Blueprints
The visual programming model: how flows execute, how storage works, and the patterns that keep large blueprints readable.
Introduction The canvas, blocks, pins and flow: creating a blueprint, connecting blocks, navigating the canvas and its menus, the vocabulary the rest of these pages assume. Tips & tricks Navigate big blueprints, connect, select, group and copy blocks, stage and save, simulate functions, and use namespaces, block search and the minimap. Best Practices Naming, namespaces, tags and structure that keep a blueprint maintainable: when to split one, reusable functions, performance and habits for teams. Common Blueprint Patterns Reusable blueprint shapes for form validation, API authentication, JSON API replies, mapping and transforming arrays, error handling and caching. Block Execution The order blocks run in, how flow pins drive execution depth first, where values are resolved, precompiled data, error handling and debugging a run. Object References and Copies Objects are passed by reference: which blocks change the original, when to take a shallow or deep copy, and why storage documents follow the same rule. Locking and Concurrency Document updates lock themselves, file actions do not. How and when to claim a lock yourself, and the pattern for safely updating a shared file. Storages The JSON document model, _meta, transactional mutations and how to query documents: search queries, full-text search, expiry, removal and Redis caching. Storage Events React to document creates and updates with storage events: the event payload, how rapid updates are combined, and how to keep flows out of write loops. Storage Examples Worked RUAL document designs for user profiles, product catalogs, order management and activity logs, plus how to shape documents for fast search. Dates and Time Ranges Dates are stored in seconds, three _meta fields are in milliseconds, and a filter in the wrong unit returns nothing without erroring. Protected Storages Keep a storage usable by a flow and by your users while its contents stay out of the studio: what protection withholds, who sees the data, how to turn it on. Repeating Events Schedule blueprint work on an interval and keep repeated runs from overlapping: the requirements, creating a repeating event, and why one may not run. Queue Hand slow or bursty work to the RUAL queue and track what each task did: which jobs suit it, how to queue work, auto postpone, monitoring and analytics. Assets Upload, manage and serve files, and reference them from a blueprint: public versus private assets, protected files, folders, formats, file sizes and video. System Settings Read and write cluster-wide settings from a blueprint: central configuration such as email tokens and reply-to addresses, secured values and default keys. System Settings Reference Every predefined system setting, its type and what changing it affects, secure versus non-secure values, custom keys and reading settings in a blueprint. Common Pitfalls The blueprint mistakes that bite most often: trusting real-time search results, misusing aggregations, storage event write loops and silent no-ops. Precompiling What a node's compiled copy of a blueprint holds, when a save rebuilds it, and what the green fast icon on a simulated value means. Remote access control Scopes, the scopes modal, rate limits and throttles on your own endpoints: how public and private pages differ and how to secure a RUAL API endpoint. Service Providers Credentials for external services, held by the cluster so a key never sits on a pin: setting a provider up, what it may be used for and rotating a key. Places and Geo Search Search the built-in places dataset, filter by proximity, category and typed filters, and enrich your own documents with it, plus the geo point helpers.