---

name: flow-authoring description: "Build, validate, import/export, tweak, and run Langflow flow JSON and starter workflows." disable-model-invocation: true metadata: disco-role: operating license: MIT

Flow Authoring

Use this sub-skill when the task is to create, inspect, edit, validate, import/export, smoke-run, or troubleshoot Langflow flow JSON. It focuses on flow documents, starter workflows, runtime tweaks, chat/text input expectations, graph-run output signals, and offline checks.

Route elsewhere when the task is primarily about:

• Python component classes, inputs/outputs, dynamic loading, or bundle extensions: ../component-development/SKILL.md.
• REST clients, SDK code, OpenAPI contracts, or application integration: ../sdk-and-api-clients/SKILL.md.
• Server startup, Docker, database, auth, environment operations, or production deployment: ../deployment-and-operations/SKILL.md.

Start Here

1. Read references/flow-json-and-tweaks.md before editing exported flows, writing tweaks, or diagnosing node/edge/schema issues.
2. Read references/workflows.md before choosing between visual import/export, API run requests, lfx validate, and lfx run smoke checks.
3. Read references/troubleshooting.md when validation, lfx run, webhook/API triggering, credentials, optional dependencies, or output extraction fails.
4. Use scripts/validate_flow_json.py for a safe static preflight that does not import Langflow; then use lfx validate for deeper installed-package checks when lfx is available.

Fast Commands

python scripts/validate_flow_json.py flow.json
lfx validate flow.json --level 1 --skip-components --skip-edge-types --skip-required-inputs --skip-version-check --skip-credentials
lfx validate flow.json --level 4 --skip-components --format json
lfx run flow.json "hello" --no-check-variables --format json
cat flow.json | lfx run --stdin --input-value "hello" --no-check-variables --format json

Prefer the bundled helper first for quick JSON and topology mistakes. Prefer lfx validate when the local installation should evaluate Langflow-specific structural, edge, required-input, version, and credential warnings. Prefer lfx run only after static validation passes and the flow is expected to run without unavailable credentials, network services, model backends, or local files.

Evidence Base

This guidance is distilled from Langflow flow docs, run endpoint docs, data-type docs, bundled starter project JSON, starter-project regression tests, graph execution tests, lfx validate/run tests, and frozen starter-flow fixtures. Runtime instructions here are self-contained and do not require reopening those source files.