flow like

Flow-Like is a visual workflow automation platform that runs entirely on your hardware. Build workflows with drag-and-drop blocks, run them on your laptop, phone, or server, and get a clear record of where data came from, what changed, and what came out — no cloud dependency, no black boxes, no guesswork.

Why Flow-Like?

Your workflows run on your device. Nowhere else.

Most workflow tools run in someone else's cloud. Your data leaves your machine, passes through third-party servers, and you hope for the best. If you're offline, you're stuck.

Flow-Like runs entirely on your hardware — your laptop, your server, your phone. Your data never leaves your device unless you want it to. No cloud dependency, no vendor holding your workflows hostage, no "please upgrade to enterprise for self-hosting."

This isn't just a privacy feature. It means you can automate in air-gapped environments, on factory floors, in hospital networks, on mobile devices in the field, or simply on your couch without Wi-Fi. Write once, run anywhere you have a device.

A Rust engine fast enough to run on a phone

The reason this works is raw performance. Flow-Like's engine is built in Rust — compiled to native code, no garbage collector, no runtime overhead. The same workflow that takes 500ms in a Node.js engine takes 0.6ms in Flow-Like.

That 1000x performance gap means real workflows can run on resource-constrained devices — phones, edge hardware, Raspberry Pis — not just beefy cloud servers. And on powerful machines, it means processing millions of executions without breaking a sweat.

Full visibility into every execution

Most workflow tools show a green checkmark and move on. You're left guessing where data came from and why the result looks the way it does.

Flow-Like workflows are fully typed — they track what data flows where and why. Every input, transformation, and output is recorded with complete lineage and audit trails.

• Data Origins — See exactly where each value came from: the API response, the file, the user input.
• Transformations — Every validation, enrichment, and reformatting step is visible and traceable.
• Clear Contracts — Type-safe input/output definitions catch errors before deployment, not in production.
• Three Perspectives — Process view for business, Data view for analysts, Execution view for engineers. Same workflow, different lenses.

And everything else

• AI-Native — Run LLMs locally or in the cloud with guardrails, approval gates, and full execution tracing on every call.
• White-Label Ready — Embed the editor in your product. Your logo, your colors, your brand. SSO, usage metering, and per-tenant scoping included.
• Source Available — BSL license, free for the vast majority of users (<2,000 employees and <$300M ARR).

How it compares

Quick Start

The Ecosystem

🎨 Visual Workflow Studio

A no-code IDE for building workflows. Smart wiring with type-aware pins, inline execution feedback, live validation, and snapshot-based debugging.

🧩 900+ Built-in Nodes

APIs & webhooks, databases, file processing (Excel, CSV, PDF), AI models & computer vision, messaging (Slack, Discord, email), IoT, logic & control flow, security & auth — and growing.

→ Explore the Node Catalog

🤖 AI-Powered Workflows

Download and run LLMs, vision models, and embeddings locally or in the cloud. Every AI decision is logged with full context — inputs, outputs, model version, and reasoning trace.

📦 Apps & Templates

Package workflows as shareable applications with built-in storage. Run them offline or in the cloud. Browse the template store or share your own.

Who it's for

👨‍💻 Developers

• Runs on any device — laptop, phone, edge, server
• Type-safe data contracts
• Custom node SDK (Rust)
• Git-based version control
• Source available codebase

📊 Business & Analysts

• No-code drag-and-drop builder
• Process, Data, and Technical views
• Approval workflows and change tracking
• Shareable apps and templates

🏢 IT & Operations

• RBAC and enterprise governance
• Complete audit trails
• Air-gap and offline deployment
• SSO / OIDC integration
• Compliance-ready (GDPR, SOC2)

Build from Source

# Prerequisites: Rust, Bun, Tauri prerequisites, Protobuf compiler
# Full guide: https://docs.flow-like.com/contributing/getting-started/

git clone https://github.com/TM9657/flow-like.git
cd flow-like
bun install
bun run build:desktop

💡 Platform-specific hints for macOS, Windows, and Linux are in the docs.

White-Label & Customization

Embed the visual editor in your application, or run the engine headlessly behind the scenes.

• Themes — Catppuccin, Cosmic Night, Neo-Brutalism, Soft Pop, Doom, or create your own
• Design Tokens — Map your brand palette with dark/light mode support
• SSO — OIDC/JWT with scoped secrets per tenant
• Usage Metering — Per-tenant quotas, event tracking, audit trails
• SDKs & APIs — Control workflows programmatically

Perfect for SaaS platforms, internal tools, client portals, and embedded automation.

Contributing

We welcome contributions of all kinds — new nodes, bug fixes, docs, themes, and ideas.

→ Read CONTRIBUTING.md for setup instructions and guidelines.

→ Browse good first issue to find a place to start.

→ Join Discord for questions and discussion.

Team & Access Management

Built-in Storage & Search

Files, tables, and hybrid keyword+vector search — right on the canvas. No extra services needed.

Is Flow-Like free to use? Most likely, yes. Flow-Like uses the Business Source License (BSL), which is free if your organization has fewer than 2,000 employees and less than $300M in annual recurring revenue. This covers startups, SMBs, and most enterprises. Read the full license.

Can I run it completely offline? Yes, 100%. Flow-Like works fully offline on your local machine — ideal for air-gapped networks and secure environments. Switch to online mode anytime to collaborate.

Can I embed it in my product? Yes. Flow-Like is white-label ready — embed the visual editor, customize the theme to your brand, integrate SSO, or run just the engine headlessly.

What languages can I use? The visual builder is no-code. For custom nodes, you write Rust. SDKs and REST APIs are available for programmatic control.

Is it production-ready? Flow-Like is actively developed and used in production. We recommend thorough testing for mission-critical workflows. See the releases page for version stability.

How do I get support? Discord for quick help, Docs for guides, or GitHub Issues for bugs and features.

Flow-Like stands on the shoulders of incredible open-source projects:

Frontend: React Flow · Radix UI · shadcn/ui · Next.js · Tailwind CSS · Framer Motion

Desktop & Runtime: Tauri · Rust · Tokio · Axum

AI & ML: llama.cpp · Candle · ONNX Runtime

Data: Zustand · TanStack Query · Dexie.js · SeaORM · Zod

Tooling: Bun · Vite · Biome

Thank you to all maintainers and contributors of these projects! 🙏

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