Deployment Overview

What export actually produces

Exporting analyzes your workflow's nodes and edges and generates a complete, standard project for the backend framework you chose: routes, database access, business logic, and a Dockerfile — all as plain, readable source files. There is no runtime dependency on Fimaflow in the generated code — once it's exported, it runs the same whether or not your Fimaflow account still exists.

See Framework Export for supported frameworks and exactly what gets generated, and Docker Export for what ships in the container.

Framework Export vs Docker Export

• • Framework Export — take the raw source project (routes, services, schemas, migrations) and deploy it through whatever pipeline you already use for that framework. Best when you have infrastructure, a CI pipeline, or compliance requirements around where code runs.
• • Docker Export — get the same project pre-packaged as a container image you can run on any container platform. Best for a portable, self-contained artifact.

Both start from the same workflow and produce equivalent behavior — the choice is purely about the shape of the artifact you want to ship.

No vendor lock-in

The exported project is a normal codebase — commit it to your own repository, run it locally, edit it by hand, and deploy it anywhere that runs the framework you picked: your own server, a container platform, or any standard hosting provider. You never need Fimaflow running to keep your backend alive.

Exporting again after changes

Keep iterating on the canvas and re-export whenever you want a fresh snapshot of the generated project. Export doesn't modify your workflow — it's always safe to run, as many times as you need. It also doesn't merge into a previously exported project; each export is a clean generation from the workflow's current saved state, so hand-edits made to an earlier export won't appear in the next one — see Framework Export limitations.

Interactions with the rest of the platform

• • Environment variables set in the builder become .env.example keys on export — see Environment Variables.
• • Export can be triggered from a script or CI job — see CLI.