theFlow! Documentation

Introduction

What is theFlow!?

theFlow! is a beautiful, lightweight, infinite canvas application designed for visual thinking and knowledge organization.

Think of it as a whiteboard where you can place different kinds of nodes — containers that hold text, images, video, audio, documents, or drawings — and draw connections between them to map out ideas, workflows, stories, or any structure that matters to you.

Unlike a traditional document or presentation, theFlow! has no fixed order. You arrange things spatially, the way your mind actually works.

Who is theFlow! for?

• Mind mappers and visual thinkers
• Project planners and product managers
• Developers and system architects
• Researchers and knowledge workers
• Students and educators
• Writers and content creators
• Anyone who thinks better spatially than linearly

What can you do with it?

• Map out a project with connected ideas
• Build a visual storyboard with images and video
• Annotate a workflow with sticky notes and backdrops
• Link audio, video, and documents into a single visual overview
• Sketch directly on a paint node
• Share a .flow file with collaborators

Key Concepts

Getting Started

Your First Node

1. Right-click anywhere on the empty canvas.
2. Go to Create → Node → Text Node, or simply press T.
3. A text node appears at the cursor position.
4. Double-click the node to open the editor and give it a name and body text.
5. Click OK to close.

Your First Connection

1. Create a second node (press T again somewhere else).
2. Hover over the first node — a small coloured socket appears on its edge.
3. Click and drag from that socket toward the second node.
4. Release over the second node's socket.
5. A connection line appears between them.

The Canvas

Navigating

Selecting Items

• Click a node, connection, dot, backdrop, or sticky note to select it.
• Click and drag on empty canvas to rubber-band select multiple items.
• Click on empty canvas to deselect everything.

The Right-Click Menu

Right-clicking on the canvas opens the main menu:

File   ▸  New File / Open / Save / Save As / Export Selected / Import Nodes / Quit
Edit   ▸  Copy / Cut / Paste / Undo / Redo
Create ▸  Node ▸ … / Dot / Backdrop / Sticky Note
View   ▸  Rearrange / Frame / Expand viewers …
Settings
Help   ▸  Shortcuts / Documentation
About

Right-clicking on a node, dot, backdrop, or sticky note opens that item's own context menu instead.

The Tab Quick-Create Menu

Press Tab anywhere on the canvas to open a pop-up list of everything you can create. Click an item to place it at the cursor position. This is the fastest way to create nodes without using the right-click menu.

Nodes

A node is the basic building block of theFlow!. Every node has:

• A name displayed on its body
• An input socket (left side by default) where connections arrive
• An output socket (right side by default) where connections leave
• A type icon that shows what kind of content it holds

Text Node — T

Image Node — I

Movie Node — M

Audio Node — A

Document Node — D

Paint Node — P

Creating Nodes

Moving, Copying, Deleting

• Move — click and drag any node
• Copy — Ctrl C / Cut — Ctrl X / Paste — Ctrl V
• Delete — select and press Del or Bksp. If the deleted node had exactly one connection in and one out, they merge automatically.

Editing Appearance

Right-click any node to access:

• Edit Orientation — move sockets to a different edge (Left→Right, Top→Bottom, Right→Left, Bottom→Top)
• Edit Shape — Square, Circle, Diamond, Triangle, Ellipse, or Hexagon
• Edit Node Color — pick a custom fill colour
• Edit Font Size — set the name label size
• Edit Font Color — pick a custom name colour

Inline Viewers

Dots

A Dot is a small circular junction point that lives on a connection line. It acts as a pass-through — connections flow in through one socket and out through the other.

Creating a Dot

• Press Q to place a dot at the cursor position, then connect it manually.
• Shift-click on an existing connection line to split it — a dot is inserted automatically and the line becomes two.

Using Dots

Dots let you route connections through intermediate points, creating branching or complex layouts. You can drag a dot anywhere on the canvas to reshape the path.

Removing a Dot

Shift-click a dot that has exactly one connection in and one out — the dot is removed and the two lines merge back into one.

Dot Appearance

Right-click a dot to access:

• Edit Orientation — change which sides the sockets are on
• Edit Dot Color — pick a custom colour

Connections

A connection is a line drawn between two node sockets or between a socket and a dot.

Drawing a Connection

1. Hover over a node until the socket circle appears.
2. Click and drag from the socket.
3. A temporary line follows your cursor.
4. Release over another node's socket or a dot socket.

You can connect output → input, input → output, or any socket → any socket. theFlow! normalises the direction automatically.

Connection Types

Right-click a connection line to change its type:

Customising a Connection

Right-click a connection to access:

• Change Line Style — Solid, Dashed, or Dotted
• Change Line Color — pick a custom colour
• Change Line Width — set thickness in pixels

Disconnecting

• Select a connection and press Del or Bksp to remove it.
• Shift-click a node to disconnect all its connections at once. If it has exactly one in and one out, they merge automatically.

Backdrops

A Backdrop is a large coloured region used to visually group nodes. When you move a backdrop, all nodes fully inside it move with it.

Creating a Backdrop

• Press B to create a blank backdrop at the cursor.
• Or — select a group of nodes first, then press B. theFlow! creates a backdrop that exactly fits around the selection, with extra padding for the title.

Resizing

Drag any of the four corner handles. Nodes pinned inside stay in place relative to the backdrop during the resize.

Editing a Backdrop

Double-click to open the editor:

• Name — the large title shown at the top-left
• Text — optional body text shown below the title
• Canvas font size — controls the title size

Right-click to access:

• Edit Backdrop Color — pick the fill tint
• Edit Font Size — change the title size
• Edit Font Color — change the text colour

Nesting Backdrops

You can place a backdrop inside another backdrop. The inner one moves with the outer one.

Sticky Notes

A Sticky Note is a simple coloured note — like a Post-it — for quick annotations anywhere on the canvas.

Creating a Sticky Note

Press S, or use the Tab menu / right-click menu.

Editing

Double-click to open the editor:

• Name — shown bold at the top of the note
• Text — body content, word-wrapped
• Canvas font size — controls text size

Resizing

Drag any of the four corner handles.

Appearance

Right-click to access:

• Edit Note Color — pick the background colour
• Edit Font Size — change text size
• Edit Font Color — change text colour

Organising Your Canvas

Rearranging Nodes

Select two or more nodes, then right-click the canvas:

• Rearrange Horizontally — lines nodes up left to right, spaced by their actual width with a gap between each
• Rearrange Vertically — lines nodes up top to bottom, spaced by their actual height with a gap between each

Both commands respect the node's shape — a circle or diamond will be spaced correctly, never overlapping.

Framing the View

Inline Viewers

Files

File Format

theFlow! saves your canvas as a .flow file — a JSON text file containing all nodes, connections, positions, colours, and embedded paint drawings. It can be reopened on any machine running theFlow!.

File Operations

Autosave

When Autosave is enabled in Settings, theFlow! automatically saves your file every 30 seconds — but only if:

• The file has already been saved at least once (has a name and location)
• There are unsaved changes

Draw Annotations

Annotation mode lets you draw freehand strokes directly on the canvas — on top of all nodes, backdrops, and connections. Strokes are saved with the file and included in exports.

Activating

Press Ctrl P or go to Draw ▸ Draw Annotation in the right-click menu. A floating toolbar appears at the top-left of the canvas. Press Ctrl P again or click Close to exit.

Toolbar Controls

Defaults

The default colour, thickness, and style for new strokes are set in Settings → Annotations. Changes apply immediately — even while the toolbar is open.

Settings

Open Settings by right-clicking the canvas and choosing Settings.

Themes

The Dark Theme and Light Theme buttons instantly switch the entire application colour scheme — canvas background, menus, and all default node colours.

Canvas Tab

Nodes Tab

For each node type (Text, Image, Movie, Audio, Document, Paint, Dot) you can set default values that apply to newly created nodes:

• Node / Dot Color
• Font Size and Font Color
• Socket Orientation
• Shape (not available for Dot)

Use Reset Section Defaults to restore a single node type to its theme defaults.

Curves Tab

Sticky Notes & Backdrops Tabs

Set the default colour, font size, and font colour for newly created sticky notes and backdrops respectively.

Annotations Tab

Sets the default stroke colour, thickness, and style used when entering annotation mode. Changes apply immediately to the active painter — even while the toolbar is open.

Saving Settings

Click Save Settings to write your settings to disk. Settings are stored in settings/settings.json inside the application folder and are loaded automatically at startup.

Keyboard Shortcuts Reference

Creating

Editing

Connections

View

File

Draw Annotations

Tips & Tricks