The present invention concerns data flow control in adaptive integrated circuitry which utilizes a data flow model for data processing. The present invention controls task initiation and execution based upon data consumption measured in data buffer units. In the various embodiments, when a first task of a plurality of tasks is initiated, buffer parameter is determined and a buffer count is initialized for the first task. For each iteration of the first task using a data buffer unit of input data, the buffer count is correspondingly adjusted, such as incremented or decremented. When the buffer count meets the buffer parameter requirements, the state of the first task is changed, which may including stopping the first task, and a next action is determined, such as initiating a second task. The various apparatus embodiments include a hardware task manager, a node sequencer, a programmable node, and use of a monitoring task within an adaptive execution unit.