25 mins to complete
In this section, you will learn more about Kitchnware and its most essential part - nodes. Nodes form automation and do a specific function. Currently, there are almost 200 nodes (actually, 176!) that will help you build automations without a single line of code!
Adding and Deleting nodes
Learn how to add and delete nodes.
To add new nodes:
- Right-click or click on the plus button in the top right corner. The node menu will appear.
- Start typing the name of the node and click on the node to add it to the canvas.
To delete nodes:
- Click on the trash icon above the node
Inputs & Outputs
Each node has input and output sockets meant to transfer data - they are purple. You can either manually add data to the input fields or connect data from the output of a node to the input field of the other node. You can only connect sockets that make sense to be connected.
Green fields are called triggers. They determine the function of the node. By connecting trigger sockets, you establish the sequence in which nodes will be running. The output sockets will be filled when data when you trigger the node. Only the “selector” nodes don’t have triggers and populate the output sockets when you choose the desired objects.
To establish a connection of data (purple) sockets:
- Click on the output socket of a node
- Drag a purple line to the input socket of another node
- When both sockets turn purple, you have successfully established the connection!
Required Input, validation & schema intro
Some of the nodes have required sockets to be filled to trigger the node successfully. If you see a yellow warning sign, the socket input is needed.
A schema defines what data type is available for the sockets. You can only connect sockets that have the same schema.
To delete a connection between two nodes:
- Hover over the connection until the scissors icon appears
- Click on the connection to destroy it.
Entering data & input types
To enter data in the input sockets:
- Click on the field which needs data input OR
- Click on the node and then on the pencil icon in the top right corner of the node
- Click on the set button OR
- Connect the output socket from another node OR
Editing & clearing data inputs
To edit a socket:
- Make sure that the socket doesn’t have a connection with another socket. You can’t edit an input socket with a connection
- Click on the socket that needs to be edited or cleared
- Modify the socket
To delete all input data:
- Click on the socket
- On the top right corner, click clear data to clear all sockets of the node
JSON
At Kitchn, we use JSON to transfer external data between nodes. It also allows for nicely displaying data. Here’s an example of JSON object:
{
"name": "Bob",
"age": 25
}Here’s an example of a JSON list of objects:
[
{ "name": "Bob",
"age": 25
},
{
"name": "Alice",
"age": 30
}
]