Interface & Canvas

The Split Viewport

Node Canvas (left / top)

React Flow surface with your graph. Pan, zoom, select, wire \u2014 this is where the thinking happens.

3D Preview (right / bottom)

Live render of whatever the Output node receives. Toolpath polylines and Preview Mesh surfaces both show up here.

Divider

Drag to resize. Double-click to snap back to 50/50.

Orientation toggle

Switch between side-by-side and stacked layouts. The button sits next to the divider handle.

Adding Nodes

Four ways in \u2014 pick the one that matches your flow:

Shift + A

Opens the Add Node popup in the centre of the canvas. Type to filter by name, category or description; arrow keys and Enter pick. The new node drops where your mouse is.

Double-click on empty pane

Same popup, anchored at the click point. Discoverable alternative to Shift + A.

Right-click \u2192 Add Node

Same popup again, but anchored to the click point \u2014 handy when you want the new node to land next to an existing wire.

Drag from Nodes dock

The left-dock Nodes tab lists every registered node, grouped by collapsible categories. Clicking or pressing Enter on a row places it at a free canvas position and auto-selects it.

Template Gallery

On a fresh canvas, picking a template instantiates a fully-wired graph in one atomic step. Great for learning by example \u2014 pick one, then poke at it.

Wiring Nodes

Drag from an output socket (right side of a node) to an input socket (left side of another node). The canvas highlights valid drop targets; incompatible socket types stay dim.

Socket colours

Each socket type has a fixed colour, so mismatches are visible at a glance \u2014 Float/Int yellow, Vector3 blue-green, Path/PointArray white, Mesh grey, Toolpath orange, SDF purple.

Implicit conversions

Some type mismatches are accepted \u2014 e.g. Float \u2192 Vector3 replicates the scalar across xyz, Path \u2192 Toolpath wraps the polyline in a single segment. See the Sockets page for the full table.

Explicit converters

Lossy or heavy conversions require a dedicated node \u2014 SDF \u2192 Mesh uses Marching Cubes, Mesh \u2192 Toolpath uses Contour Slice. Keeps cost honest and visible.

Selecting edges

Click a wire to select it. Selected edges glow in the accent colour so you know what will die when you press Delete.

Deleting a wire

Select it and press Delete / Backspace, or right-click and choose "Delete connection". You can also grab the end of a wire and drag it off the socket to rewire.

Left Dock \u2014 Nodes, Problems, Templates

The left dock has three tabs specific to Node Sculptor:

Nodes

Searchable palette mirroring the Shift+A popup, with categories you can collapse to tame the list. Click a row or hit Enter to insert the node with auto-layout; the palette is great as a persistent sidebar while you learn the vocabulary.

Problems

Every non-fatal evaluation problem (missing required input, out-of-range param, execution error) lands here with the offending node id and a human-readable message. Click a row to jump the canvas to that node \u2014 the border flashes so you can spot it.

Templates

The same gallery the fresh-canvas overlay shows, but always available. Picking a template replaces the current graph atomically \u2014 the undo stack records a single "Apply template" entry so you can get back with one Ctrl+Z.

Right Dock \u2014 Tagged Parameters

Any parameter on any node can be tagged \u2014 right-click the param and give it a friendly label. Tagged parameters appear in the right dock, collapsed by node, so you can tune a design without touching the graph.

Every starter template ships with a few suggested tags (e.g. "Twist \u00b0/layer", "Rib depth", "Cell count"). They're regular parameters under the hood \u2014 untag any of them to hide them again.

Viewport HUD \u2014 Pinned Numeric Parameters

Any numeric param (float or int) can be pinned to the viewport. Right-click the slider on the node and choose Add to viewport; the slider then appears in a floating stack at the top-left of the 3D preview, right next to your model. Numeric pins are also the ones surfaced in the right dock.

Pin a param

Right-click the numeric field on any node \u2192 Add to viewport. The field on the node lights up in the accent colour so you can see at a glance which values are pinned.

Drag from the HUD

Edit the pinned value straight from the HUD \u2014 same BlenderNumField control as on the node, same commit path, same undo entry.

Unpin

Click the \u00d7 next to the pinned row, OR right-click the field again and choose "Remove from viewport". Both routes go through the same reducer so they can't drift.

Persistence

Pins live in the module config\u2019s taggedParams list, so they travel with the project JSON \u2014 share a graph and your collaborator sees the same pinned dials.

Canvas Context Menu

Right-click on empty canvas space:

Add Node

Same popup as Shift + A, anchored at the click point.

Clear Selection

Deselects any selected nodes and edges.

Zoom to Fit

Fits the full graph into the viewport. Shortcut: F.

Re-open Template Gallery

Available only when the canvas is a fresh (Output-only) graph.

Right-click on a node:

Rename

Change the header label; the kind / type stays the same.

Duplicate

Copy the node in place with a small offset. Wires are not duplicated \u2014 re-wire as needed.

Delete

Remove the node and its attached edges. Disabled for the Output node.

Open Docs

Jumps directly to this documentation set, on the right page for that node.

Right-click on an edge:

Delete connection

Removes that wire. Same effect as selecting it and pressing Delete.

Shortcuts Cheat-Sheet

The small ? bubble in the top-right corner of the canvas toggles a compact keyboard-shortcut overlay, grouped by Authoring / Navigation / Selection. No need to remember them all \u2014 poke the bubble any time you forget which key does what.

Context-Aware Export Button

The top-toolbar's primary Export button is polymorphic \u2014 it matches whichever socket the Output node is using:

Toolpath wired

Button reads G-code. Exports the compiled toolpath for the active printer profile.

Preview Mesh wired

Button reads Export Mesh. The dropdown offers STL, OBJ and GLTF, driven by the same mesh you see in the viewport.

Both wired

Button defaults to G-code (the "primary" print path); the dropdown still lets you grab the mesh in any format.