The node catalog

Nodes are the building blocks of a canvas. They fall into a few categories — mix them freely, connecting outputs to inputs to build up a workflow.

AI & reasoning

The workhorses of most canvases.

• AI model — a reasoning step that takes its inputs, follows your instructions, and produces a result. It can use tools to look things up or take actions as part of the step.
• Agent — runs one of your agents inside the flow, so autonomous work can be a stage in a larger canvas. See agent nodes for how these run and what they produce.

Research

Bring outside and computed information into the graph.

• Web search — pulls in current information from the web.
• Deep research — a heavier, multi-source pass for when a single search isn't enough.
• Data / Python analysis — runs analysis over data and returns results you can feed downstream.

Content

The deliverables a canvas produces.

• Document — long-form written output.
• Presentation — a slide deck.
• Freeform presentation — an HTML-based deck for more visual, custom layouts.
• Designed document — a paginated, brand-themed document for polished long-form deliverables.
• Visualisation — an interactive, on-brand HTML piece — dashboards, charts, diagrams, infographics — that you can refine by asking Alto and publish as a live link. See visualisations.

Images

• Image generation — creates images from a prompt.
• Image source — brings an uploaded or referenced image into the canvas.

Knowledge & data

Connect your material to the work.

• Knowledge / reference file — attaches documents and reference files from your knowledge store so nodes can work from your real material.
• Spreadsheet — tabular data as a node.

Structure

Keep a busy canvas readable.

• Notes and headings — annotate and label regions of the graph.
• Frames — group related nodes into a labelled section.