Getting Started With Flows

Pingerflows let you intercept messages as they arrive and run them through a processing pipeline before they are delivered to subscribers. You can filter, transform, throttle, validate, and reroute events — all without touching your backend code.

What Is a Flow?

A flow is a sequence of nodes attached to a specific channel. When a message arrives on that channel it is passed through each node in order. If all nodes succeed the message (and any broadcasts produced by the flow) is delivered. If any node fails or drops the message, delivery stops.

Incoming message → [Node 1] → [Node 2] → [Node N] → Broadcast

Creating a Flow

1. Go to Dashboard → Apps → [Your App] → Flows
2. Click Add Flow
3. Give the flow a name and set the channel it listens on
4. Click Create — you are redirected to the flow editor
5. Add nodes and configure them
6. Click Publish to deploy

The Flow Editor

The editor is a visual drag-and-drop interface. Each node appears as a card; nodes execute top-to-bottom.

• Add a node — click the + button between steps
• Configure a node — click the node card to open its settings panel
• Reorder nodes — drag cards up or down
• Delete a node — click the trash icon on the card
• Publish — deploy the current flow; changes are live immediately

Available Nodes

Execution Timeout

Flows have a maximum execution time of 5 seconds. If a flow exceeds this limit the message is dropped and the client receives a timeout error. Keep transforms lightweight and avoid long delays in critical paths.

Example Flows

Chat moderation

1. Schema Validator — require text (string) and userId (string)
2. Filter — block messages where data.text contains banned words (using $nin or a custom filter)
3. Transform — add serverTimestamp to the payload
4. Send to Channel — broadcast to the same channel

Rate-limited notifications

1. Throttle — allow one notification per 10 seconds per channel
2. Send to Channel — broadcast to notifications-{{data.userId}}

Typing indicator collapse

1. Debounce — 300 ms window
2. Send to Channel — broadcast typing-stopped event

Publishing Flows

Click Publish in the flow editor. The flow is compiled, cached, and active immediately. Existing connections receive the new flow on their next message — no reconnection needed.

Next Steps

• Filter Node
• Transform Node
• Schema Validator Node
• Throttle Node
• Debounce Node
• Delay Node
• Send to Channel Node