Flow Editor
Flow is OpenAlgo's node-graph strategy builder at /flow. You wire market data into indicators, indicators into conditions, and conditions into order execution, no Python required.
This section is the technical reference. It assumes you are building a real strategy and want to know exactly what each node does, what the execution model guarantees, and where the boundaries are.
Concepts and Execution Model: nodes, edges, variables, how a run actually proceeds
Node Reference: all 61 nodes, their fields and their outputs
JSON Format: the import contract, field by field, and how to check a workflow before importing it
Market Data and Timeframes: quotes, history, lookback, bar limits
Indicators: all 116 indicators, which bar
latestis, tuple outputs, nestingTutorials: twelve complete strategies, ending with a live 1-minute Supertrend reversal
Limitations and Gotchas: read this before going live
What Flow can do
Trigger on a schedule, a webhook, a price level, or an order fill
start, webhookTrigger, priceAlert, orderUpdateTrigger
Run a schedule on the clock, inside a configurable market-hours window
start (marketHoursOnly, marketHoursStart/End/Exchange)
Read live quotes and market depth
getQuote, multiQuotes, getDepth, subscribeLtp/Quote/Depth, unsubscribe
Read historical OHLCV at any supported timeframe
history, barOffset, priorPeriodOhlc
Compute any of 116 technical indicators
indicator
Branch on price, time, position, funds, or any computed value
priceCondition, timeWindow, timeCondition, positionCheck, fundCheck, varCondition
Combine conditions
andGate, orGate, notGate
Place equity, futures, and options orders
placeOrder, smartOrder, optionsOrder, optionsMultiOrder, basketOrder, splitOrder
Drive every order field from the alert that triggered the run, not just symbol
any order node, using {{webhook.*}} on exchange, action, quantity, product, priceType, price, triggerPrice, offset, optionType, expiryType, positionSize, splitSize
Manage open orders and positions
modifyOrder, cancelOrder, cancelAllOrders, closePositions
Resolve option symbols, expiries, and chains, by relative expiry or an exact DDMMMYY date
optionSymbol, expiry, optionChain, syntheticFuture
Look up contract details and supported intervals
symbol, intervals
Alert and log
telegramAlert, whatsappAlert, log, httpRequest
Track P&L for one strategy, not the account
strategyPnl
Read the account: orders, trades, positions, holdings, funds, margin
orderBook, tradeBook, positionBook, openPosition, holdings, funds, margin, getOrderStatus
Check exchange holidays and market timings
holidays, timings
Detect a new day, week, month, quarter or year
calendar
Pause within a run
delay, waitUntil
Arithmetic and state within a run
mathExpression, variable
61 node types in total, every one documented in the Node Reference, with the JSON each one expects in the JSON Format reference. Every order node calls the same service functions as /api/v1/, so Analyzer (sandbox) mode, Action Center approval, and Telegram or WhatsApp alerts all behave identically to an API-placed order.
A workflow can be checked before it is imported. The flow-builder skill in the OpenAlgo repo runs the importer's own validator and then flags the mistakes that import cleanly and misbehave later, chiefly a data key that no node reads:
What Flow cannot do
These are hard boundaries, not oversights. Limitations covers each in detail with workarounds.
No state across runs
variable values reset every run. "Have I already entered today?" must be answered from the broker (positionCheck, orderBook), not a counter. Period boundaries are the exception: calendar answers "is a new week/month/quarter" from the exchange calendar, no memory needed.
delay and waitUntil block the run
They hold the execution slot, and for a webhook the triggering HTTP request too, for their full duration. delay is silently capped at 300 seconds and then continues, so a workflow written as "wait 30 minutes" exits after five. waitUntil is capped at 30 minutes and errors beyond that rather than waiting. Waiting out a session means a second workflow on its own schedule.
No loops
You cannot iterate a symbol list. One workflow handles one symbol; clone it per symbol, or drive one workflow from {{webhook.symbol}}, see Tutorial 11.
No backtesting
Flow runs forward only. Use the Python Strategy Host or the openalgo SDK to backtest.
No pandas objects
Variables are JSON. You get arrays of records and single values, not a pandas.Series.
Max 200 bars per fetch
Deep history (10 years of 1-minute data) is refused by design. See Market Data.
Triggers cannot read upstream data
A trigger is the entry point, so its fields cannot contain {{variables}}.
Indicators need one symbol
correlation, beta, crossover, crossunder need two independent series and are not available as a single indicator node. Crossovers are built from two indicator nodes, see Tutorial 3.
closePositions ignores its filter in live trading
It honours symbol, exchange and product in Analyzer mode and squares off the entire book live, so a filtered node looks correct in sandbox testing. Close a specific leg with smartOrder and positionSize: 0 instead.
An unknown data key is silently ignored
strikeOffset where the field is offset imports cleanly, runs successfully, and leaves the node on its default. Nothing in the run says so. Check the workflow before importing it.
Live vs Analyzer mode
Flow does not have its own paper-trading switch. It inherits the global Analyzer toggle:
Analyzer on: orders are simulated by the Sandbox engine. Order ids are real-looking,
modeisanalyze, and nothing reaches your broker.Analyzer off: orders go to the live broker.
Always build and validate a strategy with Analyzer on. Every run log quoted in this section was captured in Analyzer mode against a live broker connection.
One thing behaves differently between the two, and it is the one place where Analyzer testing can mislead: closePositions honours its symbol, exchange and product filter in Analyzer mode and ignores it live.
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