Creating Nodes

Clean Code with Explicit Comments

Ensure that you're creating a node which is easily readable/modifiable for anybody who wishes to tweak. A few pointers to take care of:

• Descriptive variables
• Break complex logic into simpler, re-usable functions
• Clear meaningful comments
• Handle edge cases with meaningful error messages
• Minimalistic approach

Using BuildShip Utilities

BuildShip provides utility functions right out of the box which provides functionalities like: logging, file handling, and authentication.

Utility functions are imported as part of the second parameter provided to the main function in the node, using the type NodeScriptOptions.

Logging (logging)

Can be used anywhere inside the function definition as logging.log() just how we use a console.log().

BuildShip File Handling (useBuildShipFile)

Use the dedicated File type & File Handling system by BuildShip instead of the native file handling techniques. Check out the complete documentation here (opens in a new tab).

Authentication (auth)

In case the nodes requires authentication for an integration / an API call, BuildShip supports two types of authentication options:

1. API Key (Key-based Integrations)

Imagine building a new node for an integration such as OpenAI. We use key-based integrations for all groups - where users can add multiple keys for a single group.

Making the new node as part of the group lets users re-use the existing nodes they've added for all the nodes belonging to the group, i.e. OpenAI.

To do this, we need to follow the two steps below:

STEP #1: Assign a Group

• Navigate to the Settings section in the Node Editor
• In the Key-based Integration selector, select the Integration Group for the node to be a part of
• In case an existing integration does not exist, click on the “Create New Integration” option and instantly create a new one

STEP #2: Using the Selected Key

• Make sure that auth is being imported from the NodeScriptOptions in the primary function parameters
• Inside the function, do the following to use the API Key. This way, we do not need to add an additional input to add the API Key.

export default async function textToSpeech(
  { text }: NodeInputs,
  { logging, auth }: NodeScriptOptions){
	  const apiKey = auth.getKey();
	  
	  // use this apiKey as part of the request authentication
  }

2. OAuth Token

BuildShip offers OAuth-based authentication for the listed services. To check out, navigate to the Settings section in the Node Editor. Look for the OAuth Integration selector to see all the supported integrations.

If you'd like an OAuth integration for a new service, click on the “Request New OAuth” option and let us know!

USING THE OAUTH INTEGRATION

The OAuth integration gives us the Access Token for the authenticated account. Here's how you can access it:

export default async function textToSpeech(
  { text }: NodeInputs,
  { logging, auth }: NodeScriptOptions){
	  const { access_token } = await auth.getToken();
	  
	  // use this access_token as part of the request authentication
  }