How-to guides

Task-oriented steps for working with Process Map. These assume you already know the core concepts and the node types.

Configuring nodes

How to configure a Task node

1. Click a Task node on the canvas to select it. The node panel opens on the right.
2. Enter a descriptive Label (for example, "Review application").
3. Choose a Distribution for the service time. This controls how long each work item spends at this step.
4. Optionally assign one or more Resources to limit how many items can be processed simultaneously.
5. Click outside the panel or press Escape to close it. The node updates to reflect your configuration.

How to add a Queue before a constrained Task

Use this pattern whenever a Task has limited resources and you expect demand to exceed capacity.

1. Click the Queue node type in the toolbar and place it on the canvas before the Task you want to buffer.
2. Click the Queue node and enter a Label (for example, "Waiting for review").
3. Set Capacity to null for an unlimited buffer, or enter a number to cap the queue size.
4. Draw a connection from the upstream node to the Queue, then from the Queue to the Task.
5. Run the simulation. The avg queue length and avg wait time metrics for the Queue node show the backlog effect.

Drawing a connection

1. Select the Connect tool from the toolbar, or press C.
2. Hover over the source node until its output handle appears on the right edge.
3. Drag from the output handle to the input handle of the target node.
4. Release the mouse — the connection appears as an arrow between the two nodes.

tip

If the handles are not visible, make sure you are in Connect mode (C). Handles only appear when you hover over a node in this mode.

Editing an existing connection

1. Switch to the Select tool (V).
2. Click the connection line to select it — the line highlights and the connection properties panel opens on the right.
3. Update the probability weight or routing condition in the panel.
4. Click away or press Escape to deselect — your changes are saved automatically.

Set probability weights directly in the panel. For example, if 70% of items should go to "Approve" and 30% to "Reject", set the Approve connection to 0.7 and the Reject connection to 0.3.

tip

Weights across all outgoing connections from a single node must sum to exactly 1. The properties panel shows a validation error if they do not.

Deleting a connection

1. Click the connection to select it.
2. Press Delete or Backspace — the connection is removed immediately.

warning

Deleting a connection removes it from both the canvas and the scenario. This cannot be undone unless you use Ctrl+Z.

Setting up conditional routing

For condition-based routing, add a Router node from the node type selector. The router evaluates each outgoing connection's expression in declaration order and routes the unit to the first matching branch. See Routing modes and expression syntax for the full grammar and operator list.

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Expressions are evaluated in the order the connections appear in the router's condition list, not the order they were drawn. You can reorder conditions in the router's info panel to change priority.

You can designate one outgoing connection per router as the default route — taken when no condition matches. Units with no matching condition and no default route are dropped from the simulation.

The expression editor validates your input on every keystroke and highlights errors in red. Common errors include a label name not defined in the scenario, an unknown operator, or malformed expression syntax. You can save an invalid condition, but the simulation panel will block you from running until all conditions are valid.

Running a simulation

1. Open a scenario in the canvas editor — the canvas loads with your process model.
2. Click Run in the header — the simulation configuration panel opens.
3. Choose simulation parameters:
   • Mode: simulate until a certain number of units complete (units) or until a time limit is reached (time).
   • Value: the target unit count or time limit.
   • Time unit: min, hr, day, etc.
   • Test runs: how many times to simulate your process (more runs = more reliable results).
4. Click Run — the simulation starts and a progress indicator appears. When it finishes, the results panel opens showing output metrics for your process — see Output metrics.

tip

You can also open the simulation panel for any node by selecting it and pressing I, or by clicking the sim icon on the node.

Set the service time distribution for each Task node, and the arrival distribution for the Start node, in the simulation panel (select the node, then press I or click the sim icon). See Distributions for the full list of supported distributions and parameters.

note

When you run multiple reps, the reported metrics are averaged across all reps. This gives you a stable estimate of steady-state performance. Individual rep results are also available in the results panel — expanding a metric shows the per-rep breakdown so you can inspect variance across runs.

Troubleshooting a simulation

Simulation runs indefinitely or times out If your process has a cycle (a loop back to an earlier node) without a termination condition, work items may circulate forever. Add an End node reachable from every path, or use a time mode to cap the run length.

Queue depth grows unbounded When arrivals are faster than your process can handle, queues grow without limit. Reduce the arrival rate, add capacity (more resource units or parallel task paths), or switch to units mode to cap how many items enter.

Results show zero units completed Check that at least one path from your Start node leads to an End node. If every path ends at a Queue or Task node with no outbound connection, no items will complete.

After reviewing your initial results, try adjusting service time distributions to match real data, increasing resource unit counts to reduce utilization bottlenecks, or duplicating the scenario to compare two process designs side by side.

Managing resources

Creating a resource

1. Press M or click the Manage Resources button in the toolbar — the Manage Resources dialog opens.
2. Click Add resource — a new row appears in the resource list.
3. Enter a name, an optional cost (for example, $50/hour), and choose a color for the canvas indicator.
4. Close the dialog — the resource is now available to assign to nodes.

tip

Name resources after roles or asset types rather than individuals (for example, "Analyst" rather than "Alice"). This makes it easier to scale unit counts without renaming.

Assigning a resource to a node

1. Select the node on the canvas, then press I or click the info icon — the node info panel opens on the right.
2. Scroll to the Resources section and click Add — a resource selector appears.
3. Choose the resource name from the list.
4. Set the count — the number of units this task requires simultaneously.
5. Click away or press Escape — the assignment is saved automatically.

note

You can assign multiple resources to a single node. The task waits until all required resources are simultaneously available before it starts.

During a simulation run, a task node with a resource assignment checks whether the required unit count is available (waiting in a queue if not), acquires the units for the duration of its service time, then releases them when the task completes, unblocking the next waiting task. This models real contention: if five tasks all require the same analyst and only one analyst unit exists, they serialize through that availability.

Setting resource costs

If you set a cost and period (for example, $75/hour) the simulation reports an estimated resource cost in the output metrics. The estimate is calculated from actual occupied time across all runs.

tip

Set costs on all resources to compare scenarios by total operating cost, not just throughput. The results panel shows per-resource cost alongside utilization so you can identify where money is being spent.

Viewing resource utilization

After a simulation run, the results panel shows avg resource utilization per resource — the fraction of simulation time the resource was occupied.

warning

A utilization near 100% indicates a bottleneck. Tasks are spending significant time waiting for this resource. Consider increasing the unit count or redistributing work before concluding cycle time is acceptable.

Creating and saving a scenario

From the dashboard, click New scenario. Give it a name and you'll be taken to the canvas editor.

Changes are auto-saved as you work. The save indicator in the header shows the last save time. You can also trigger a manual save at any time.

Undo with Ctrl+Z, redo with Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z — see Keyboard shortcuts for the full list. The undo stack is per-session and is not persisted across page reloads. For longer-term history, export your scenario as a .conf file and commit it to version control — each export is a plain-text snapshot that diffs cleanly.

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If you belong to an organization, scenarios can be shared with your team. Org members with editor or higher roles can edit org scenarios. Viewers can only read and run simulations.

Renaming and deleting a scenario

Click the scenario name in the header to rename it inline, or use the scenario menu.

Open the scenario menu on the dashboard and select Delete to remove a scenario.

warning

Deleting a scenario also deletes all its simulation results. This cannot be undone.

Sharing a scenario

You can share a read-only view of any scenario with anyone — no account required for the viewer.

Enabling sharing

1. Open the scenario in the canvas editor.
2. Click Share in the header toolbar. The Share dialog opens.
3. Click Enable sharing. A unique share link is generated and copied to your clipboard.
4. Send the link to anyone you want to give read-only access.

Disabling sharing

Revoking immediately cuts off access

Revoking the link immediately stops access for everyone who has it. This cannot be undone — revoking and re-enabling generates a new link, and the old one never works again.

1. Click Share in the header toolbar.
2. Click Revoke link.

The previous link immediately stops working. You can generate a new link at any time by clicking Enable sharing again. See Sharing for what viewers can and can't do and the share API.

Importing and exporting a scenario

You can export a scenario as a .conf text file and re-import it later — useful for version control or sharing as a file. See Config file format for the file syntax.

To export:

1. Open the scenario in the canvas editor.
2. Click Scenarios in the top toolbar (or File → Export .conf from the canvas editor's header menu).
3. Click Export. Your browser downloads a .conf file named after the scenario.

To import:

1. Click Scenarios in the top toolbar (or File → Import .conf from the canvas editor's header menu).
2. Click Import and select the .conf file from your file system.
3. The scenario is created and opens in the canvas editor. All nodes, connections, resources, and routing configuration are restored.

tip

Imported scenarios appear as new scenarios and do not overwrite existing ones.