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AbstractFlow Documentation

AbstractFlow is the AbstractFramework visual workflow editor. It is distributed as the npm package @abstractframework/flow.

Normal operation:

  1. AbstractGateway runs on a server or local machine.
  2. AbstractFlow serves the browser editor.
  3. The browser signs in with a Gateway user token.
  4. Flow proxies authoring, discovery, run, ledger, and artifact calls to Gateway.

AbstractFlow does not own runtime execution or provider secrets. Gateway and Runtime do.

Flow can author runtime-facing pin defaults, including inline JSON Schema response schemas for LLM Call and Agent nodes. Those schemas are saved in VisualFlow JSON and enforced later by Runtime/Core after Gateway publish/start. When a schema is active, data is the structured object output and response stays textual for compatibility.

File-like sources

Flow uses one explicit file-like vocabulary across the editor, run modal, and authoring docs:

  • Artifact: a saved Runtime-owned durable payload.
  • Local File / Local Folder: client-device intake sources. In hosted/browser mode, uploads become artifacts before durable execution.
  • Server File / Server Folder: user-facing wording for workspace-scoped server paths under Gateway policy. The engineering/model term remains Workspace File / Workspace Folder.

The canvas reflects that split:

  • path-based nodes such as Read File, Write File, Read PDF, Write PDF, Write DOCX, and List Folder Files consume workspace-scoped server paths;
  • artifact-first nodes such as Artifact, Import Server File, Read Artifact, and Export Artifact work with durable runtime-owned payloads.

Pages

Start here:

  • Getting started: start a Gateway, run the editor, sign in, and author a first workflow.
  • Web editor: the editor's features: sign-in; links into the editor (a Gateway workflow, ?trigger= for a new flow on a trigger, ?flow= for a library flow); loading states and Retry; About; the responsive layout on phones and tablets; switches; discovery; Resources; the Flow Library and the kinds of flows (Chat, Triggered, Other; schedules are set in Observer or the Assistant); the toolbar (New, Open, Save, the C and O keys); flow interfaces; automations (What starts it?, context budget, inputs form, Turn it on, Run as if triggered); the Waits nodes (Wait Until, Wait for Event, Emit Event, Delay); what arrives on On Flow Start; what happens after On Flow End (response, success, note, Notify me and its channels, After the run); trigger-source discovery, trigger connections and the trigger event; mail (the Email type, the mail nodes, mailbox and folder pickers, Break Email); Publish to channel; the wire-drop menu (Relay, If/Else, Break Object, Break Email, ForEach); folded nodes; paths that repeat; a loop whose body ends the run (Fix the loop); hidden connections; the authoring assistant; media and file nodes.
  • Troubleshooting: symptoms, causes, and fixes for sign-in, proxy, editor, and local development problems.
  • FAQ: short answers about what Flow owns and what it delegates.

Reference:

  • Architecture: components, boundaries, and diagrams of the editor, the Flow server, and Gateway, including the automation-defaults path from document to automation, what happens after a run (framework ADR-0041), and how reads are retried (ADR-0039).
  • API and contracts: CLI options, environment variables, the editor's address parameters, the proxy contract and the Gateway routes Flow calls, and the main frontend modules.
  • CLI: the abstractflow-editor command.
  • VisualFlow JSON: the workflow document format, interfaces and their boundary pins, the automation_defaults field (including trigger.connection_id), the trigger event a triggered run receives with one example per source, pin expressions, and sharing.

Workflow authoring:

  • Workflow authoring skill: the command contract and patterns the Workflow Authoring Assistant follows; also useful to human authors.
  • Workflow node catalog: every node template with its pins and configuration fields (generated from src/types/nodes.ts).

Shipped workflows:

Project policies live at the repository root: CHANGELOG.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md, and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.