FlowForge

A visual node-based file processing pipeline tool. Build reusable workflows for renaming, resizing, converting, and filtering files — no scripting required.

Overview

FlowForge lets you visually connect source, transform, and output nodes to build file processing pipelines:

• Visual Node Editor — Drag-and-drop canvas with pan, zoom, and wire connections
• 11 Built-in Nodes — Sources, transforms, and outputs covering common file operations
• Real-time Preview — Simulate runs without touching any files
• Pipeline Templates — Pre-wired workflows for common tasks (photo import, batch rename, web export, compression)
• CLI Runner — Execute pipelines from the command line for automation and scripting
• Cross-platform — Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux via Avalonia UI

Features

Node Types

Category	Node	Description
Input	Folder Input	Enumerate files from a directory with recursive and filter options
Process	Rename Pattern	Token-based renaming ({name}, {date}, {counter}, {meta})
Process	Rename Regex	Regex find-and-replace with capture group support
Process	Rename Add Affix	Add prefix and/or suffix to filenames
Process	Filter	Conditional filtering by extension, size, date, or regex
Process	Sort	Reorder files by name, extension, or size
Process	Image Resize	Resize images with aspect ratio control
Process	Image Convert	Convert between JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, and TIFF
Process	Image Compress	Quality-based compression for JPEG, PNG, and WebP
Process	Metadata Extract	Read EXIF and file metadata into pipeline variables
Save To	Folder Output	Copy or move processed files to a destination directory

Pipeline Editor

• Canvas — Nodify-powered node graph with pan, zoom, drag, and rubber-band selection
• Node Library — Categorized sidebar with search and drag-to-canvas support
• Properties Panel — Auto-generated config forms from node schemas (text, number, boolean, file/folder picker, dropdown)
• Execution Log — Live progress with success/fail/skip counts and per-file details
• Templates — One-click pipeline starters: Photo Import, Batch Rename, Web Export, Compress
• Midnight Theme — Custom dark theme with GitHub Dark-inspired color palette

CLI Runner

flowforge run pipeline.ffpipe [--input <dir>] [--output <dir>] [--dry-run] [--verbose]

• Override input/output directories per run
• Dry-run mode for safe previewing
• Structured logging with Serilog
• Exit codes: 0 (success), 1 (pipeline error), 2 (invalid arguments)

Pipeline Format

Pipelines are saved as .ffpipe files (human-readable JSON, UTF-8):

{
  "name": "Photo Import",
  "nodes": [
    { "id": "...", "typeKey": "FolderInput", "config": { "path": "/photos" } }
  ],
  "connections": [
    { "sourceId": "...", "targetId": "..." }
  ]
}

Tech Stack

Technology	Purpose
.NET 10	Runtime and build system
Avalonia 11	Cross-platform desktop UI framework
Nodify.Avalonia	Node graph editor control
CommunityToolkit.Mvvm	MVVM framework
SixLabors.ImageSharp	Image processing (resize, convert, compress)
MetadataExtractor	EXIF and file metadata reading
Serilog	Structured logging
System.CommandLine	CLI argument parsing
xUnit + FluentAssertions	Testing framework

Project Structure

FlowForge/
├── FlowForge.sln
├── src/
│   ├── FlowForge.Core/           # Business logic (no UI references)
│   │   ├── Execution/            # PipelineRunner, NodeRegistry
│   │   ├── Models/               # FileJob, ExecutionResult
│   │   ├── Nodes/
│   │   │   ├── Base/             # Interfaces, ConfigField, exceptions
│   │   │   ├── Sources/          # FolderInputNode
│   │   │   ├── Transforms/       # 8 transform nodes
│   │   │   └── Outputs/          # FolderOutputNode
│   │   ├── Pipeline/             # PipelineGraph, Serializer, Templates
│   │   └── Settings/             # AppSettings, AppSettingsManager
│   ├── FlowForge.UI/             # Avalonia desktop app (MVVM)
│   │   ├── ViewModels/           # 14 view models
│   │   ├── Views/                # 5 view pairs + template selector
│   │   ├── Themes/               # MidnightTheme.axaml
│   │   └── Services/             # DialogService
│   └── FlowForge.CLI/            # CLI runner (System.CommandLine)
└── tests/
    └── FlowForge.Tests/          # 202 xUnit tests
        ├── Nodes/                # 11 node test files
        ├── Execution/            # Runner + registry tests
        ├── Pipeline/             # Serializer + template tests
        ├── Models/               # FileJob tests
        ├── Settings/             # AppSettings tests
        └── Helpers/              # TempDirectory, TestFileFactory, PipelineBuilder

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• .NET 10 SDK or later

Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Wintersta7e/FlowForge.git
cd FlowForge

# Build all projects
dotnet build

# Run the desktop app
dotnet run --project src/FlowForge.UI

# Run the CLI
dotnet run --project src/FlowForge.CLI -- run pipeline.ffpipe --dry-run

Run Tests

# Run all 202 tests
dotnet test --logger "console;verbosity=normal"

# Run specific test class
dotnet test --filter "FullyQualifiedName~RenamePatternNodeTests"

Quick Start

1. Launch the app — dotnet run --project src/FlowForge.UI
2. Use a template — Click a template button on the empty canvas (Photo Import, Batch Rename, Web Export, or Compress)
3. Or build from scratch — Drag nodes from the sidebar onto the canvas
4. Connect nodes — Drag from an output pin to an input pin to create a wire
5. Configure — Select a node and edit its settings in the Properties panel
6. Preview — Click Preview to simulate the run without changing any files
7. Run — Click Run to execute the pipeline
8. Save — Save your pipeline as a .ffpipe file to reuse later

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Ensure dotnet build passes with zero warnings
5. Ensure dotnet test passes
6. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Support

• Report issues or suggest features
• Star this repository if you find it useful