nodes-reference

---
name: "nodes-reference"
description: "Kailash 110+ nodes by category — AI, API, Data, DB, Logic, Transaction, Transform."
license: "Apache-2.0"
---

# Kailash Nodes - Complete Reference

Comprehensive reference for all 110+ workflow nodes in Kailash SDK, organized by category.

## Quick Access

- **[nodes-quick-index](nodes-quick-index.md)** - Quick node lookup index

## By Category

| Category          | File                                                          | Key Nodes                                                                                                     |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| AI & ML           | [nodes-ai-reference](nodes-ai-reference.md)                   | LLMNode, AnthropicNode, OpenAINode, VisionNode, AudioNode, EmbeddingNode, OllamaNode                          |
| API & Integration | [nodes-api-reference](nodes-api-reference.md)                 | HTTPRequestNode, WebhookNode, GraphQLNode                                                                     |
| Code Execution    | [nodes-code-reference](nodes-code-reference.md)               | PythonCodeNode, JavaScriptNode, BashNode                                                                      |
| Data Processing   | [nodes-data-reference](nodes-data-reference.md)               | CSVReaderNode, JSONParserNode, DataValidatorNode, FilterNode, MapNode                                         |
| Database          | [nodes-database-reference](nodes-database-reference.md)       | SQLQueryNode, AsyncSQLNode, DatabaseReadNode (+ DataFlow auto-generated)                                      |
| File Operations   | [nodes-file-reference](nodes-file-reference.md)               | FileReaderNode, FileWriterNode, FileWatcherNode, ZipNode                                                      |
| Logic & Control   | [nodes-logic-reference](nodes-logic-reference.md)             | SwitchNode, IfElseNode, LoopNode, MergeNode, SplitNode, CycleNode                                             |
| Monitoring        | [nodes-monitoring-reference](nodes-monitoring-reference.md)   | LoggerNode, MetricsNode, AlertNode, HealthCheckNode                                                           |
| Admin             | [nodes-admin-reference](nodes-admin-reference.md)             | ConfigNode, SecretManagerNode, SchedulerNode, CacheNode                                                       |
| Transactions      | [nodes-transaction-reference](nodes-transaction-reference.md) | TransactionBeginNode, SagaNode, TwoPhaseCommitNode                                                            |
| Transform         | [nodes-transform-reference](nodes-transform-reference.md)     | MapperNode, AggregatorNode, EnrichNode, NormalizeNode                                                         |
| ML                | (see skill **34-kailash-ml**)                                 | MLTrainingNode, MLInferenceNode, MLRegistryPromoteNode (W31a spec nodes, live at `kailash.workflow.nodes.ml`) |

## Node Selection by Use Case

| Task                | Recommended Node                                 |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Text generation     | LLMNode, OpenAINode, AnthropicNode               |
| Vision / Audio      | VisionNode, AudioNode                            |
| Local LLMs          | OllamaNode                                       |
| REST APIs           | HTTPRequestNode                                  |
| Webhooks / GraphQL  | WebhookNode, GraphQLNode                         |
| Custom Python logic | PythonCodeNode (most flexible)                   |
| Database CRUD       | DataFlow auto-generated nodes (not raw DB nodes) |
| CSV / JSON / XML    | CSVReaderNode, JSONParserNode, XMLParserNode     |
| File read / write   | FileReaderNode, FileWriterNode                   |
| Conditional routing | SwitchNode, IfElseNode                           |
| Loops / cycles      | LoopNode, CycleNode                              |
| Logging / metrics   | LoggerNode, MetricsNode                          |

## Critical Node Patterns

All nodes follow the **canonical 4-parameter pattern** from `/01-core-sdk`:

```python
workflow.add_node("PythonCodeNode", "node1", {"code": "result = input_data * 2"})
workflow.add_connection("node1", "result", "node2", "input_data")
```

## CRITICAL Gotchas

| Rule                             | Why                       |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| NEVER use raw database nodes     | Use DataFlow instead      |
| ALWAYS use string-based node IDs | Variables cause issues    |
| NEVER forget `.build()`          | Required before execution |

## Related Skills

- **[01-core-sdk](../01-core-sdk/SKILL.md)** - Core workflow patterns
- **[06-cheatsheets](../06-cheatsheets/SKILL.md)** - Node usage patterns
- **[02-dataflow](../02-dataflow/SKILL.md)** - Auto-generated database nodes

## Support

- `pattern-expert` - Node pattern recommendations
- `dataflow-specialist` - DataFlow-generated nodes