Glossary
This page defines the core terms used throughout the SuperPlane documentation.
Canvas
Section titled “Canvas”A canvas is the workspace where you design and run workflows. It is a graph of nodes connected by subscriptions that define how events flow between nodes. A canvas usually represents multiple possible workflows.
Workflow
Section titled “Workflow”A workflow is the behavior expressed by a canvas: what should happen when an event occurs, which steps run, and how data moves between steps.
A node is a single step on a canvas. Each node receives an event, performs some work, and emits an event to any downstream nodes that subscribe to it.
Component
Section titled “Component”A component is the “type” of a node (for example, Webhook, Manual Run, Filter, or a GitHub action). Components define what configuration a node needs and what it emits.
Trigger
Section titled “Trigger”A trigger is a component that starts a workflow execution. Triggers typically receive external events (webhooks, schedules) or start runs manually.
Action
Section titled “Action”An action is a component that runs in response to an upstream event. Actions can call external systems, transform data, route events, or wait for human input.
Integration
Section titled “Integration”An integration connects SuperPlane to an external system (for example GitHub, Slack, PagerDuty). Integrations provide triggers and actions you can use as nodes on the canvas.
An event is the unit of work that flows between nodes. Events carry data (the payload) and are delivered to any downstream nodes that subscribe to them.
Payload
Section titled “Payload”A payload is the JSON data associated with an event or a node execution. Payloads are what you inspect in run history and what you reference in expressions.
Output channel (channel)
Section titled “Output channel (channel)”A channel is a named output a node can emit on (for example passed/failed, approved/rejected). Channels let
you route events to different downstream paths based on outcomes.
Subscription
Section titled “Subscription”A subscription is the connection from one node’s output (optionally a specific channel) to another node’s input. A canvas is essentially a graph of subscriptions.
A run is a single end-to-end workflow execution, from the first triggering event through all downstream work it causes. Runs are what you use to debug “what happened?” across many steps.
Run item
Section titled “Run item”A run item is the execution record for a single node within a run. A run is composed of many run items.
Run history
Section titled “Run history”Run history is the UI view that lists past executions for a node or a canvas. It’s where you inspect payloads, timestamps, statuses, and errors.
Message chain
Section titled “Message chain”The message chain is the accumulated outputs from upstream nodes within a run. It allows downstream nodes to access and combine data from earlier steps.
Expression
Section titled “Expression”An expression is a small program used to read and transform payload data (for example to build a message, compute a condition, or select an output path). See the Expressions page for more details.