Feature Request: Ability to Disable Nodes (Comment-Out / Toggle Execution) #5625
Description
Feature Description
Problem
When building complex flows, there is currently no way to temporarily disable a node without deleting it or rewiring the graph. This makes iterative development, debugging, and experimentation unnecessarily destructive.
As developers, we often want to:
- Test alternate logic paths
- Temporarily bypass expensive or unstable nodes (LLMs, tools, APIs)
- Debug upstream behavior without losing downstream structure
- Keep experimental or reference nodes in the canvas without execution
Right now, deleting or disconnecting nodes breaks flow continuity and configuration history.
Proposed Solution
Introduce a “Disable Node” capability, similar to commenting out code.
Critical Execution Semantics (Must Be Explicit)
A disabled node should clearly affect downstream execution in one of the following deterministic ways:
1: Hard Stop / Branch Termination (Preferred)
- A disabled node cannot produce outputs
- Any edges leaving the node are considered inactive
- All downstream nodes depending on that node are implicitly disabled or skipped
- Execution logs clearly indicate where the flow was halted
2: Explicit Disallow of Connections
- A disabled node cannot have outgoing connections
- Existing outgoing connections are visually disabled and ignored at runtime
- Downstream nodes do not execute unless they have an alternate active input path
- Either approach avoids ambiguous “pass-through” behavior and keeps execution predictable.
Expected Behavior
- Disabled nodes:
- Are not executed
- Do not trigger API calls or LLM usage
- Preserve configuration and placement on the canvas
- Re-enabling a node restores execution and connections instantly
- Disabled state persists across save/load
- Clear visual indicators (grayed out, dashed border, icon overlay)
Why This Matters
This feature would significantly improve:
- Debugging workflows
- Safe experimentation
- Cost control for LLM/tool-heavy flows
- Readability and maintainability of complex flows
This is a standard capability in mature visual programming and orchestration tools and would be a major quality-of-life improvement for Flowise power users.
Feature Category
UI/UX Improvement
Problem Statement
No response
Proposed Solution
No response
Mockups or References
No response
Additional Context
No response