Workflow components let you save a group of nodes as a reusable building block. When you paste a component into other workflows, it stays linked — updating the component propagates changes to every workflow that uses it.
Core concepts
Saving a component
- Select two or more nodes in the workflow visualizer.
- Right-click and choose Save as Component.
- Give it a name and confirm.
The selected nodes are saved to your workspace’s component library and tagged with a blue overlay border in the current workflow. This overlay indicates they’re linked to a library component.
Avoid including Start or End nodes in a component. Pasting them into another workflow would create duplicate start/end points.
Using a component
Right-click the canvas and open the Components section in the add-node menu. Selecting a component pastes its nodes into the workflow at the cursor position. The pasted nodes are linked instances — they show the blue overlay border and will receive future updates from the library.
A workflow can contain multiple instances of the same component. Each paste creates a fresh source_component_instance_id, and propagation tracks each instance independently — updating the component updates every instance in every workflow.
Vault credentials
If the source component references vault credentials (e.g., a TFA node configured with a vault alias), the relevant vault schema entries are automatically merged into the target workflow when you paste. Your existing entries are never overwritten — target entries take precedence if there’s a conflict.
Editing and updating
Detecting changes
When you modify a component instance’s nodes in a workflow (change parameters, rename, add or remove nodes), CloudCruise tracks the diff against the library version. A dirty indicator appears on the component overlay.
When you save the workflow, a dialog shows what changed and lets you choose whether to push the update back to the library component.
Propagation
When you update a component (either from the save dialog or the context menu), all workflows in your workspace that contain an instance of that component are updated automatically:
- Node matching — Existing instance nodes are matched to the updated template by their stable mapping ID. New template nodes get fresh workflow node IDs.
- Edge preservation — Internal edges (between component nodes) are replaced with the new template. External edges (connections from component nodes to non-component nodes) are preserved.
- Vault credentials — Only vault entries actually referenced by the component’s node parameters are merged into each target workflow. Target entries always take precedence.
You can disable propagation per-update by unchecking the propagate checkbox in the update dialog.
Version history
Every update creates a new version. You can view the full version history from the component’s context menu and revert to any previous version. Reverting creates a new version and propagates the reverted state to all instances.
Unlinking and removing
Managing components from the CLI
The same lifecycle is scriptable via the CloudCruise CLI — useful for coding agents (Claude, Cursor), CI flows, and bulk operations:
See the CLI overview for the full command set or the REST endpoints for direct API integration.
Scope and limitations
- Components are workspace-scoped. They can be used in any workflow within the same workspace but are not shared across workspaces.
- Many instances per workflow are supported. A component can be pasted into a workflow any number of times — each instance is tracked independently and updated by propagation.
- Input/output schemas are per-workflow, not per-component. A component does not carry or propagate input/output schema — each workflow maintains its own.
- Component updates propagate only to workflows in the same workspace. If a teammate doesn’t have read access to a particular workflow (via RLS), that workflow won’t be updated.
- Component deletion is irreversible — version history is wiped along with the component. Embedded instances in workflows remain as orphaned nodes (their structure persists but they no longer receive propagation).
