YAML is power. Most people want a conversation.
Digitorn apps are declarative: every agent, tool, hook, and trigger fits in one YAML file. That makes them auditable, portable, and easy to ship. It also makes the first step harder than it has to be when you do not yet know the schema.
The builder solves both ends. Newcomers describe the agent and get a working app without reading the spec. Power users get a canvas that turns the same YAML into a graph they can rewire, inspect, and stress-test. Switch tracks any time, the file stays in sync.
- Talks to you in plain languageAsks targeted questions until it understands the goal, never makes you guess what to type.
- Shows the app as a graphAgents, modules, hooks, channels, capabilities. Every edge is a real wire in the runtime.
- Validates before you deployThe runtime compiles every change. Errors surface inline with the offending node highlighted.
- Wires credentials safelySlots prompt for the right scope, never leak secrets into the YAML, audit trail by default.
Two ways in, one source of truth
The conversational track and the canvas track are not parallel tools that drift apart. They write the same YAML, every keystroke, every drag.
Not a flowchart. A real model of the runtime.
Most visual editors render boxes for show. The Digitorn canvas mirrors what the runtime actually does, swimlane by swimlane, in the same order the loop executes them. If a node is wrong on the canvas, the agent is wrong in production.
These nine lanes are the runtime, not a metaphor. Inputs land, commands resolve, behavior injects directives, middleware wraps, agents decide, capabilities gate, tools run, hooks intercept, outputs ship. Click any node to jump to its exact YAML location.
Five lenses on the same graph
Most graph editors give you one view. The Digitorn canvas gives you five, each tuned for a different question. Toggle in one click, never lose your place.
Two-way binding, with ripple rename
Edit the YAML by hand, the canvas updates immediately. Drag a node, the YAML rewrites at the right path. Rename an agent, every reference in hooks, channels, capabilities, and sub-agents follows.
Undo and redo are 200 steps deep with smart coalescing, so a burst of small edits collapses into one reversible step. No surprise diffs at commit time.
What sets this canvas apart
Twelve concrete features that competitors do not ship together. Every one of them is wired through to the live runtime, not a mock.
Conversational interview
Tell the builder what you want. It asks the right follow-up questions and stops when it has enough to ship.
Bidirectional canvas
Drag, drop, connect. Or write YAML directly. Either side wins, the other follows in real time.
Lifecycle swimlanes
Nine canonical lanes mirror the runtime loop, top to bottom. You always know what runs next.
Security lens
Highlights risky tools, missing approvals, ungated destructive actions. Audit before you ship.
Performance lens
Brain providers, fallbacks, sub-agents, expensive tools. Spot the cost paths at a glance.
Story mode
Animated narrated walkthrough of one fictional turn through your app, derived from the YAML.
Sequence diagram
UML-style timeline of one runtime turn, top to bottom. Great for design reviews and docs.
Beginner mode
Humanises every label. context_builder.ask_user becomes Ask the user. Toggle once, read forever.
Command palette
Cmd-K to find any node, jump to it, focus, pin. The whole app is one keystroke away.
Live validation
Every change recompiles against the runtime. Errors anchor to the exact node, not a line number.
Smart undo
200-step history with coalescing. Bursts of edits collapse into single reversible commits.
Adaptive density
Comfortable on 30 nodes, compact at 80, list above. The canvas resizes to the app.
What you can build with the Builder
Five archetypes cover the bulk of what teams actually ship. The builder recognises which one you are describing and starts you on the right rails.
Conversational assistant
A chat agent with tools, memory, and a clear scope. Slack copilots, support helpers, internal Q&A.
Scheduled monitor
A cron-driven agent that watches something and reports. Job boards, dashboards, news beats, KPI alerts.
Webhook processor
Triggered by events. New PR, new ticket, new payment. Reads, decides, posts back, logs everything.
Document pipeline
Ingest, extract, summarise, file. RAG-friendly, validation-aware, bulk-friendly with rate limits.
Multi-agent research
A coordinator dispatches specialists, joins their findings, writes a report. Fan-out, join, synthesise.
Open the Builder, describe your agent, deploy in five minutes.
# 1. install the runtime
curl -sSL https://digitorn.ai/install | sh
# 2. start the daemon
digitorn daemon
# 3. open the builder in your browser
digitorn open digitorn-builderGet the next post in your inbox.
Engineering notes from the Digitorn team. No marketing, no launch announcements, no "10 prompts that will change your life". Just the things we write that we'd want to read.