FLODE — Visual Flow + Node Editor for Home Assistant Automations & Scripts

[SH1FT-W]

Latest release · Requires Home Assistant 2026.3 or newer · Changelog

FLODE shows your automations and scripts as a flow you can read, test and understand, right inside Home Assistant. Every step is edited with Home Assistant’s own editors (the same forms, pickers and dialogs as in Settings → Automations & scenes) and saved as plain Home Assistant YAML. No server, no account, no lock-in: uninstall FLODE and every automation keeps working.

What it does

• Home Assistant’s own editors for every trigger, condition and action, including adding steps, renaming (area, category, labels), mode and saving. If-then, Choose, Repeat and Parallel stay single blocks.
• Automations and scripts, several open in tabs, each with its own undo.
• Runs: Home Assistant’s trace timeline next to the canvas, the path drawn on the cards, and Run from here for any step.
• Relations: conflicting automations, self-triggering ones, chains, missing entities, and where is this used? for any entity.
• Template workshop (⌘J): Jinja rendered live by Home Assistant, with the variables of a real run.
• Fast to work with: ⌘K for everything, right-click menus, copy/paste, minimap, keyboard shortcuts, YAML import/export and merging automations.
• Careful with your data: opens and saves your existing automations unchanged, and warns if it can’t read part of one.
• Follows Home Assistant: your language, light or dark theme, and works on a phone.

Optional AI help: if you’ve set up an AI task in Home Assistant (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama …), FLODE can explain a run, review the open flow, or build a draft from a plain-language description. Without it, those buttons simply don’t appear.

Runs on the canvas	Relations between automations

Installation

1. HACS → search for FLODE → Download.
2. Restart Home Assistant.
3. Settings → Devices & services → Add integration → FLODE. It appears in the sidebar (admins only).

FLODE is a fork of C.A.F.E. by @FezVrasta. Thanks for the fantastic original project!

In full transparency: I develop FLODE in my spare time and use Claude (Anthropic) as a coding assistant. Every change is tested by me and documented in the changelog.

FLODE never overwrites anything it wasn’t asked to save, but please back up your automations before big edits anyway. Bugs and ideas are very welcome as GitHub issues.

Repository & issues: GitHub - SH1FT-W/flode: See your Home Assistant automations and scripts as a flow — edited with Home Assistant's own editors, real runs on the canvas, optional AI help. Saved as plain Home Assistant YAML. · GitHub · License: Apache 2.0

[Lukacs_Attila (Lukács Attila)]

Hi there,

While it's a nice fork, please notice that this forum is English only (see this: How to help us help you - or How to ask a good question)

[SH1FT-W]

Hi,

thanks for the hint!
The post and title have been updated, everything is in English now.

[SH1FT-W]

Update!!! FLODE is now at v1.3.0

Thanks to everyone who tried it out since the original post! A lot has happened since v0.8.0
here's the highlight reel:

Native Home Assistant UI (v1.2.0)
FLODE now uses HA's own UI components throughout, native entity/device/area/service pickers, ha-select/ha-switch/selectors, and full theming via HA's CSS variables. It's mounted as a real panel via Shadow DOM (no more iframe), so it feels like part of Home Assistant rather than a separate app bolted on.

Full targeting support (v1.3.0)
Actions can now target areas, devices, labels, and floors directly in the editor, not just entities.

Save dialog metadata (v1.3.0)
Assign icon, category, labels, and area to your automation right from the FLODE save dialog, same as the native editor.

Trace overlay on the canvas (v1.3.0)
Run an automation and see the execution path highlighted directly on your flow, executed/error/skipped states per node.

Deep links (v1.3.0)
Open a specific automation directly via URL (?automation=<entity_id>) or jump straight into a new automation (?new=1), handy for dashboard buttons.

Diagnostics, Repairs & language option (v1.3.0)
Standard HA diagnostics download, import warnings now surface as proper Repair issues instead of vanishing toasts, and a new option to force English/German regardless of your HA language.

Also since the original post: OR/AND condition visualization, choose-block improvements, templated delay support, a big dependency/security overhaul, and general hardening.

Full changelog: [link zu CHANGELOG.md]
Latest release: Release v1.3.0 · SH1FT-W/flode · GitHub

Still looking for testers and feedback, especially on the native UI migration and the new targeting options!

[dgarrison (David)]

Hi. New to both Home Assistant as well as FLODE, but have been using Hubitat for the past 5+ years.

FLODE looks like a real cool addon to Home Assistant and am looking forward to explore its capabilities.

I’ve installed FLODE and am running into an issue when I try to open an existing automation. I have two automations and they are both located in the “Garage” area and, when I attempt to open with FLODE, I’m getting a yellow bar with the word “Garage” in white and I’m unable to do anything at this point - please see attached.

Any thoughts as to what’s happening?

Thanks and I appreciate the hard work!

[SH1FT-W]

Hello,
Thank you very much for your feedback. That’s a “bug”; I’ll fix it as soon as possible.

[dgarrison (David)]

Thank you!

[SH1FT-W]

Hi David,

thanks for testing and for the detailed report, that made it easy to track down!

The issue you’re seeing (the yellow area bar blocking the editor when opening an existing automation) has been fixed in v1.5.1.

Please update FLODE via HACS to v1.5.1, then clear your browser cache / do a hard reload (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R) so the new frontend files are loaded. After that your Garage automations should open normally.

I’m also planning to improve that popup further in one of the next releases, so expect it to get a bit nicer and more usable over time.

[dgarrison (David)]

Thanks for the update. However, the issue persists after upgrading FLODE to 1.5.1.

Also, while it does indicate 1.5.1 at the top left of the FLODE page, the blue version decorator shows 1.4.0.

Thanks

[dgarrison (David)]

[jlpnc (jlpnea)]

Hi,
this looks great! I really like the concept
I’d like to test it, but initially with a script with fields. However, it seems that scripts aren’t supported?

[SH1FT-W]

Thanks! I’m glad you like the concept.

I’ll take a look at it. I think adding support for scripts (including fields) is a good idea, and I’ll most likely include it in one of the next updates.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[oscarallo]

Hi, i love this integration. Node Red was too difficult

I’m flagging a small bug, just in case no one else has. When I create a new node and enter a custom name in the designated field, pressing Backspace or Delete doesn’t let me delete the text; instead, it removes the node from the graph.

i’m on Crome 150.0.7871.125 on MacOS.

[jlpnc (jlpnea)]

hi,
Actions/services with code generated with Jinja2 expressions are not supported ?
for exemple:

action: alarm_control_panel.alarm_arm_{{ trigger.calendar_event.summary }}
target:
entity_id:
- alarm_control_panel.alarmo

This expression works in the native editor.

[SH1FT-W]

@jlpnc
I’ll take a closer look at how templated service names are handled and get back to you.

[SH1FT-W]

@oscarallo
Thanks a lot, glad you like it! Thanks also for flagging this, I’ll take a look at the naming field behavior with Backspace/Delete on Chrome/MacOS.

[SH1FT-W]

@oscarallo Quick follow-up: this was actually already fixed in v1.5.2. Backspace/Delete inside a text field no longer removes the node. Please update FLODE to the latest version (currently v1.5.3) via HACS and do a hard refresh in Chrome afterwards (Cmd+Shift+R), so the new frontend gets loaded. Let me know if it still happens after that!

[SH1FT-W]

Update: FLODE is now at v1.5.3

Thanks to everyone who tested FLODE and reported bugs here and on GitHub, that helped a lot! Quite a bit has happened since the last update (v1.3.0), here’s a short overview:

New

• Undo/Redo on the canvas (Cmd+Z / Cmd+Shift+Z, or the toolbar buttons)
• Light/dark toggle in the header, independent of your HA theme
• Quick-add menu: drag a connection onto empty canvas and pick the next node right there
• Trigger IDs can be set directly on the canvas, with a warning if two triggers share the same ID
• One node can now connect to several next nodes. FLODE turns that into a parallel: block, and it comes back correctly when you reopen the automation

Fixed

• Unreadable dropdowns and fields in dark mode and with custom themes
• Backspace/Delete in a text field no longer removes the selected node
• Scrolling in dialogs (e.g. “Open Automation”) works again

Update via HACS and do a hard refresh in your browser afterwards (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R), so the new frontend gets loaded.

I’d really appreciate it if you give it another try and let me know how it goes, whether something works well, something breaks, or something is missing. Feedback here in the thread or as an issue on GitHub is very welcome: Issues · SH1FT-W/flode · GitHub

Thanks!

[SH1FT-W]

Update: FLODE 2.2 is out — redesign, AI assist, scripts & tabs

Thanks to everyone who tested FLODE and reported bugs here and on GitHub! A lot happened since v1.5.3 — here’s everything from 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 in one place. Automations built with 1.x open and save exactly as before.

2.2 — Scripts, tabs & run from here

@jlpnc you asked for scripts with fields back in July — they’re here!

• Scripts — edit Home Assistant scripts, not just automations (Automations | Scripts switch on the start screen). A script start node holds the input fields (variable, label, description, required, input type via HA’s own selector picker, default). Run asks for the fields with HA’s own inputs.
• Tabs — several automations and scripts open at once, each with its own undo history; unsaved changes show as a dot, and tabs survive a reload.
• Run from here — right-click any step (or ⌘K / Ctrl+K) to run it and everything after it for real, after a confirmation.
• Fixes — conditions with a duration (“on for 10 minutes”) and time conditions now work correctly in flows with several triggers; redo works right after undo again.

2.1 — AI assist

Uses the AI you already set up in Home Assistant (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, Ollama …) — FLODE needs no API key of its own.

• Create with AI — describe an automation or script in plain words and get a draft flow built from your real entities. FLODE checks it (YAML, structure, entity ids) and lets the AI correct itself once; nothing is saved until you save.
• Explain a run — one click on Last run and the AI explains what happened and why, in your local time.
• Enable it by choosing an AI Task under Settings → System → AI → AI suggestions → Data generation tasks; without one the buttons simply don’t appear and admins get a short setup guide.

2.0 — Redesign

• Start screen with all automations grouped by area, search, filters and an on/off switch per card.
• Readable cards — every step says what it does (“Bed light changes to On”, “Wait 5 seconds”) and shows its entity’s live state.
• ⌘K / Ctrl+K command palette, right-click menus and keyboard shortcuts (press ?).
• Last run on the canvas, Tidy up, a clickable problem list and quick save (⌘S / Ctrl+S).
• Target-based triggers & conditions from HA 2026.x, Jinja2-templated action names (@jlpnc — alarm_control_panel.alarm_arm_{{ … }} works now) and unknown steps are kept verbatim instead of being lost.

Update: HACS → FLODE → Update, restart Home Assistant, then do a hard refresh (Ctrl+F5 / Cmd+Shift+R).

Release notes: 2.2.0 · 2.1.0 · 2.0.0
Feedback welcome, here or on GitHub!

[SH1FT-W]

FLODE 3 is out (current: 3.0.6)

FLODE 3 is a new editor built from Home Assistant’s own parts. The frontend moved from React to Lit, and every trigger, condition and action is now edited with Home Assistant’s own editors, so it looks and behaves like Settings → Automations & scenes. The engine that reads and writes your automations is the same as in 2.x, so your flows open and save as before.

New in 3.x:

• Home Assistant’s own editors and dialogs for every step, adding steps, renaming, mode and saving. If-then, Choose, Repeat and Parallel stay single blocks.
• Runs: Home Assistant’s trace timeline and logbook next to the canvas, with the path of a run drawn on the cards.
• Relations: which automations react to what and switch what, chains, conflicts, self-triggering, missing entities, and Where is … used?
• Template workshop (⌘J): Jinja rendered live by Home Assistant.
• AI assistant in the editor (optional): ask about the open flow or let it find mistakes.
• Start page uses Home Assistant’s own automation table with filters, grouping and bulk actions.
• Works on phones: side panels open as a bottom sheet.

Fixed: to: null, initial_state: true and plain-number delays were lost on save in 2.x.

Please note: FLODE 3 requires Home Assistant 2026.3 or newer. The 2.x simulation, problem list and multi-select/align are gone (use real runs and Run from here instead).

Also from earlier in this thread:

• @jlpnc scripts with input fields arrived in 2.2, and Jinja-templated action names (action: "{{ svc }}") are supported since 2.0.

Update via HACS. Full details in the changelog. Feedback and bug reports are very welcome on GitHub!