Getting Started
Welcome to flownod, the ultimate cognitive automation canvas! Unlike legacy trigger-action utilities, flownod allows you to drag, click, and orchestrate complex AI logic with zero execution friction.
Essential Workspace Overview
Your workspace is split into three high-performance zones designed for speed:
Interactive Infinite Canvas
The dot-grid canvas in the center where you map, drag, and draw connection wires between triggers and actions.
App Palette Drawer (Left Bar)
A drag-and-drop tray containing pre-wired API interfaces for Shopify, Stripe, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, and Google Workspace.
Configuration Terminal (Right Panel)
A double-tab drawer containing accordion setup steps to authorize apps, define dynamic variable maps, and view compiling JavaScript logs inside the Mind Console.
Canvas Controls
Navigating and organizing your visual canvas is incredibly fast once you master a few essential mouse actions and keyboard shortcuts.
Primary Movements
Keyboard Shortcuts
Boost your engineering speed using built-in terminal shortcuts:
Ctrl + Click Multiple cards to drag them in groups.
Spacebar Keep held to lock panning controls while aligning cards.
Testing Flows
flownod supports full end-to-end sandbox simulations without ever connecting to live databases or running up expensive billing credits.
How to Execute Dry-Run Tests
Follow this rapid 3-step checklist to verify connection layouts:
Click "Test Workflow" Button
Locate the glowing purple-to-indigo pill button at the bottom of your screen in the controls dock.
Monitor the Mind Console
The right sidebar will instantly switch to the Mind Console. Watch compilation metrics, response headers, and active payloads print out in real time.
Verify Connector Glow
A successful execution triggers glowing green flow animations along all connected paths on your canvas workspace!
Credential Pool
Security and authentication on flownod is handled inside sandbox Credential Pools. We completely isolate credentials so you can map workflows with complete peace of mind.
Integrating Simulated Accounts
When you click on any card (e.g. Shopify node), look at Step 2: "ACCOUNT AUTH" in the configuration drawer:
Select Sim Account
Select any available sandbox account from the drop-down menu (e.g. "Ayan Hussain (Founder)" or "NTHU Admissions Team").
Verify Success Callback
The connection button will display a green badge Connected, proving secure Oauth handshake verification is complete.
Deployment & Production
flownod automations are designed to run anywhere. Once your flow is built, you can export it as a production-ready Node.js package.
Exporting Your Runner
Generate & Export
Click 'Build & Export' on the Canvas. flownod compiles your visual layout into a dynamic index.js with all dependencies mapped.
Hosting Options
render.yaml. Simply upload your code to GitHub, connect it to Render, and it will auto-configure your Web Service and Environment variables.
index.js logic into an api/ folder. Vercel will treat your automation as a high-speed serverless function with auto-scaling.
Dockerfile. This ensures your automation runs in the exact same environment whether it's on your laptop or an AWS instance.