- Node
- A Node is the basic building block of a flow.
Nodes are triggered by either receiving a message from the previous node in a
flow, or by waiting for some external event, such as an incoming HTTP request,
a timer or GPIO hardware change. They process that message, or event, and then
may send a message to the next nodes in the flow.
A node can have at most one input port and as many output ports as it requires.
- Configuration node
- A Configuration (config) Node is a special type of node that holds reusable
configuration that can be shared by regular nodes in a flow.
For example, the MQTT In and Out nodes use an MQTT Broker config node to represent a
shared connection to an MQTT broker.
Config nodes do not appear in the main workspace, but can be seen by opening
the Configuration nodes sidebar.
- Flow
- A Flow is represented as a tab within the editor workspace and is the main way to
organise nodes.
The term “flow” is also used to informally describe a single set of connected nodes.
So a flow (tab) can contain multiple flows (sets of connected nodes).
- Context
- Context is a way to store information that can be shared between nodes without
using the messages that pass through a flow.
There are three types of context;
- Node - only visible to the node that set the value
- Flow - visible to all nodes on the same flow (or tab in the editor)
- Global - visible to all nodes
By default, Node-RED uses an in-memory Context store so values do not get saved
across restarts. It can be configured to use a file-system based store to make
the values persistent. It is also possible to plug-in alternative storage plugins.
- Message
- Messages are what pass between the nodes in a flow. They are plain JavaScript
objects that can have any set of properties. They are often referred to as
msg
within the editor.
By convention, they have a payload property containing the most useful information.
- Subflow
- A Subflow is a collection of nodes that are collapsed into a single node in
the workspace.
They can be used to reduce some visual complexity of a flow, or to package up a group
of nodes as a reusable component used in multiple places.
- Wire
- Wires connect the nodes and represent how messages pass through the flow.
- Palette
- The Palette is on the left of the editor and lists of the nodes that are available
to use in flows.
Extra nodes can be installed into the palette using either the command-line or
the Palette Manager.
- Workspace
- The Workspace is the main area where flows are developed by dragging nodes
from the palette and wiring them together.
The workspace has a row of tabs along the top; one for each flow and any
subflows that have been opened.
- The sidebar contains panels that provide a number of useful tools within the
editor. These include panels to view more information and help about a node,
to view debug message and to view the flow’s configuration nodes.
