# Fluksio

Fluksio is a node-based automation engine. You describe what should happen as a
graph of small pieces of logic, and it keeps that graph running: reacting to
what arrives, or executing once from parameters to a result.

It runs two kinds of graph:

- A **live flow** produces values forever. A sensor publishes, a rule fires, a
  relay closes, a dashboard on the wall shows what happened. It never ends.
- A **run** produces a value once. Parameters go in, stages execute, and it
  finishes, leaving metrics, artifacts and a record to compare against.

Both use the same nodes, the same type checking, the same editor and the same
API.

## What you get

- A **flow engine** that owns your graph, checks the types on every edge, and
  keeps running when a node fails.
- A **canvas** that lays flows out for you and an editor for the Python inside
  each node, with the running values drawn on the wires while you work.
- **Dashboards** built next to the logic that feeds them, including ones you
  can hang on a wall tablet that has no keyboard.
- **Runs**: parameters, metrics, artifacts, sweeps and a queryable history, with
  no second server and no project bootstrap per execution.
- **Distributed workers**: a node marked `device: gpu` runs on the machine that
  has one, which dials out to the engine rather than needing to be reachable.
- An **HTTP API** covering everything the browser does, plus an MCP endpoint for
  agents.

## Start here

[Getting started](getting-started/index.md) has two paths: one installs a Python
package, the other stands up a server. Everything after that is shared.

To look before installing, the hosted demo at
[fluksio.com](https://fluksio.com) runs a real instance: a small-house panel, a
media screen, and a lab where a training pipeline runs and its runs are
compared, four screens on one panel.

## Where things are

| If you want to… | Read |
|---|---|
| Understand what a flow, a node and a message are | [Concepts](concepts/flows.md) |
| Drive Fluksio from the browser | [The interface](interface/index.md) |
| Drive it from Python, a shell or CI | [Code and the CLI](code/cli.md) |
| Look up a node type or a payload type | [Reference](reference/node-types.md) |

Fluksio is self-hosted by default. An instance runs offline, keeps its data
on its own disk, and never contacts anything unless you
[connect it to a portal](interface/portal.md) yourself.