The project-scoped Automations tab is the beta editor for sequential multi-tool workflows. It hosts the canvas, an automation selector, canvas commands, a collapsible Project Navigator column, and the document and tool info panel.
Opening the View
Choose Automations from the desktop command bar. Only one Automations tab opens for the active project. Opening it again activates the existing one.
The selector lists every automation in the current project. The page restores the most recently selected valid automation. If the project has none, it shows an empty state and New creates Automation 1, or the next available numbered name.
Rename changes the selected draft's name. Delete confirms before removing the draft canvas, its cards, and connections. A deployed script is a separate artifact and is deliberately kept when its draft is deleted.
Adding Cards
Use Add Tool in the Automations toolbar to choose a saved tool, or expand the collapsible Project Navigator column and drag a tool onto the canvas.
You can also drag project documents onto the canvas. Document cards are visual references only:
- They are not executable.
- They cannot feed a tool.
- Canvas Run ignores them.
- Deploy excludes them from the script.
Connecting Tools
Connections are directional.
- Right-click the source tool.
- A dashed temporary line appears.
- Right-click the target tool.
- ThinkForge saves and draws the connection.
Press Escape, click empty canvas, or use the source gesture again to cancel a pending connection.
Right-click a connection line to delete it.
The editor prevents a duplicate connection with the same source and target. It allows cycles while editing, but Run and Deploy reject a cyclic graph.
Moving and Navigating
- Drag cards to reposition them.
- Middle-drag or Ctrl+left-drag to pan.
- Use the mouse wheel or toolbar buttons to zoom.
- Center resets the view.
- Fit fits the cards.
- Layout arranges tool and document cards into columns.
Card positions are saved with the project. Position never determines runtime order.
Selecting and Removing
Select a tool card to show its details in the Automations info panel. Use Remove from automation there to remove it; connected lines are removed too.
A document card's context menu can open the document or remove the card from the automation.
Removing a canvas card does not delete the underlying tool or document.
Canvas Run
Run requires:
- At least one tool
- At least one tool-to-tool connection
- An acyclic set of connected tools
ThinkForge sorts all tool cards, starts with empty input, and runs the tools in sequence.
Cards change appearance for pending, running, success, or error. A run log is shown after completion.
Important limitations:
- Document cards are not input.
- There is no input picker.
- All sorted tools run, including visual fan-out branches.
- Tool failure is not currently checked by the canvas loop. A tool may be marked successful and the loop may continue even when the tool itself reported failure.
- A missing tool definition is marked as an error and skipped, then later tools continue.
- There is no run cancellation control on the canvas.
Use simple linear chains, and inspect the actual output files and results rather than only green card status.
Deploy
Deploy exports the current tool graph as a script. It requires at least one connection and rejects cycles.
Deploy writes immediately without opening a Save dialog or folder picker. An existing file or folder binding is preserved when the automation is deployed again. When no binding exists, the deployed runner uses input supplied by its caller or starts with empty input.
See Deploying Automations for the exact behavior.