Nodes

Nodes guide

Nodes turns a workflow into a graph: images, prompts, generations, edits, upscales and videos, wired together. Change one node and ARKIA knows what downstream needs to run again.

How a graph works

• Each node does one thing: holds an image, holds a prompt, renders, edits, compares…
• A link carries an image (or a prompt) from a node's output port, on its right, to another node's input port, on its left.
• Every node that puts out an image has an @alias. A prompt cites it with @alias, and a Generate node only sends the images its prompt cites.
• The graph saves on its own. The status at the top shows when it was last saved.
• Each project has a Main graph, and each scene of the project has its own graph. Pick it in the scene menu next to the project name. See Gallery.

Add a node

• Press A (or right-click the background) to open the Add node menu, then pick with ↑ ↓ and Enter.
• Or use the toolbar on the left, or the shortcuts I (Image), P (Prompt) and N (Generate).
• Drag an image from the gallery onto the graph to make an Image node.

Node types

Image

The source of a graph: a render, a photo, a reference or a mask.

• Drop or paste an image (Ctrl+V pastes it as a new Image node).
• When the image arrives, ARKIA gives it a readable alias from what it shows. Click the alias to rename it; the prompts that cite it follow.
• Aliases are up to 30 characters, and each one has its own color, the same on the node, its links and the tags in your prompts.

Prompt

The text of a run. The card is the text field.

• Wire it into a Generate, Edit, Template or Video node.
• Under the text, a chip per image wired into the nodes it feeds: solid when the prompt cites it, dashed when it doesn't. A chip turns yellow when the prompt cites an image that isn't wired, and red when no image has that alias.
• The wand in the corner enhances the prompt (see Canvas). Wired to a Video, it writes the camera move instead.

Generate (Nano Banana or GPT Image 2.5)

Renders images from a Prompt and the images it cites.

• Two entries in the Add node menu: Nano Banana (Gemini 3 Pro or Flash) and GPT Image 2.5 (Flare or Sunburst, paid plans).
• Settings on the node: variant (or quality on GPT Image 2.5), format, resolution, batch, seed (Nano Banana only), and Advanced: All refs, Grounding and Chain.
• A batch keeps all its images: browse them with ‹ ›. The image shown is the one the next nodes receive.
• Needs a Prompt node: until one is wired, the node says Connect a prompt to generate.

Edit

The image viewer's edit tools, inside the graph.

• Tools: Edit, Annotate, Comment, Mask, Erase, Remove BG and Resize.
• The first version is the image from its source. Each run adds a version; the one shown goes out of the output port.
• The text comes from a wired Prompt node, and the images it cites go as references.

Upscale

Enlarges an image. Pick the mode on the node:

• Free: ×2 or ×4 on your own graphics card (WebGPU), at no cost. The node suggests the factor that reaches 4K. The output is capped at 8,192 px on a side, very large images can be slow, and it needs a browser with WebGPU, such as a recent Chrome or Edge.
• Quick: a faithful upscale in the cloud, about 20 seconds, from 2 credits.

In Quick, Scale is set automatically (the largest that stays within 4K, about 17 megapixels, up to ×4) and Target shows the output size. The run button shows the cost. An image that's already 4K has nothing left to enlarge (Already 4K), and an image larger than 4K can't be upscaled.

Stop on a Quick run only stops waiting in the graph: the cloud run keeps going and lands in your gallery.

Upscale shortcut: on the result of a Generate or Template node, Upscale adds an Upscale node already wired to it, in Quick mode. If one is already wired, the shortcut takes you to it.

Compare

A before / after slider on two images: input A on the left of the split, input B on the right. Swap flips the sides. When a side is wired to a Generate batch or an Edit node, ‹ › on its label shows any of its images or versions.

Template

Runs one of the 56 templates inside the graph.

• The Template Browser lives in the node: search by name, filter by category, pick a template.
• Wire images into its slots and set its options on the node, then Run.
• A wired Prompt adds extra notes to the template.
• Upscale on its result adds a wired Upscale node (see Upscale).

Video

Animates a start image, with an optional end image.

• One input port: wire one or two images (start, then the optional end) and, if you like, a Prompt for the motion.
• Swap the start and end, or drag one thumbnail onto the other.
• Level, duration and Motion are the same as in the Canvas Animate bar. See Video.
• The clip replaces the thumbnails once it is ready.

Note

A card for your own notes. No ports, nothing to run.

Clip

A video from your gallery, dropped on the graph. It plays on hover and opens in the player on click, and you can download it. It has no ports and no alias: it simply sits next to the images that made it. Clip is not in the Add node menu; drag a video from the gallery to make one.

Final result

Older graphs can hold Final result nodes, which show and save the images wired into them. They are no longer in the Add node menu: Generate and Edit nodes show their own results.

Links

1. Drag from a node's output port (right) to another node's input port (left).
2. While you drag, the ports that can take the link light up; the others dim.

Rules:

• A Prompt can feed Generate, Edit, Template and Video nodes.
• Note, Compare, Clip and Video nodes have no output to link from.
• Double-click a link to remove it.

Running a graph

• Run a node from its panel, or select it and press Ctrl+Enter (⌘+Enter on Mac). The cost shows before it runs.
• When you change a node, the nodes downstream show Outdated (or Upstream outdated).
• Update chain, at the top of the graph, re-runs every outdated node, upstream first, and shows the total cost first.

Statuses: Ready, Running, Up to date, Outdated, Upstream outdated and Failed (your settings are kept).

Keyboard shortcuts

Press ? in Nodes to see this list. On a Mac, Ctrl is ⌘.

Tips

• Name your images with clear aliases (facade, site_plan): your prompts read better and stay right when you rename.
• Test at 1K, then render the final at 2K or 4K.
• Keep notes in Note nodes so a teammate can read the graph.
• Use Compare to pick between two settings.

See also

• Canvas: models, settings and edit tools
• Video: animate an image
• Templates: every template
• Credits: what a run costs

Last updated: October 18, 2026