Nōdle

A node-based visual programming editor built with Rust and egui.

Overview

Nōdle is a high-performance node editor implementation featuring a vertical flow design where connections flow from top to bottom. It provides an intuitive interface for creating and connecting nodes in a visual programming environment with GPU-accelerated rendering.

Features

• Vertical Flow Design: Input ports on top, output ports on bottom
• GPU-Accelerated Rendering: High-performance node and connection rendering using wgpu
• Rich Node System: Extensible node factory with categories for Math, Logic, Data, 3D, USD, and more
• Intuitive Controls:
  • Single-click to create connections between ports
  • Multi-select nodes with box selection
  • Drag to move selected nodes
  • Freehand connection drawing with C key
  • Cut connections with X key
• Navigation:
  • Pan with middle mouse button or space+drag
  • Zoom with mouse wheel (centered on cursor)
  • Frame all nodes with F key
• Context Menu: Right-click to create new nodes
• Keyboard Shortcuts:
  • Delete - Remove selected nodes/connections
  • ESC - Cancel connection in progress
  • Ctrl/Cmd + Click - Multi-select nodes
  • C - Freehand connection drawing mode
  • X - Connection cutting mode
  • F - Frame all nodes
• USD Integration: Comprehensive Universal Scene Description nodes for 3D workflows
• Workspace System: Context-specific workspaces (General, 3D, USD, MaterialX)
• Interface Panels: Parameter panels for node configuration with real-time updates

Getting Started

See GETTING_STARTED.md for detailed setup instructions.

Quick Start

1. Install Dependencies:

   # macOS/Linux
   ./install.sh
   
   # Windows
   install.bat

2. Run Nodle:

   cargo run --release --features usd

Architecture

Nōdle uses a node-centric architecture where nodes drive everything through their metadata:

• Node Factory System: Self-registering nodes with rich metadata
• Modular Node Structure: Each node type has mod.rs, logic.rs, and parameters.rs
• GPU Rendering Pipeline: Efficient batch rendering of nodes and connections
• Interface Panel System: Automatic UI generation from node parameters

See DEVELOPER_GUIDE.md for detailed technical documentation.

Node Categories

• Math: Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide
• Logic: AND, OR, NOT, Compare
• Data: Constant, Variable, Convert
• 3D Geometry: Cube, Sphere, Plane, Transform nodes
• USD: Complete USD pipeline nodes for industry-standard 3D workflows
• Lighting: Point, Directional, Spot lights
• Output: Print, Debug, Viewport

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bsundman/nodle.git
cd nodle

# Build and run
cargo build --release
cargo run --release

Features

• usd - Enable USD (Universal Scene Description) support

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with egui - an immediate mode GUI library for Rust
• GPU rendering powered by wgpu - cross-platform graphics API
• USD integration via PyO3 - Rust bindings for Python