The canvas

What it is

The canvas is the main workspace where you build processes in Studio Web. It opens when you create or open a .flow file. The canvas has two modes: Build mode for designing and configuring your process, and Debug mode for running and inspecting it.

How it works

The canvas has four main areas:

Area	Location	What it's for
Canvas	Center	Place, connect, and arrange nodes
Toolbar	Bottom center	Add nodes, undo/redo, debug controls
Properties panel	Right	Configure the selected node; manage variables
Execution panel	Bottom (during debug)	View execution trace, errors, and variable values

Debugging

Selecting Debug in the toolbar runs your process. The execution panel appears at the bottom showing the execution trace. The debug session ends when you select Stop, or automatically when you make a change to the process.

Adding nodes

The + button in the bottom toolbar opens the node palette.

The node palette supports:

• Search by name or keyword
• Browse by category: Control flow, Data operations, Connector, Agent, Human task, RPA workflow, API workflow, Trigger

The + on a node's outgoing handle adds a new node and connects it in one step.

Note:

Triggers can only be added from the bottom toolbar, not from node handles.

Connecting nodes

Nodes connect via output handles (right side) to input handles (left side). The canvas validates connections in real time — green indicates a valid connection, red indicates an invalid one. Connections respect node constraints (for example, a trigger cannot connect to another trigger).

The properties panel

The properties panel opens on the right when a node is selected.

The properties panel has two tabs:

• Properties — the node's configuration form (inputs, parameters, settings)
• Variables — manage variables for the process, and view node-produced variables (read-only)

A node's full-screen expanded view of its properties is available from its hover toolbar.

The execution panel

When you debug a process, the execution panel appears at the bottom of the screen.

Tab	What it shows
Spans	Execution trace — each node, its timing, and success/failure status
Incidents	Errors and failures that occurred during execution
Variables	Runtime variable values at each step

Selecting a span highlights the corresponding node on the canvas.

Debug controls

In Debug mode, the bottom toolbar shows debug controls:

• Debug — start execution
• Stop — end the current session
• Step Over — execute the next node and pause
• Continue — resume execution until the next breakpoint or end
• Restart — re-run the process from the beginning

Breakpoints

Breakpoints are markers set from a node's hover toolbar. Execution pauses when it reaches a breakpoint. Step Over and Continue control how execution resumes.

Breakpoints can be set in both Build mode and Debug mode.

Right-click menu

Right-clicking the canvas background shows layout options:

• Tidy all — auto-arrange all nodes
• Tidy selected — auto-arrange selected nodes (2+ selected)
• Align — left, center, right, top, middle, bottom (2+ selected)
• Distribute — horizontal, vertical (3+ selected)
• Copy / Paste / Delete

Keyboard shortcuts

See the Keyboard shortcuts reference for the full list.

Key canvas shortcuts:

• Cmd+Z / Ctrl+Z — Undo
• Cmd+Shift+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z — Redo
• Cmd+Shift+L / Ctrl+Shift+L — Auto-layout all nodes
• Delete / Backspace — Delete selected nodes

Related pages

• Your first Flow — step-by-step quickstart
• Keyboard shortcuts — full shortcut reference
• Debugging effectively — tips for Debug mode