Turn a plain-English description ("a node that runs on the kernel and does XGBoost predictions", "a node that trims whitespace", "an ML clustering node") into a correct single-file Flowfile custom node `.py` authored with the `node_designer` SDK (`from flowfile import node_designer as nd`, `CustomNodeBase`, `NodeSettings`/`Section`, `ColumnSelector`/`SingleSelect`/`NumericInput`/…). Use when a task says "generate/create/author/write a custom node", "make a node that does X", "a kernel node", "an sklearn/xgboost/lightgbm ML node", "a node with settings for …", when picking `environment="local"` vs `"kernel"` and `dependencies`, when reading settings inside `process()`, or when a generated node must pass the security scanner / bundle validation to install or publish. NOT for adding a built-in node type across core/frontend/frame/wasm — that is `flowfile-node-development`.
The editorial standard for Flowfile's docs site — the house style (register-2 voice rules), the persona-based nav map (which tab serves which arriving audience), the claim-type→source-of-truth verification index for fact-checking any docs statement against code, and the zero-drift examples contract (how tested .py and .yaml examples are structured, included via snippets, and auto-tested). Use when writing or reviewing any page under docs/, fact-checking a docs claim (node counts, Lite availability, API signatures, ports, providers, defaults), adding a worked example or tutorial, deciding where a new page belongs in the persona nav, or running an editorial/lint pass over docs changes.
How to author, wire, and verify the hand-drawn brand SVG diagrams on the Flowfile docs site — the exact file contract (viewBox, role + aria-label, defs→style→content), the shipped palette and typography ladders with exact hex values, the reusable component library (node chips, preview tables, arrow markers, decision diamonds, storage substrates, greyed insets), the concept-vs-technical register split and the one warm exception, the dark-mode technique against the two page canvases, the labeled-placeholder pattern for screenshots, and the redraw lessons the maintainer has already enforced. Use when creating or editing any SVG under docs/assets/images/, when a docs page needs a new concept or architecture diagram, when replacing or adding an IMAGE-PLACEHOLDER, when a diagram reads badly in dark mode, or when asked to draw, redraw, or fix any docs illustration.
How the Flowfile docs site (MkDocs + Material, the docs/ tree, mkdocs.yml nav) is organized, built by documentation.yml, and deployed to GitHub Pages; the repo-wide comment doctrine for code (and its two verbose exceptions); and the CLAUDE.md maintenance protocol across all 9 package guides. Use when writing or moving a page under docs/, editing mkdocs.yml's nav, linking between docs pages, regenerating docs/users/formulas/functions.md, debugging a Documentation workflow that's silently missing a page or won't build, deciding whether a line of code needs a comment, or updating any CLAUDE.md file after a feature lands.
Architecture and safe-extension guide for flowfile_core's /ai/* subsystem — the assist/copilot/planner surface map, the FEATURE_FLAG_AI router gate, the litellm lazy-import contract and its enforcing tests, BYOK provider resolution, per-process rate limiting, the prompt-log debugging runbook, the local llama.cpp model, and two maintainer-validated doctrines (prompt edits must be additive not subtractive; wrong-but-recoverable LLM payload shapes get normalized at the executor seam, not the schema or the prompt) — use when adding or debugging an AI route/agent/provider, when an agent tool call is being rejected or looping, when asked to "make the prompt more direct" or tighten AI/system prompts, when the LLM keeps emitting a wrong JSON shape for a tool call, or when investigating what a Flowfile LLM call actually saw/said.
The system map and load-bearing design contracts of Flowfile's core/worker/frontend/kernel/scheduler/shared architecture — who talks to whom, why core never materializes LazyFrames, the worker offload wire protocol, the $ffsec$ secrets format, dual node-execution state, node-hash caching discipline, and the pending/vision directions for execution and catalog decentralization. Use when onboarding to the codebase, deciding which service a new code path belongs in, debugging cross-service contract breaks (secrets, worker offload, kernel containers, scheduler), or evaluating whether a design change would foreclose the maintainer's decentralization vision.
Recreate every Flowfile dev/build environment from scratch (backend, web frontend, Tauri desktop, Docker stack + kernel images, WASM, pip-installed unified mode) with exact version pins, Makefile target semantics, PyInstaller/sidecar staging, and master-key generation — use when setting up a fresh checkout, running `make all`/`make services`/`make build_tauri_*`, debugging "sidecar not found"/notarization/stale-lock/npm-peer-dep failures, or answering "what Python/Node/Poetry/Rust version do I need" and "which port does X run on".
How changes to the Flowfile monorepo are classified, gated, versioned, and released — version-lockstep bump/check machinery, the stub and formula-docs drift gates, Alembic migration discipline, deliberate dependency pins (fastapi, polars), the v*/wasm-v* release-tag mechanics, real branch-protection state (ghost required checks, admin bypass), and the standing no-commit/no-stash agent working agreement. Use when bumping the app version, adding an Alembic migration, touching flowfile_frame's public API or the formula docs generator, editing a pinned dependency (fastapi, polars, litellm), preparing or reviewing a release/tag, wondering why a PR won't go green, or deciding whether an agent may run `git commit`/`git stash`.