Component Environments
Navigate to Components > Environments to open the environment workspace. An environment is an isolated execution context. It defines a scan rate and contains the component instances and wiring that make up your processing logic.
The Workspace
Everything about an environment lives in one screen:
Pick an environment in the rail and its canvas opens immediately. The rail, side panel, and log pane are all resizable, and each can be collapsed out of the way.
Environments that are not filed anywhere sit at the top of the rail. To keep a large installation navigable, group them into folders — see Organizing Environments.
Creating an Environment
- Click the + button in the environment rail header (or Add Environment in the workspace when no environment is open yet)
- Fill in the form:
- Click Create Environment
The new environment opens in the workspace, ready for you to add components on the canvas.
Choosing a Scan Rate
The scan rate controls how frequently all components in the environment execute. Choose based on your use case:
The Environment Bar
The bar across the top of the workspace carries:
- The environment name, with a pencil to rename it
- The Enable toggle and a status badge
- An Unsaved badge whenever the canvas has changes you have not saved
- Canvas controls: undo, redo, delete selected, refresh from the server, and Save
- A toggle for the log pane
- A gear that opens environment settings
- An actions menu for duplicating or deleting the environment
Environment Settings
Click the gear on the environment bar to open the settings dialog. It has five tabs.
Overview
Summary of the environment including its status, scan rate, component count, and key metrics.
Execution
Real-time and historical performance metrics for this environment:
- Scan Rate: configured interval
- Avg Cycle Time: how long each execution cycle takes on average
- Overhead Time: the part of the most recent cycle spent outside component execution
- Component Count: number of instances in this environment
A chart shows execution time over time. Toggle between Live (updates in real time) and Last Day (historical view) using the selector above the chart.
Use this tab to verify that your components are executing within the scan rate window and to identify performance bottlenecks.
Configuration
Edit the environment's general settings:
- Name: rename the environment
- Description: update the description
- Scan Rate: change the execution interval
- Stack: the package stack its components run with. Leave empty to use the platform's built-in packages. If the stack you pick failed to build, a warning appears here — see Stacks
Click Save Configuration after making changes.
Parameters
View and edit runtime parameters for component instances in this environment. Parameters are configuration values defined by the component author that can be adjusted without modifying the component code. Changes take effect on the next scan cycle.
Cross References
Shows how component instances in this environment connect to external entities (tags, devices, and other environments). Use this tab to understand the environment's dependencies and trace data flow across the system.
Logs
Click the terminal icon on the environment bar to open the log pane beneath the canvas. It streams the output of one instance at a time.
- By default the pane follows the canvas: select a node and its log appears
- Pick an instance from the Select instance dropdown in the pane header to pin the pane to it. The pin button switches back to following the canvas
- Click the close button to hide the pane again
Logs are color-coded by severity:
The log terminal auto-scrolls to follow new output. Scroll up to pause, scroll back to the bottom to resume. Click Clear to reset the terminal.
Enabling and Disabling
Use the toggle on the environment bar to enable or disable the environment:
- Enabled: the component engine executes all instances in this environment at the configured scan rate
- Disabled: execution stops. Component state is preserved and will resume when re-enabled.
Disabling an environment does not delete any instances or wiring. It pauses execution.
Deleting an Environment
Disable the environment first, then open the actions menu on the environment bar and select Delete environment. This permanently removes the environment and all of its instances, connectors, and wires.
What's Next
- Organizing Environments: file environments into folders in the rail
- Component Canvas: add instances, wire them together, and monitor live values
- Component Libraries: upload the component types available on the canvas
- Stacks: give an environment its own Python packages