The three shapes a FlowFuse app takes when it runs on the platform.
Software apps — start here
The three shapes a FlowFuse app takes when it runs on the platform. Pick by what it needs: a headless job (Packaged App), a user-facing app driven by data (Data-Driven App), or a reusable piece other apps embed (Shared Building Block).
Headless · no UI
Headless job on a Hosted or Remote Instance, no screen.
Event stream
Team Broker
MQTT
subscribes
Platform
Hosted Instance
headless · no UI
writes
Records
FlowFuse Tables
writes rows
No dashboard
A headless, self-contained job that runs the same everywhere — an MQTT-to-DB connector, a pipeline, a scheduled task. No UI.
Use it when
A self-contained job with no screen and no per-site settings: connectors, pipelines, scheduled work.
How it works
Built and promoted through a pipeline; runs headless on a Hosted (or Remote) Instance. Everything is baked into the snapshot; only fixed env vars vary at deploy.
Major components
Team Broker (MQTT) — the event stream the app subscribes to
Hosted Instance — FlowFuse-managed Node-RED running the headless app
Packaged App (no UI) — the logic itself, no dashboard
FlowFuse Tables — where the app writes its rows
Where config & data live
Config — baked into the snapshot; only fixed env vars at deploy.
Data — reads the Team Broker, writes FlowFuse Tables.
User-facing · backed by data
User-facing app on a Hosted Instance, backed by data.
People
Users
browser
opens
Platform
Hosted Instance
data-driven app
reads · writes
Records
FlowFuse Tables
records
A user-facing app on a Hosted Instance — a time clock, an asset manager — whose content is driven by data. It needs a backend and a data source to be complete.
Use it when
Apps whose displayed settings or records change between deployments and grow over time: time clocks, registries, asset managers.
How it works
Same pipeline delivery to a Hosted Instance; the runtime loads its data from FlowFuse Tables or the Team Broker, served by a backend behind the screen.
Major components
Users (browser) — the people using the app's dashboard
Hosted Instance — runs the data-driven app and serves its UI
FlowFuse Tables — the records the app reads and writes
Where config & data live
Config — app settings and records live in FlowFuse Tables (or context), editable without redeploying.
Data — FlowFuse Tables for records, the Team Broker for live values.
Embedded by other apps
Reusable UI or logic many Hosted Instances embed.
Authored once
Shared Building Block
reusable subflows
publish
Catalogue
Team Library
catalogue
embedded in
Apps that embed it
Hosted Instance
App A · block
Hosted Instance
App B · block
Hosted Instance
App C · block
A reusable piece of UI or logic that other apps embed — not an app itself. Think a common dashboard surface many Hosted Instances present through.
Use it when
Many apps should share one piece of UI or logic and upgrade it in lockstep.
How it works
Published as subflows to the Team Library with an example flow; updating the subflow updates every Hosted Instance that adopts the new version.
Major components
Shared Building Block (reusable subflows) — the block authored once
Team Library — the catalogue it's published to
Hosted Instances — the apps that embed it and upgrade together
Where config & data live
Config — via the subflow's instance properties / env where it's embedded.
Data — none of its own; it embeds into the host app's data.
FlowFuse Application Guide