What the jargon means — automation, ETL, graph pipelines, nodes, mapping, webhooks, APIs, AI — and what SpanFlow does about each.
Letting software do repeatable work — moving, checking and sending data — that people currently do by hand.
In SpanFlow: Every automation is a pipeline you draw on a canvas, run on a schedule or on demand, and watch step by step.
Also searched as: workflow automation · business process automation · process automation · task automation
More on this →One place to connect many systems — databases, apps, files, APIs — instead of writing a separate script for each pair.
In SpanFlow: SpanFlow is a self-hosted integration platform: the same connectors, canvas and run history for every integration.
Also searched as: iPaaS · integration platform as a service · system integration · enterprise integration · application integration
More on this →Software that runs on your own servers or cloud account rather than the vendor’s.
In SpanFlow: SpanFlow runs with Docker on your infrastructure, so data and credentials never leave your network.
Also searched as: on-premise · on-prem · private cloud · data sovereignty
More on this →Building working software mostly by configuring and connecting blocks instead of writing code.
In SpanFlow: Most pipelines need no code at all; JavaScript and C# steps are there for the cases that do.
Also searched as: low-code · no-code · citizen developer · drag and drop builder
More on this →Extract data from a source, transform it into the shape you need, and load it into a destination.
In SpanFlow: Retrieve, transform and deliver are built-in steps; deliver writes to real tables in batches with insert, update or upsert.
Also searched as: extract, transform, load · ELT · data pipeline · data ingestion
More on this →Combining data from different systems so they agree — once for a migration, or continuously as a sync.
In SpanFlow: Sync jobs poll a source, keep track of what they have already seen, and deliver only what changed.
Also searched as: data sync · data synchronization · database sync · data migration · data consolidation
More on this →Changing data’s shape or values — renaming, converting, cleaning, validating — so the next system accepts it.
In SpanFlow: Validate steps check every row and route rejects to a separate path, so nothing bad is loaded and nothing is lost.
Also searched as: data cleansing · data validation · data quality · data normalisation
More on this →Defining which field in one format becomes which field in another, with any conversion in between.
In SpanFlow: A visual mapping designer connects source fields to target fields, with joins, grouping, conditions and lookup tables.
Also searched as: field mapping · schema mapping · JSON mapping · format conversion · mapping designer
More on this →Matching records from two or more systems and listing the ones that don’t agree.
In SpanFlow: Parallel reads, a join, and a failure path that emails each break — the end-of-day pattern built as a template.
Also searched as: data matching · bank reconciliation · sales reconciliation · exception reporting
More on this →A sequence of connected steps that takes data from somewhere, does something with it, and puts it somewhere else.
In SpanFlow: Pipelines have drafts, published versions and one-click rollback, and every run is recorded.
Also searched as: workflow · flow · data flow · job
More on this →A pipeline drawn as a graph rather than a list, so steps can branch, run side by side, and join back together.
In SpanFlow: Independent branches run in parallel automatically; a merge waits for all of them.
Also searched as: graph · DAG · directed graph · flow chart · workflow graph
More on this →One box on the canvas — read, validate, transform, deliver, email, call an API, run code, ask an AI model.
In SpanFlow: Each node has its own settings form, retry policy and failure path, and shows its input and output after a run.
Also searched as: step · block · node-based workflow · node editor
More on this →An editor where you build automation by dragging and connecting steps instead of writing it out.
In SpanFlow: The canvas paints each run onto the graph, so you see exactly which step did what.
Also searched as: workflow designer · pipeline designer · canvas · drag and drop
More on this →Taking different paths depending on the data, repeating steps for each item, and combining results.
In SpanFlow: Condition, foreach, split and merge nodes, with batching so large lists never sit in memory at once.
Also searched as: conditional logic · for-each loop · parallel execution · fan-out fan-in · split and merge
More on this →A step where you write a small script when the built-in steps are not enough.
In SpanFlow: JavaScript and C# run in a sandbox with time and memory limits, tested in the browser against sample data.
Also searched as: custom code · JavaScript step · C# script · sandboxed code
More on this →Running something at set times — every night at 02:00, every Monday, every five minutes.
In SpanFlow: Cron triggers respect time zones, and every scheduled run shows up in the run history.
Also searched as: cron scheduler · scheduler · job scheduler · scheduled jobs · batch jobs · nightly job
More on this →A URL another system calls when something happens, so your process starts immediately instead of polling.
In SpanFlow: Each pipeline can have its own webhook, and a webhook router sends events from one URL to the right pipeline.
Also searched as: webhook automation · event-driven automation · callback URL · webhook router
More on this →Several pipelines run in a fixed order as one unit, with one log and one trigger.
In SpanFlow: Sequences run pipelines in order, and pipelines can also call each other like functions.
Also searched as: orchestration · job chaining · workflow orchestration
More on this →Reading from and writing to another system through its web API.
In SpanFlow: API key, basic, bearer and OAuth2 with token refresh; paginated APIs are followed automatically.
Also searched as: REST API · HTTP API · OAuth2 · API connector · pagination
More on this →Turning logic into an HTTP endpoint other software can call.
In SpanFlow: Any pipeline can be published as an endpoint with input rules, API keys, rate limits, CORS and generated OpenAPI docs.
Also searched as: publish an API · API publishing · backend as a service · serverless API · OpenAPI · Swagger
More on this →Making the screens people use — forms, lists, dashboards — on top of your data and processes.
In SpanFlow: Scaffold a form from an endpoint, design screens on a canvas, let AI write the page, or upload your own React build.
Also searched as: low-code app builder · internal tools · form builder · customer portal · UI designer
More on this →Producing PDFs or images — invoices, receipts, certificates — from data and a layout.
In SpanFlow: Rendered-document templates turn an HTML layout into a PDF or PNG inside any pipeline.
Also searched as: PDF generation · invoice generation · certificate generator · report generation
More on this →Reading from and writing to relational databases as part of an automated process.
In SpanFlow: Query with SQL, then insert, update or upsert into real tables in safe batches — with a query workbench in the browser.
Also searched as: PostgreSQL · SQL Server · MySQL · SQLite · upsert · SQL
More on this →Picking files up from, and dropping them onto, servers and cloud storage without anyone logging in.
In SpanFlow: CSV, TSV, Excel and JSON on local disk, FTP, SFTP, S3 or Azure Blob, with a remote file browser.
Also searched as: SFTP · FTP · Amazon S3 · Azure Blob Storage · CSV · Excel · file drop · managed file transfer
More on this →Sending emails — reports, alerts, confirmations — automatically from a process.
In SpanFlow: SMTP or SendGrid, with CSV or JSON attachments built from the run’s own data.
Also searched as: SMTP · SendGrid · email reports · email notifications
More on this →Reading people and groups from a company directory.
In SpanFlow: An LDAP / Active Directory connector, e.g. “email everyone in the Sales group”.
Also searched as: LDAP · Active Directory · staff directory
More on this →Talking to systems that don’t have a web API — over raw sockets or a remote shell.
In SpanFlow: TCP and WebSocket connectors, SSH command steps with host allowlists, and a browser terminal.
Also searched as: SSH · TCP · WebSocket · remote command · streaming
More on this →Reading data from websites, or driving a browser to fill in forms, when there is no API.
In SpanFlow: Fetch and crawl pages, clean the HTML into text, and replay recorded browser tasks on a schedule.
Also searched as: web scraping · web crawler · browser automation · RPA · robotic process automation
More on this →Using language models inside a process — to classify, summarise, extract or decide.
In SpanFlow: LLM, extract and agent steps with model routing, caching and budgets; Anthropic, OpenAI and compatible providers.
Also searched as: LLM · generative AI · AI workflow · GPT · Claude · AI agents
More on this →Pulling text and structured fields out of PDFs and images.
In SpanFlow: The extract step reads PDF text and uses vision models for images, returning the fields you ask for.
Also searched as: OCR · invoice extraction · intelligent document processing · IDP
More on this →Finding the passages most relevant to a question, then letting a model answer from them.
In SpanFlow: Embed, vector-upsert and vector-search steps on pgvector — the base for “chat with your data”.
Also searched as: RAG · retrieval-augmented generation · embeddings · vector database · semantic search
More on this →An open standard that lets AI assistants call tools and read data from other software.
In SpanFlow: Call MCP tools from a pipeline, and publish pipelines and governed tables as tools for assistants like Claude.
Also searched as: Model Context Protocol · MCP server · AI tools · AI assistant integration
More on this →Designing conversations that answer questions and get things done, on the channels customers already use.
In SpanFlow: Chat flows that run your pipelines, on your website, WhatsApp and SMS — plus opt-in campaigns.
Also searched as: conversational flows · WhatsApp automation · SMS automation · messaging campaigns
More on this →Seeing what ran, what it did, and being told when something fails.
In SpanFlow: Per-step run history with payloads, live activity, email alerts and push to a phone; replay from the failed step.
Also searched as: run history · logging · alerts · push notifications · observability
More on this →Deciding who can see and change what, and keeping a record of who did.
In SpanFlow: Organisations, projects, roles and permissions, with project isolation and an audit trail.
Also searched as: RBAC · role-based access control · multi-tenant · organisations and projects · audit trail
More on this →Keeping old versions, rolling back mistakes, and moving work safely from test to production.
In SpanFlow: Draft and published versions, rollback, per-environment deploys, and import/export bundles you review before applying.
Also searched as: version control · rollback · import export · dev to production · deployment
More on this →Start free with three projects, or talk to us about running it across your organisation.