USER MANUAL · ALIVE

Request flows

A flow is a named sequence — “Book a stay”, “Nightly reconciliation” — whose steps are the edges a request rides, in order. Every step carries a caption (the stepper reads it out as you walk), a step can light several edges at once (a parallel fan-out), and a flow can include operations inside a node — “validate the cart”, “compose the payload” — that play as first-class stops with a small panel on the node.

API GatewayContainer
Booking ServiceContainer
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Book a stay3 / 8

Gateway authenticates and routes to Booking.

StepsLive
A flow mid-playback: the current step's edge runs gold with its position badge, and the stepper narrates. Steps can light several edges at once, and a node's internal operations play as stops too.

Playing a flow

  • Start one from the rail (flows nest under their canvas) or via ⌘K. The stepper appears bottom-left; step with ← / → or the arrows, leave with Esc or Exit flow.
  • Steps mode walks the sequence: numbered chips on the edges, the active edge carries a gold particle, everything off-path dims, and the camera follows each stop.
  • Live mode plays the same flow over real health: healthy paths flow gold, and a path through a down node chokes red at the dead hop — “Blocked at step 5”. Polling tightens to a few seconds while you watch. See Live health.
  • A flow mid-play rides the URL (flow= and step=) — Copy link hands a teammate the exact stop you're on. In a presentation, viewers follow your stepping live.
  • While a flow is active, the Export menu offers a flow scope: just the participants and edges of this flow, framed as rendered.

Authoring flows

  • In the editor's Flows tab: Add flow, then name it and give it a description — both show in the rail and the stepper.
  • The stop list is exactly what playback will walk. Add a step by picking the edge it rides (or several, for a parallel stop) and writing its caption; add an operation by picking the node and writing what happens inside it.
  • Reorder with the arrows on each stop row, or insert directly between two stops with the + step / + op row that appears between them. Deleting a stop never touches the edge itself — flows reference the model, they don't own it.
  • Deleting a node or edge from the model prunes it out of every flow that used it.
  • The assistant authors complete flows from a sentence — “show me the checkout flow step by step” — and its flows are editable here like any other.