Switch

Overview

The switch node evaluates an expression against the incoming data and forwards that data to the matching output port, enabling conditional branching across multiple paths. It is the multi-branch equivalent of if_condition: where if_condition handles binary true/false splits, switch handles three or more discrete outcomes. If no case matches, data is routed to the default_port. Each matched port connects to its own downstream subgraph; unmatched ports are simply not activated.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
expression	string	Yes	—	A JSONPath expression (e.g. $.status) or a dot-path shorthand (e.g. status) evaluated against the input object to produce the comparison value.
cases	array	Yes	—	Ordered list of case objects. Each case has value (the expected match value, any JSON scalar) and port (the output port name to activate). Cases are evaluated top-to-bottom; the first match wins.
default_port	string	No	"default"	Output port name to activate when no case matches. If omitted and no case matches, execution stops at this node without error.
strict_types	boolean	No	false	When true, comparison is type-strict (===). When false, string "200" matches number 200.

Inputs

Port	Type	Description
input	any	The data object against which expression is evaluated and which is forwarded to the matched output port unchanged.

Outputs

Port	Type	Description
(case port names)	any	One output port per entry in cases, named by the port field of each case. Only the matched port activates per execution.
default	any	Activated when no case matches (or the name set in default_port). Carries the same input data.

Example

{
  "nodeType": "switch",
  "config": {
    "expression": "$.http_response.output.status",
    "cases": [
      { "value": 200, "port": "success" },
      { "value": 429, "port": "rate_limited" },
      { "value": 401, "port": "unauthorised" }
    ],
    "default_port": "unexpected",
    "strict_types": false
  }
}

In this example, if http_response.output.status is 200, only the success output port fires. A status of 500 activates unexpected.

Notes

• Cases are tested in order; put the most specific or most common case first for clarity and slight performance benefit.
• The switch node does not modify the input data — it acts purely as a router. All output ports receive the exact same object that entered input.
• Port names in cases must be valid identifier strings (alphanumeric and underscores); they become labelled edges in the workflow graph editor.
• If default_port is omitted and no case matches, the node is a silent no-op. This can be intentional (discard unrecognised values) but is easy to mistake for a bug — adding an explicit default port with a downstream stop_return or error_catch node is recommended.