app/docs/interface/flow-editor.md

The flow editor

Build a flow by naming its messages and configuring its nodes. Fluksio draws the connections and arranges the canvas for you.

The canvas

The graph runs left to right on desktop and top to bottom on phones. On a phone, at most two nodes sit side by side and the rest wrap onto the rows below, so a large flow grows downwards in one column.

• Nodes show their execution status.
• Edges are routed around the nodes, a loop back to an earlier node included, and pulse when values pass through. Click one to inspect its payload.
• Endpoints show flow inputs, dashboard widgets, device I/O ports and nodes in other flows that exchange messages with this flow. A value passing lights one up in a sweep: left to right when it sends into the flow, right to left when it reads out of it.
• Clicking an endpoint shows a flow input's type, starting value and current value, with a pencil that opens the flow settings to edit it. A device port opens the device in the Devices tab. A node in another flow opens that flow on the label leading back here, with its edges highlighted.

Values update over a websocket. A connection banner tells you when the editor cannot reach the engine.

Adding a node

Choose Add node in the bottom dock, or use ⌘P / Ctrl-P. The command palette also jumps between flows and offers reusable nodes. Select a type to add it and open its settings.

The node panel

Consumes and Provides declare the node's ports. Each has a port name, payload type, bound message and delivery interval. Outputs also have a streaming toggle.

Message fields suggest existing names. Matching an output's message is how you connect an input.

A blank port-name field follows the message's last segment. Set a port name to keep the argument name fixed while changing its message binding. Names use letters, digits and _, cannot start with a digit, and must be unique among the node's inputs or outputs.

Renaming an output's message updates its consumers in the flow. Changing an input binding points that input at a different message.

Settings

Built-in nodes show forms for their configuration. Credential fields offer stored secrets. JSON settings open a larger editor and save only when the value parses.

Function nodes also let you add settings passed as arguments alongside the ports. See Where a node's values come from.

Timeout on a Function node limits silence, not total duration. A node yielding regularly can run longer than its timeout. Empty or 0 means no limit, the default.

Resources selects a shared worker pool, a named flavor or custom CPU, memory and GPU requirements. Placement by device and device_policy is configured through the API or flow JSON; see Remote workers.

Code and reuse

Define process(...) in Code. If the file instead contains exactly one public function, Fluksio uses that function.

Code saves as you type. ⌘S / Ctrl-S in the code editor saves immediately; Publish applies ordinary node code to the running flow. Generated code from fluksio sync is read-only: edit its source repository and sync again.

Only superusers can add or edit code-running nodes. Other users can read code and configure permitted built-in nodes.

Reuse shares node code as a library entry. Saving shared code takes effect immediately in every flow using it, so check its users before changing it.

The flow panel

Open Flow settings from the pencil button in the dock.

Setting	Purpose
Running	starts or stops the published live flow's subscriptions, schedules and webhooks
Mode	chooses continuous live operation or requested batch runs
Inputs	declares external messages, their starting values and whether a run or a panel writes them; run inputs become run parameters
Result	selects batch output messages
Contents	shows the node count and message namespace

For live inputs, Publish this value now sends the starting value immediately. Changing a stored starting value alone does not replace an existing message.

Inspecting an edge

Click an edge to see its latest payload, timestamp and recent numeric history. Republish its value from the producer to run downstream nodes without waiting for the next sensor reading.

The dock

Control	Action
Add node	opens the command palette
Fit to screen	fits the graph; desktop only
Run	executes the current live flow once; for batch flows, asks for run parameters
Pause / Resume	holds or releases pending work while values still arrive
Step	releases one held item while paused
Flow settings	opens the flow panel
Publish	puts the saved draft live
Discard	removes unpublished changes
Issues	lists problems by node
Logs	shows filterable node output

Run uses the current draft when one exists without publishing it. It executes real node code, including device and network actions. To try a single value in a live flow, publish it from a flow input or edge inspector.

Pause and step are useful for inspecting held work. They do not make a draft run a simulation.

Shortcuts

Use ⌘ on macOS and Ctrl elsewhere.

Shortcut	Action
⌘P / Ctrl-P	command palette
⌘S / Ctrl-S	publish the flow; inside the code editor, save code
⌘Z / Ctrl-Z	undo a graph edit
⌘⇧Z / Ctrl-Shift-Z	redo a graph edit
⌘C / Ctrl-C	copy selected nodes
⌘V / Ctrl-V	paste nodes, including into another flow

Text fields and the code editor keep their own undo and clipboard behavior.

Drafts, conflicts and issues

Edits are saved as drafts. The engine keeps running the published version until you publish; shared code follows the exception above. Discard returns to the published version. Delete a never-published flow to remove it.

If another editor saved the same flow, a stale save or publish returns a conflict. Reload and review their changes before retrying.

The canvas reports unconnected inputs, missing starting values, cycles and code-load errors. These prevent the affected flow from running. Unauthenticated webhooks are advisory; runtime node-health problems clear when the node recovers. See Flow issues.

See also

• Flows, nodes and messages
• Node types
• Writing node code