Graph basics

This page explains how Scrapist graphs work at a conceptual level, and what it means to “activate” one.

​

How a graph works

A Scrapist automation is a directed graph made of:

• Nodes (blocks that do work)
• Edges (wires) connecting ports on nodes
• Variables (named values you can configure and/or mutate during execution)

At runtime, Scrapist evaluates your graph for an incoming event (most commonly a tweet):

1. A tweet enters the system as an event.tweet payload.
2. Execution flows through exec ports (control flow).
3. Nodes pull values through data ports (data flow) and produce outputs.
4. Action nodes can emit effects (e.g., a coin_launch effect) which the backend dispatches to the launch/transactions system.

​

Exec vs data flow (the two kinds of wires)

• Exec wires answer: “What runs next?”
  • Example: event.tweet.exec-out → logic.if.exec-in
• Data wires answer: “What value is used?”
  • Example: data.tweet.break.body-text → string.contains.search

Some nodes are “exec-free” (no exec ports). These are treated like pure functions and may be evaluated on-demand when another node needs their output.

​

Graph logic: nodes, AI, and “scripting”

Scrapist is “visual scripting”: instead of writing code, you connect nodes into a workflow. Common node families:

• Events: start the flow (event.tweet)
• Tweet/data extraction: break tweets into fields (data.tweet.break, data.tweet.breakFull)
• Logic: branch based on conditions (logic.if, logic.switch, logic.compare)
• Math/string utilities: transform values before action
• AI: generate structured output from a tweet (ai.getName, ai.prompt)
• Actions: launch, delay, notify (action.launchSolana, action.launchBnb, action.delay, action.notify)
• Debug: enable persisted tracing or log messages (debug.enableTracing, debug.log)

Many nodes have metadata/config in the sidebar that changes behavior (and sometimes changes available ports). For example, logic.switch creates exec outputs based on its configured cases, and ai.prompt can dynamically add data output ports for fields you want the model to return.

​

Graph instances (activation/deactivation)

Saving a graph does not make it “run”. A graph runs when you create an Instance (a backend deployment) for a specific graph version and set it to Active. Instances are where you configure runtime limits like:

• Deploy cap (max launches)
• Cooldown (minimum time between launches)
• Credit spend limit (if enabled in your environment)

Activation rules to know:

• Activating an instance makes that version live in the tweet pipeline.
• A version with an active instance is treated as deployed and is locked from editing in the graph editor until you deactivate/undeploy it.