty(runData.step_version_changes);
 
         this.steps = [];
         this.links = [];
         this.parms = [];
         this.wpInputs = {};
+        let hasOpenToolSteps = false;
+        let hasReplacementParametersInToolForm = false;
 
         _.each(runData.steps, (step, i) => {
             var icon = WorkflowIcons[step.step_type];
@@ -130,6 +133,7 @@ export class WorkflowRunModel {
         _.each(this.steps, (step, i) => {
             _.each(this.parms[i], (input, name) => {
                 _handleWorkflowParameter(input.value, wp_input => {
+                    hasReplacementParametersInToolForm = true;
                     wp_input.links.push(step);
                     input.wp_linked = true;
                     input.type = "text";
@@ -166,6 +170,7 @@ export class WorkflowRunModel {
                         (input.value && input.value.__class__ == "RuntimeValue" && !input.step_linked)
                     ) {
                         step.collapsed = false;
+                        hasOpenToolSteps = true;
                     }
                     if (is_runtime_value) {
                         input.value = null;
@@ -180,6 +185,8 @@ export class WorkflowRunModel {
                 });
             }
         });
+        this.hasOpenToolSteps = hasOpenToolSteps;
+        this.hasReplacementParametersInToolForm = hasReplacementParametersInToolForm;
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/client/galaxy/scripts/entry/analysis/AnalysisRouter.js b/client/galaxy/scripts/entry/analysis/AnalysisRouter.js
index b110e99c372d..472751a7be31 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/scripts/entry/analysis/AnalysisRouter.js
+++ b/client/galaxy/scripts/entry/analysis/AnalysisRouter.js
@@ -408,6 +408,9 @@ export const getAnalysisRouter = Galaxy =>
         /** load workflow by its url in run mode */
         _loadWorkflow: function() {
             const workflowId = QueryStringParsing.get("id");
-            this._display_vue_helper(WorkflowRun, { workflowId: workflowId }, "workflow");
+            // const preferSimpleForm = (QueryStringParsing.get("simple") || "false").toLowerCase() == "true";
+            const Galaxy = getGalaxyInstance();
+            const preferSimpleForm = Galaxy.config.simplified_workflow_run_ui == "prefer";
+            this._display_vue_helper(WorkflowRun, { workflowId, preferSimpleForm }, "workflow");
         }
     });
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/managers/configuration.py b/lib/galaxy/managers/configuration.py
index 969f9abd5fb3..5f6540545e97 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/managers/configuration.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/managers/configuration.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ def _use_config(config, key, **context):
             'ga_code'                           : _use_config,
             'enable_unique_workflow_defaults'   : _use_config,
             'enable_beta_markdown_export'       : _use_config,
+            'simplified_workflow_run_ui'        : _use_config,
             'has_user_tool_filters'             : _defaults_to(False),
             # TODO: is there no 'correct' way to get an api url? controller='api', action='tools' is a hack
             # at any rate: the following works with path_prefix but is still brittle
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/config_schema.yml b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/config_schema.yml
index bbec7fed676c..2dfac0e87842 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/config_schema.yml
+++ b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/config_schema.yml
@@ -2337,6 +2337,19 @@ mapping:
           When false, the most recently added compatible item in the history will
           be used for each "Set at Runtime" input, independent of others in the workflow.
 
+      simplified_workflow_run_ui:
+        type: str
+        default: 'off'
+        required: false
+        desc: |
+          If set to 'off' by default, always use the traditional workflow form that renders
+          all steps in the GUI and serializes the tool state of all steps during
+          invocation. Set to 'prefer' to default to a simplified workflow UI that
+          only renders the inputs if possible (the workflow must have no disconnected
+          runtime inputs and not replacement parameters within tool steps). In the
+          future 'force' may be added an option for Galaskio-style servers that should
+          only render simplified workflows.
+
       myexperiment_target_url:
         type: str
         default: www.myexperiment.org:80
diff --git a/test/functional/tools/samples_tool_conf.xml b/test/functional/tools/samples_tool_conf.xml
index 29efbafd487b..e2a872db7c37 100644
--- a/test/functional/tools/samples_tool_conf.xml
+++ b/test/functional/tools/samples_tool_conf.xml
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@
   <tool file="for_workflows/count_list.xml" />
   <tool file="for_workflows/count_multi_file.xml" />
   <tool file="for_workflows/create_input_collection.xml" />
+  <tool file="for_workflows/randomlines.xml" />
 
   <section id="filter" name="For Tours">
     <tool file="for_tours/filtering.xml" />