Edges
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Edges are the connections between nodes. An edge runs from an output port on one node to an input port on another, and it defines how data moves through your graph when a workflow runs. Without edges you have a collection of independent nodes; with them you have a pipeline.
Prompt input, a Reference image input, and an Image output. The ports a node exposes determine what it can connect to.Port direction and data types
Every port has a direction (input or output) and a data type describing what flows through it. The data types are text, image, video, audio, media, context, and boolean. An edge always goes from an output to an input, and the two ends must carry compatible types.
Compatibility is type-aware rather than strict equality. For example, a text output connects to a text input; the generic media type accepts image, video, and audio; and most concrete types can also feed a context input. If the types are not compatible, the connection is refused.
Make a connection
Drag from an output port
Press on a node's output port and drag. A connection line follows your pointer while you choose a destination.
Drop onto a compatible input
Release over an input port on another node. If the ports are compatible and the connection is allowed, an edge is created. If you do not name a specific port, Builder Studio picks the first compatible pair of ports between the two nodes.
See data flow on run
When a workflow runs, edges along the active path animate so you can watch data move from source to target. See Running Workflows.
What the canvas will not connect
The canvas validates a connection before it commits it, and rejects several cases:
- Incompatible types — the output and input data types must be compatible.
- Wrong direction — you cannot connect output-to-output or input-to-input.
- Self-connection — a node cannot connect to itself.
- Cycles — a connection that would create a loop back to an upstream node is refused, keeping the graph acyclic.
- Duplicates — the same source port to the same target port can only be connected once.
- Port capacity — some ports accept only a limited number of connections; once a port is full, further connections to it are refused.
Prompt input on generation nodes — accept more than one incoming edge, so you can feed a node from multiple sources. Other ports cap connections to keep the graph unambiguous.Edge appearance
Edges render as curved bezier paths by default, with straight and stepstyles also available. An edge's path is computed from the live positions of the nodes it connects, so it follows the nodes as you move and resize them — there is no stale path to drift out of place. Selecting an edge highlights it, and active edges animate during a run.
Selecting and deleting edges
- Select an edge by clicking it. Edges and nodes can be selected together.
- Delete with Delete or Backspace. Deleting a node also deletes every edge attached to it, and the combined removal undoes as a single step.
Related
- Prompt Node Architecture — how prompt and generation nodes use their ports.
- Workflows — how connected nodes execute end to end.
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