0.2.0 • Published 4d agoCLI

@wahengchang2023/chainq

Licence

MIT

Version

0.2.0

Deps

Size

228 kB

Vulns

Weekly

Summary Dependency Versions

chainq

Prompt chaining for people who live in prompts — not in dashboards.

Wire a few prompts together, run them on the CLI model you already have (claude -p, codex -m), and watch every step light up on the same canvas you built it on. One YAML file. No API key. No HTTP. No server to host.

chainq visual editor

Why chainq

You chain prompts all day — translate then format, draft then critique, extract then assemble. But the tools for "automating" that are built for a different job:

	n8n · Make · Zapier	chainq
Where it runs	a server / their cloud	your machine, your CLI model
Credentials	API keys, OAuth, billing	none — `claude login` and go
Editing vs. running	build here, check the run log over there	same canvas — edit it, run it, see it
The artifact	a config locked in their UI	one YAML file you own and `git` it
Learning curve	a node ecosystem	8 node types, one page

If you've ever thought "this is just three prompts in a row, why do I need a whole platform?" — that's the gap chainq fills.

The one thing that's different: edit and run are the same screen

In most automation tools you build a flow, push it to run somewhere, then open a separate "executions" view to see what happened. In chainq there is no over-there.

The canvas you wire is the canvas that runs. Hit Run and each node streams its own status live — running → ran / cached / failed — with its real output rendered right on the node card. Tweak one prompt, re-run without even saving (your edit is kept as a draft; the file stays untouched until you Save or Reset), and tune one step at a time until the whole chain is right.

That's the loop: see the flow, run the flow, read the result — in one place.

Quickstart

npx @wahengchang2023/chainq init my-flow    # scaffold a project
cd my-flow
npx @wahengchang2023/chainq ui flow.yaml    # open the visual editor
npx @wahengchang2023/chainq run flow.yaml   # …or run it in the terminal

Prefer a permanent command? npm i -g @wahengchang2023/chainq, then call chainq. Needs Node ≥ 18. ai steps call your real local model — run claude login first.

What a flow looks like

A flow is a small graph of steps in one YAML file. Here a trigger fans out to a few steps, then ai + schema assembles them into guaranteed-valid JSON and write saves it — the whole thing readable top to bottom:

steps:
  trigger:                       # input — the data to feed in
    type: input
    params:
      text: { type: string, default: 'The early bird catches the worm.' }

  field_a:                       # assemble — carry the original value through, no model call
    type: assemble
    from: trigger
    prompt: '{{ $json.text }}'

  field_b:                       # ai — call the model for one value
    type: ai
    from: trigger
    prompt: 'Translate to Traditional Chinese, output only the translation: {{ $json.text }}'

  to_json:                       # ai + schema — output is parsed & validated as real JSON
    type: ai
    from: [field_a, field_b]
    schema: { original: string, zh_tw: string }
    prompt: |
      Build a JSON object copying each value verbatim:
        original: {{ $('field_a') }}
        zh_tw:    {{ $('field_b') }}

  result:                        # write — land it as a file
    type: write
    from: to_json
    path: out/result.json

Every step is one of 5 node types: ai (calls the model), cmd (a shell command), assemble (reshape / combine items), input (the trigger), or write (save a file). Full runnable version: examples/generate-json.yaml.

How you drive it

Visual editor (chainq ui) — drag-to-connect, insert-a-step-on-a-wire, switch a node's type in place, marquee-select, Space-to-pan, double-click to edit. Data-flow wires (the $json main input) and reference wires ($('id') cross-step lookups, even several steps back) read distinctly — warm-solid vs. cool-dashed, toggle to hide references. Give a slow step room with a per-node ◷ timeout so a long ai run isn't killed mid-flight. Binds to 127.0.0.1 only.
CLI — chainq init · new · run · validate · ls. run re-runs everything by default; add --cache to reuse unchanged steps.

Docs

You want to…	Go to
Go from zero to running, step by step	Getting started
Look up a command or flow field	CLI reference
Follow a hands-on walkthrough	Tutorial · How-to
Understand why it works this way	Explanation
Clear up common confusions (input vs `from`, schema…)	FAQ
Copy a working example flow	Scenarios · examples/
Read design notes and internals	docs/design.md
See what changed	CHANGELOG