Flow Like - Alpha v0.0.5

[felix-schultz]

Alpha v0.0.5 is our most ambitious release yet. After seven weeks of intense development, we're thrilled to ship Flow-Like on iOS, a comprehensive Event System for workflow automation, real-time collaboration, and a suite of improvements that make building and running flows faster, more powerful, and more accessible.

Highlights

• iOS App (Major) — Native execution on your device, remote LLM access, seamless sync with Desktop (TestFlight coming soon).
• Event System (Major) — Trigger workflows via Cron, HTTP webhooks, Discord events, and more.
• Real-Time Collaboration — See teammates' cursors, efficient syncing, co-edit workflows live.
• Personal Access Tokens — Automate and integrate via API (documentation coming soon).
• Remote Model Service — Free rate-limited models available now; Pro/Premium tiers launching soon.
• Node Improvements — Dot notation for fields, OpenAI node with custom keys, flexible print/warning/error nodes.
• Performance & Fetching — Faster data loading, better execution performance.
• Bug Fixes — Online project creation, interface polish, and stability wins.

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Flow-Like on iOS

We're bringing the full Flow-Like experience to iOS. Build, execute, and monitor workflows directly on your iPhone or iPad — with the same typed, composable power you know from Desktop.

What's Included

• Native Execution — Runs locally on your device; no cloud dependency for core flows
• Remote LLMs — Access powerful language models through our remote service (OpenAI, Anthropic, and more)
• Desktop Sync — Flows, profiles, and data stay in sync across Desktop and iOS
• Mobile-Optimized UI — Touch-friendly canvas, redesigned for smaller screens without compromising functionality

TestFlight Access

The iOS app will be available via TestFlight soon. We'll publish a dedicated blog post with installation instructions, feature walkthrough, and early-access details. Stay tuned!

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Event System — Automate Everything

The new Event System transforms Flow-Like into a true automation platform. Trigger workflows on schedules, HTTP requests, Discord messages, and more — all with typed event payloads that flow naturally into your nodes.

Supported Event Types

Cron Jobs

Schedule workflows to run automatically. Perfect for:

• Daily data syncs
• Recurring reports
• Cleanup tasks
• Periodic ML model retraining

Example: 0 9 * * MON → weekly Monday 9am report generation

HTTP Events

Expose workflows as webhooks. Trigger flows from:

• External services (Stripe, GitHub, Zapier)
• Custom integrations
• Internal microservices
• IoT devices

Example: Receive webhook → validate payload → process order → notify team

Discord Events

Build Discord bots directly in Flow-Like. React to:

• Messages
• Commands
• Reactions
• Member joins/leaves

Use Cases:

• AI-powered moderation bots
• Custom commands with LLM responses
• Multi-user interactive games/polls
• Server analytics and reporting

Example Flow (Sketch):
Discord Message Event → LLM (ChatGPT) → Discord Reply → Log to Database

Coming Soon

• MQTT — IoT and sensor data
• Email — Trigger on incoming mail
• File System — Watch folders for changes
• Custom Webhooks — Advanced routing and filtering

All event payloads are typed and flow seamlessly into downstream nodes. No manual JSON parsing required.

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Real-Time Collaboration

Work on flows together. See your teammates' cursors in real-time, edit nodes simultaneously, and stay in sync with an efficient, conflict-free syncing mechanism.

Features

• Live Cursors — See exactly where collaborators are working
• Efficient Sync — Minimal network overhead; works smoothly even on slower connections
• Conflict-Free Editing — Smart merge strategy ensures changes don't get lost
• Instant Updates — No manual refresh; changes appear as they happen

Perfect for:

• Pair programming workflows
• Teaching/demos
• Distributed team collaboration
• Live debugging sessions

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Personal Access Tokens & API Access

Automate your Flow-Like experience with Personal Access Tokens. Trigger workflows, manage projects, and integrate with external systems programmatically.

API documentation coming soon — covering endpoints for:

• Workflow execution
• Project management
• Event subscriptions
• Model service access

Use cases:

• CI/CD pipelines that trigger flows
• External dashboards pulling Flow-Like data
• Scheduled tasks via your own infrastructure
• Custom integrations with internal tools

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Remote Model Service

Access powerful LLMs without managing API keys or infrastructure. Our Remote Model Service provides:

Available Now

• Free Tier — Rate-limited access to popular models (requires login)

Perfect for prototyping, learning, and low-volume production.

Coming Soon

• Pro Tier — Higher rate limits, priority access, advanced models
• Premium Tier — Dedicated compute, custom fine-tuning, enterprise SLA

No credit card required for Free tier. Just log in and start building.

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Node Improvements

Dot Notation for Field Access

Access nested struct fields naturally:

user.profile.name
data.items[0].price
response.meta.timestamp

Works across all nodes that accept field selectors — cleaner flows, less manual mapping.

OpenAI Node with Custom Keys

Use your own OpenAI API key in the OpenAI node. Great for:

• Teams with existing OpenAI subscriptions
• Fine-tuned models
• Dedicated rate limits
• Cost tracking through your own account

Flexible Print/Warning/Error Nodes

print, warning, and error nodes now accept any generic value — not just strings.

Pass in:

• Structs → formatted JSON
• Arrays → pretty-printed lists
• Numbers, booleans → direct output
• Mixed types → intelligent formatting

Faster debugging without manual toString conversions.

Parallel Iteration (Experimental)

Iterate over arrays with parallel execution where safe. Significant speedups for:

• Batch LLM calls
• HTTP requests to multiple endpoints
• Database upserts
• File I/O operations

Automatically respects data dependencies and execution order.

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Performance & Fetching

Improved Fetching Strategy

• Faster initial loads — smarter prefetching and caching
• Better performance — reduced memory allocations in execution hot paths
• Smoother canvas — improved rendering for large graphs

Result: Noticeably snappier experience, especially on large projects and slower connections.

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Bug Fixes & Polish

Online Project Creation

Fixed: Creating online projects without a "Bit" (data source) now works correctly.

Interface Improvements

• Cleaner node connection visuals
• Better zoom/pan behavior
• Fixed edge cases in field mapping UI
• Improved error message clarity

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What's Next

This release sets the stage for:

• iOS TestFlight (separate announcement coming)
• API documentation and integration guides
• Pro/Premium model tiers
• More event types (MQTT, Email, File System)

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Community & Thanks

A massive thank you to everyone who's been testing, reporting issues, and sharing ideas. The feedback from the r/selfhosted community continues to shape Flow-Like's direction.

Special thanks to early testers who helped shake out bugs in the iOS build and event system — your input made this release possible.

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Links

• Docs Home: https://docs.flow-like.com
• Getting Started: https://docs.flow-like.com/start/first-use/
• Event System Guide: [Coming Soon]
• API Documentation: [Coming Soon]
• iOS TestFlight: [Announcement Coming Soon]

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Download Alpha v0.0.5 and start building automated, collaborative, mobile-ready workflows today.

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This discussion was created from the release Flow Like - Alpha v0.0.5.