Runs and automation
Every time a node does its work, OvalBee records a run: its inputs, outputs, logs, artifacts, who or what started it, and how long it took. There’s no run of a whole flow — only runs of nodes, chained together by edges.
What starts a run
The trigger is shown on every run in the node’s History tab.
Downstream runs
When a run succeeds, OvalBee starts every node that the node’s flow edges point to. When one of those succeeds, the same happens again, and so on. A failed or cancelled run starts nothing.
A node that was started by an upstream node or a schedule is skipped if it’s still busy with an earlier run, so a burst of upstream activity doesn’t pile up copies of the same work. Manual runs are always started.
Isolated runs
Sometimes you want to rerun one node without setting off everything below it: to refresh a preview, to check a setting, to point a node at another dataset. Open the … menu on the run button and choose Run node isolated. Only that node runs.
To make isolated the default for a node, turn on Run Isolated in its automation settings — the button then reads Run isolated. Some nodes are isolated out of the box. The Dataset node is one of them, so picking another dataset doesn’t start the whole flow.
Stopping
While a node runs, the run button turns into Stop task. The flow toolbar’s tasks popover shows everything running in the flow right now.
Automation settings
Click the cog next to the run button to open a node’s automation settings.
Run Schedule
Run the node automatically. Simple mode takes every N minutes, hours or days, and Advanced mode takes a cron expression. A scheduled node shows a clock badge on the canvas.
Some nodes come with a schedule. Labeling and Review nodes, for example, refresh their queues every 15 minutes, so new images reach labelers and unclaimed work returns to the pool without anyone pressing a button.
Run Isolated
Run only this node, never the nodes after it. See Isolated runs.
Require Configuration
Block the node until its required inputs are filled. Until then it can’t be run by hand, it’s skipped when an upstream node would start it, its schedule doesn’t fire, and it shows a Needs configuration badge.
Setup Prompt
Include the node in the Flow setup dialog, which appears when someone opens a flow whose setup nodes haven’t been initialized yet — typically right after creating a flow from a template. If the node’s inputs change after setup, a badge on the node asks you to rerun setup so its outputs catch up.
Discard History
Keep routine automated runs out of the History tab: Never, On success or Always. It applies to scheduled and setup runs only — manual runs are always kept. A labeling queue that refreshes every 15 minutes uses On success, so its history shows failures and nothing else.
Pausing a flow
Pausing stops a flow’s scheduled runs and nothing else. Manual runs and the chains they start work as usual, and people can keep working in the annotation tool. Skipped schedules don’t leave empty runs behind.
Pause and resume from the tasks popover in the flow toolbar, or from Pause runs on the flow’s card on the Home page. Paused flows are marked Paused on Home and on the Labeling page.
Running again
A node can run as often as you like. Each run is a new entry in its History tab, and after a successful run its outputs point at the fresh results. What happens to data depends on where the node writes:
- A dataset the node created for its output gets a new version on every rerun. The previous results stay in the dataset’s history and nothing is overwritten.
- A destination dataset you picked is written as you picked it. Each node’s page in the Node Library says exactly what a rerun does — whether it adds, replaces or skips what’s already there.
Run history and logs
Click a node’s status icon, or open the History tab, to see its runs. Each run has:
- Info — status, trigger, who started it, when, and how long it took.
- Params — the input values the run received and the outputs it produced.
- Logs — live while the run is going, filterable by level.
- Artifacts — files and results the run produced, ready to open or download.
The Activity page
Activity in the main sidebar lists runs across every flow in the workspace, with totals for the period, the failure rate, the longest run and how many runs are scheduled for today. Switch between All Runs, Running and Errors, pick a period, and click Details on any run to open the same record as in the History tab. The node name links straight to the node on its canvas.