From first flow to full automation.

01 / INITIAL SETUP

Install once. Choose a surface when you work.

The Windows setup includes Knodr.App.exe for visual editing and knodr.exe for both CLI and MCP use. The standard installer places the current release under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Knodr\current; the portable ZIP keeps the same files together wherever you extract it.

1. 01
   Install and launch

   Run the setup executable, then open Knodr from the Start menu. No .NET SDK or separate CLI download is required.

2. 02
   Create a flow

   Choose File → New, add a few nodes, connect their ports, and save the file with the .knodrflow extension.

3. 03
   Enable terminal access

   Add the folder containing knodr.exe to your Windows user PATH, or invoke it by its full path. Portable users can run .\knodr.exe from the extracted folder.

$ $env:Path += ";$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Knodr\current"
$ knodr --help

02 / DESKTOP UI

Build and debug on the canvas

The desktop app is the quickest way to understand a flow. Its canvas is the graph; the palette adds work; and the inspector shows the selected node and the values produced by a run.

Plaintext project variables

Use Project → Configuration for non-sensitive values referenced as {{var.NAME}}. These values are saved in the flow, so they are suitable for flags, paths, and defaults—not credentials.

03 / SECRETS

Store references in flows, never secret values

Nodes that need credentials use a name such as openai-personal in their credentialRef field. Knodr resolves the value only when the node runs.

Add a secret

1. Open Settings → Secrets.
2. Enter a memorable name and the secret value, then select Save.
3. Enter that same name in the node's credentialRef field.

$ $env:KNODR_CREDENTIAL_OPENAI_PERSONAL = "your-api-key"
$ knodr run .\flows\assistant.knodrflow

04 / CLI

Validate, run, and automate from a terminal

The CLI is designed for local scripts and CI. Human-readable output is the default; add --output-format json when another program will consume the result.

Check a flow before running it

$ knodr validate .\flows\main.knodrflow
$ knodr doctor .\flows\main.knodrflow

Run with input and variables

$ knodr run .\flows\review.knodrflow `
    --input "Review the staged changes" `
    --var MODE=strict `
    --timeout 2m

$ Get-Content .\prompt.txt -Raw |
    knodr run .\flows\review.knodrflow --output-format json

--input, --input-file, or redirected stdin binds to a flow with exactly one Manual Input node. Repeat --var NAME=value for runtime overrides, or use --vars-file with a KEY=VALUE file.

Useful commands

05 / MCP

Give an agent the Knodr toolset

knodr mcp starts a local stdio MCP server. It exposes the node catalog, flow authoring and validation, run control and observability, plus node-level debugging. The --project directory is the base for relative flow paths and run history.

Register the server in an MCP client

Add a server entry to the configuration used by your MCP client. Use absolute paths so the client can start Knodr regardless of its working directory.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "knodr": {
      "command": "C:\\Users\\you\\AppData\\Local\\Knodr\\current\\knodr.exe",
      "args": [
        "mcp",
        "--project",
        "C:\\work\\my-project"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart the MCP client after changing its configuration. If you use the portable build, point command at the extracted knodr.exe instead.

Use the tools as a workflow

1. Discover: call list_nodes and get_node_schema before choosing node types and ports.
2. Author: scaffold a project or flow, then use add_node, set_node_params, and connect_nodes.
3. Check: call organize_flow and validate_flow. Fix validation errors before execution.
4. Run: call start_run, then poll get_run_status; use logs and snapshots when a run needs inspection.

Restrict execution when needed

Add --read-only to the MCP arguments to remove execution and node-debugging tools. Catalog, validation, and flow-authoring tools remain available, so use filesystem permissions as the boundary when the client must not edit flows.

06 / REFERENCE & TUTORIALS

Build from small, working patterns

Browse the complete catalog, then follow a runnable example from canvas to automation. Each tutorial includes a downloadable .knodrflow.