Why does an exported Flow's JSON structure defer to that of the HTTP Admin POST on `/flow` Request Body?

[Shan]

Description

I have successfully found a solution to deploy a desired flow to multiple node-RED instances on distinct hardware devices / VMs.

As a generic understanding of the complete workflow, a user develops a flow locally, and then exports it using the UI's Export Option.

Interesting enough, the exported JSON structure is an array e.g.

[
   {}, {}
]

Assuming that I wish to upload this flow on multiple devices automatically I will rely on the Node-RED HTTP Admin API POST /flow, but according to the documentation the JSON structure is completely different than the exported JSON flow.

Question: Why? and Does the UI take care of restructuring the JSON file when using the Import Flow option?

[Steve-Mcl]

you probably want POST /flows

And the reason an export from the editor is different is because a user facing export on the editor excludes some unnecessary info (like rev number)

TIP: the easiest way to determine your requirements is to watch and inspect the network tab when making various types of changes in the editor.

[Andrei]

@Shan

and then exports it using the UI's Export Option.

Instead of exporting the flow using the editor you can make a GET to /flows. The resulting file will have the proper structure to be distributed later on via HTTP Admin POST /flows.