(Yaf >=1.0.0)
A action can be defined in a separate file in Yaf(see Yaf_Controller_Abstract). that is a action method can also be a Yaf_Action_Abstract class.
Since there should be a entry point which can be called by Yaf (as of PHP 5.3, there is a new magic method __invoke, but Yaf is not only works with PHP 5.3+, Yaf choose another magic method execute), you must implement the abstract method Yaf_Action_Abstract::execute() in your custom action class.