Editor Basics

The FlowTrux workflow editor is a visual canvas where you design workflows by placing nodes and connecting them. It has four main areas:

• Node Palette - left side, lists every node type you can drop on the canvas
• Canvas - center, where you arrange and connect nodes
• Inspector Panel - right side, configures the selected node
• Execution Panel - also right side, shows the live execution and the run history (toggle with the Inspector tab)

Canvas

The canvas is your main workspace. It supports standard interactions:

• Pan - click and drag on empty space, or hold middle mouse button
• Zoom - scroll wheel to zoom in/out, or use the zoom controls in the bottom-left corner
• Select - click a node or edge to select it
• Multi-select - drag a selection box over multiple nodes
• Move nodes - drag selected nodes to reposition them

Node Palette

The Node Palette is the left sidebar listing all available node types. To add a node to your workflow:

1. Find the node type you want (Trigger, Agent, Action, Logic, Aggregator)
2. Drag it from the palette onto the canvas
3. Drop it where you want it placed

Each workflow must have exactly one Trigger node as its entry point.

Inspector Panel

Click any node to open its configuration in the Inspector Panel on the right side. The Inspector has three tabs:

Configure Tab

Node settings and configuration fields. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk *. Sections are collapsible - their open/closed state is remembered across node switches.

Output Tab

• Last Run Output - expandable JSON tree viewer showing the node's output from the previous execution. Useful for debugging and understanding data flow.
• Output Display - configure how results are rendered in execution history (text, markdown, table, chart, or dashboard mode).

Help Tab

• Variables & Syntax - quick reference for template variable syntax
• Node-specific help - contextual documentation for the selected node type

Visual Features

• Variable Picker - click the { } button on any template field to browse and insert available variables from upstream nodes. Shows preview values from the last execution.
• Execution badges - after running a workflow, nodes show colored dots: green (success), amber (running), red (error).
• Required fields - marked with a red asterisk *. The platform validates all required fields before execution.
• Template warnings - an amber warning triangle appears when a {{variable}} references a non-existent node.

The Inspector panel is resizable from 280px to 800px wide. Drag the left edge to resize. Your preferred width is saved to localStorage and persists across sessions.

Connecting Nodes

Nodes have handles - small circles on their edges:

• Output handle (bottom of node) - drag from here to start a connection
• Input handle (top of node) - drop a connection here to complete it

To connect two nodes:

1. Hover over the source node's output handle until it highlights
2. Click and drag toward the target node
3. Release on the target node's input handle

A connection line (edge) appears between the nodes, showing the execution flow.

Edge Styles

FlowTrux supports two edge styles, toggled from the toolbar:

• Orthogonal (smoothstep) - right-angle routing, clean for structured layouts
• Curved (bezier) - smooth curves between nodes

Choose the style that best suits your workflow layout.

Execution Panel

The Execution Panel sits in the right sidebar, alongside the Inspector. Use the toolbar tabs to switch between the two - the panel that's not active stays mounted but hidden.

The Execution Panel has two sub-tabs:

Current

Shows the run that's happening right now (or the most recent one). When you press Run, the editor opens a Server-Sent Events stream and renders each node's status as it happens - start time, completion, output payload, and per-node logs. The view scrolls with the run so the active node is always in view.

A Background runs section underneath lists fire-and-forget executions started by webhooks or forms while you were on the canvas - useful for catching submissions you didn't click Run for.

History

Lists every past execution for this workflow, newest first. While the workflow is running, the list polls so newly-finished runs appear without a manual refresh.

• Click any row to expand its per-node breakdown (Input, Output, LLM Request, Tool Calls, External Requests, Logic Condition/Variables - same shape as the inline view in Current).
• Delete a single execution with the trash icon on its row, or clear the entire history with Delete all.

Older versions rendered execution output in a bottom Output Panel. That layout has been retired - everything that used to land at the bottom of the screen now lives in the Execution Panel on the right.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Canvas

Workflow List (left sidebar)

The workflow list is a keyboard-navigable listbox. Click any row once to give it focus, then:

Save as Template

To make a workflow reusable across your organization, click … on its row in the sidebar and choose Save as template. Anyone in your org will see it in Create Workflow → Template with a green "Your org" badge, filter the gallery by source, and spin up independent copies with one click.

See Workflow Templates for naming, tags, plan limits, and management.

Import and Export

Workflows can be exported and imported as JSON files:

• Export - saves the current workflow definition (nodes, edges, configuration) as a .json file. Available from the workflow's row menu in the sidebar.
• Import - loads a workflow from a JSON file. Click the + button in the workflow list header, then pick the From file tile in the Create Workflow dialog (alongside Blank and Templates) and select your .json. The workflow is created in the current workspace.

This is useful for backing up configurations or moving workflows between environments. For intra-org reuse, prefer Save as template (above) - it's one click and surfaces the workflow in the Create Workflow dialog automatically.

Both import and export require the canEdit permission for MEMBER-role users.

Read-Only Mode

If you are a Member without the canEdit permission for the current workspace, the editor opens in read-only mode:

• A "Read-only" badge appears in the inspector
• Nodes cannot be moved, added, or deleted
• Connections cannot be created or removed
• The Node Palette is hidden
• You can still view node configurations and execution history

Workflow List Panel

The left sidebar also contains the workflow list for your current workspace. This panel is resizable (180px to 400px) and shows:

• Current workspace name
• List of all workflows in the workspace
• Actions per workflow: copy/duplicate, export, delete (based on permissions)

Tips

• Use descriptive node names - rename nodes to reflect their purpose (e.g., "Fetch User Data" instead of "action-1"). The name appears on the canvas and in execution logs.
• Check node IDs - the Inspector shows each node's ID, which you need for template variables like {{steps.agent-1.output.response}}.
• Test incrementally - add and test one node at a time rather than building the entire workflow before running it.

Next Steps

• Node Types - detailed reference for each node type
• Template Variables - how data flows between nodes
• Quickstart - build your first workflow step by step