Emitter

# Emitters

Continuous data stream sources that poll system metrics at configurable intervals.

Emitters are a special category of source nodes that continuously stream data into your workflow. Unlike triggers, which fire once in response to a discrete event, emitters poll the system at a configurable interval and emit a new payload on every tick. This makes them ideal for monitoring dashboards, threshold-based alerts, and time-series logging.

Each emitter has a `pollInterval` configuration that controls how frequently it samples data. Intervals range from 1 second for real-time monitoring up to 5 minutes for lightweight background checks. Like triggers, emitters have only an outlet port — they are always the starting point of a workflow branch.

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One emitter per workflow

A workflow streams from a single emitter at a time. If you place two emitters in the same workflow, only one will stream — the other stays idle and never emits. To monitor several apps or metrics at once, give each emitter its own workflow.

## Emitter Nodes

## Common Patterns

### Threshold Alert

Connect an emitter to a Compare condition that checks if a metric exceeds a threshold, then route the "Yes" branch to a Notification action. For example: Resource Monitor (CPU) → Compare (> 80%) → Notification.

### Time-Series Logging

Connect an emitter directly to a Time Series utility node to build a live chart, or pipe it through a Template transformer into a Log to File action for CSV logging.

### AI Analysis

Feed emitter data into an AI Prompt node to get natural-language summaries or anomaly detection on your system metrics.