Viewing Node-RED flows externally (Is it possble?)

[gioza]

Hi all,

I am looking for a way to view Node-RED flows externally.
The format is not specific, as long as I can see them visually.
It could be a read-only version of the node-red editor (if possible), or at the very least, an image.

(1) For now, I haven't gone into the read-only version as it seems complex, not sure where to start.
I only know that I can retrieve details via the GET /flows node-red API.

(2) Currently, I'm exploring screen captures but unfortunately, no dice.
I tried using this node: node-red-web-contrib-web-page-screenshot

with the following url value: http://localhost:1880/#flow/[FLOW ID]

but the image I get is just blank:

Currently I'm trying to investigate on other options.

With all that said, is this even possible?

[ristomatti]

Does the screenshot node support adding a waiting time for the page to load? It seems to use Puppeteer in the background and I just today successfully took a screenshot of my flows with it. It just required few seconds of wait time for the flows to load, otherwise I got the same empty screen.

See my comment here FTP static dashboard to web server

[gioza]

Not quite sure that it does.
But awesome man! Thanks for this, I think I can move forward with this info

[stefan24]

Have you tried to use user authentication and setup a user with only read permissions?
He still CAN change the flows, but CANNOT save or deploy them.

see https://nodered.org/docs/user-guide/runtime/securing-node-red

[gioza]

Hi stefan24!

Thanks for your input.

For now there's no need for user authentication as the goal of this QA is to find a way to view Node-RED flows externally (from another web application, not the node-red editor itself).

But thank you!