# Feature Request Folder Hierarchical Flow Organization / Folder Structure

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/feature-request-folder-hierarchical-flow-organization-folder-structure/98303>\
**Category:** Feature Requests\
**Tags:** feature-request\
**Created:** [24 July 2025 23:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/feature-request-folder-hierarchical-flow-organization-folder-structure/98303 "2025-07-24T23:12:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![AphofisX](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/aphofisx/32/93843_2.png) [@AphofisX](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/AphofisX)\
**Post date:** [24 July 2025 23:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/feature-request-folder-hierarchical-flow-organization-folder-structure/98303/1 "2025-07-24T23:12:54Z")

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# Feature Request: Hierarchical Flow Organization / Folder Structure

## Summary

Add support for organizing flows in a hierarchical folder structure, similar to what Blockly offers, to improve navigation and management of complex Node-RED projects.

## Current Problem

In larger Node-RED installations with multiple automation areas (e.g., coffee machine monitoring, aquarium control, security systems, garden automation), the current flat tab structure becomes unmanageable:

- All flows appear as a single row of tabs
- No way to group related flows together
- Difficult to navigate when you have 10+ flows
- No visual hierarchy or organization possible
- Groups within flows become cluttered and hard to overview

## Proposed Solution

Implement a folder-based organization system in the flow tabs area, similar to Blockly's category structure:

```auto
📁 🏠 Smart Home
  ├── 📁 ☕ Kitchen
  │ ├── Coffee Machine Control
  │ ├── Coffee Monitoring
  │ └── Coffee Statistics
  ├── 📁 🐠 Aquarium
  │ ├── Temperature Control
  │ ├── Lighting System
  │ ├── Filter Control
  │ └── Water Quality Monitoring
  └── 📁 🚪 Security
      ├── Door Sensors
      └── Alarm System

```

## Expected Benefits

1. **Better Organization** : Logical grouping of related flows
2. **Improved Navigation** : Collapsible folders reduce visual clutter
3. **Scalability** : Easily manage 20+ flows without losing overview
4. **User Experience** : Similar to file explorers users are familiar with
5. **Project Structure** : Better organization for team environments

## Use Case Example

I'm managing a home automation system with:

- Coffee machine flow (monitoring, statistics, alerts)
- Aquarium system (temperature, lighting, filtering, feeding)
- Security flows (doors, cameras, alarms)
- Garden automation (irrigation, sensors)

Currently, I have 12+ tabs in a single row, making it hard to quickly find the right flow for maintenance or debugging.

## Similar Implementations

- **Blockly** : Excellent folder-based organization for code blocks
- **Home Assistant** : Dashboard organization with folders
- **Grafana** : Dashboard folders for better organization
- **VS Code** : File explorer with collapsible folders

## Proposed Implementation Ideas

1. **Right-click context menu** on tabs: "Create Folder", "Move to Folder"
2. **Drag & Drop** flows between folders
3. **Collapsible folder tree** in sidebar or above current tab area
4. **Folder-level operations** : Export/Import entire folder
5. **Breadcrumb navigation** when inside folders

## Alternative Solutions Considered

- **Naming conventions** (e.g., "AQ-Temperature", "AQ-Lighting") - but this only provides visual grouping
- **Multiple Node-RED instances** - adds complexity and resource overhead
- **Current Groups feature** - becomes cluttered with many flows

## Impact

This feature would significantly improve the user experience for anyone managing complex Node-RED installations, making it more suitable for larger home automation projects and professional environments.

* * *

_This request comes from practical daily use of Node-RED for home automation with multiple subsystems. The current flat structure becomes a real bottleneck when managing 10+ flows._

since 2018 to 2023  
I previously managed 170+ automations in Blockly (120 for marine aquarium control) - this was only possible due to the folder structure. Without it, I would have been completely lost.

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**Author:** ![gregorius](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gregorius/32/73816_2.png) [@gregorius](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gregorius)\
**Post date:** [25 July 2025 06:23 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/feature-request-folder-hierarchical-flow-organization-folder-structure/98303/2 "2025-07-25T06:23:06Z")

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I also manage my flows by "flow tabs", i.e., larger systems are a combination of reusable flows, each being a single tab. For example, I have a flow that does [install, publish, push](https://flowhub.org/f/d0506e991d512ace) for my packages developed in Node-RED for Node-RED. For example the [FlowHub](https://flows.nodered.org/node/@gregoriusrippenstein/node-red-contrib-flowhub) node package is developed as a [flow](https://flowhub.org/f/4a831589774ecb04) which in turn uses the _install, publish, push_ flow to install the package locally, to push it to [GitHub](https://github.com/gorenje/node-red-contrib-flowhub) and to publish it to NPM.

To manage this setup I use the flowhub package integrated into Node-RED. The FlowHub sidebar contains a list of flows:

 ![Screenshot 2025-07-25 at 08.08.37](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/4/e/4e02e709d6c283df1343b6bd2662c6d34e12c7d5.png)

Top half are the flows hosted in my github repository (is private), bottom shows a check for whether I have already imported the flow into NR.

For organisation, I have convention of naming my flow using "[topic] name" where the topic (as shown in the screenshot) becomes a category. The folder structure only has a depth of one, i.e. there aren't sub-sub-folders.

An example of the folder structure that FlowHub creates in GitHub, check the [flow test suite](https://github.com/gorenje/erlang-red-flow-testsuite) repository. That repository is the location to which flows are posted when I do a push inside NR from my FlowHub sidebar.

Documentation of flows is done using the tab documentation, that is then shown on the corresponding [web page](https://flowhub.org/f/d0506e991d512ace):

 ![Screenshot 2025-07-25 at 08.21.01](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/e/7/e7238b323ee153406e09f566d9e586432d856cb1.png)

In that way, documentation of flows lives with the flows and everything is self-contained.

That is my solution to the problem of flow management.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AphofisX](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/aphofisx/32/93843_2.png) [@AphofisX](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/AphofisX)\
**Post date:** [25 July 2025 09:29 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/feature-request-folder-hierarchical-flow-organization-folder-structure/98303/3 "2025-07-25T09:29:44Z")

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Yes thats nice idea but not the same as blockly folder management  
why subflows why not in subflow create folders to put flows inside i know must be down compatible to other versions but is ist so hard to coding some feature.  
node-red is very structured and clear but very poor when it comes to managing or storing flows

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [23 October 2025 09:30 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/feature-request-folder-hierarchical-flow-organization-folder-structure/98303/4 "2025-10-23T09:30:05Z")

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