# addFlow() - TypeError: Cannot read property 'allNodes' of null

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/addflow-typeerror-cannot-read-property-allnodes-of-null/7540>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [3 February 2019 22:47 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/addflow-typeerror-cannot-read-property-allnodes-of-null/7540 "2019-02-03T22:47:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gecevicius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5fc32e/32.png) [@gecevicius](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gecevicius)\
**Post date:** [3 February 2019 22:47 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/addflow-typeerror-cannot-read-property-allnodes-of-null/7540/1 "2019-02-03T22:47:02Z")

</div>

Hello,  
I have just started using Node RED. I am creating an application where the user can send commands to the Raspberry PI and am using the RED Runtime Api. I am getting an error when using RED.nodes.addFlow()

```
\server\node_modules\node-red\red\runtime\nodes\flows\index.js:497
        if (activeFlowConfig.allNodes[node.id]) {
                             ^
TypeError: Cannot read property 'allNodes' of null

```

My server setup :

> ```
> const express = require('express')
> const bodyParser = require('body-parser')
> const cors = require('cors')
> const morgan = require('morgan')
> var http = require('http')
> var RED = require("node-red")
> var app = express()
> var server = http.createServer(app)
> var settings = {
> httpAdminRoot:"/red",
> httpNodeRoot: "/api",
> userDir:"/home/nol/.nodered/",
> functionGlobalContext: { } // enables global context
> };
> var nrFlow = {
> label: "Flow Label",
> nodes: [
> {
> "id": "node-red/inject",
> "type": "inject",
> "name": "",
> "topic": "",
> "payload": "",
> "payloadType": "date",
> "repeat": "15",
> "crontab": "",
> "once": false,
> "onceDelay": 0.1,
> "wires": [
> ]
> },
> ]
> };
> RED.init(server,settings);
> RED.nodes.addFlow(nrFlow)
> // Serve the editor UI from /red
> app.use(settings.httpAdminRoot,RED.httpAdmin);
> // Serve the http nodes UI from /api
> app.use(settings.httpNodeRoot,RED.httpNode);
> server.listen(8000);
> RED.start()
> app.use(morgan('combined'))
> app.use(bodyParser.json())
> app.use(cors())
> app.get('/posts', (req, res) => {
> res.send(
> [{
> title: "Hello World!",
> description: "Hi there! How are you?",
> items : RED.nodes.getNodeConfigs()
> }]
> )
> })
> app.listen(process.env.PORT || 8081)
> 
> ```

Any chance anyone could help me find the issue ? Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [3 February 2019 23:05 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/addflow-typeerror-cannot-read-property-allnodes-of-null/7540/2 "2019-02-03T23:05:36Z")

</div>

You cannot use the `RED.nodes` apis until the runtime has been started. You need to do that after the promise returned by `RED.start()` has resolved.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dceejay](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/dceejay/32/38_2.png) [@dceejay](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/dceejay)\
**Post date:** [10 June 2022 09:43 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/addflow-typeerror-cannot-read-property-allnodes-of-null/7540/4 "2022-06-10T09:43:16Z")

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