Rime Editor getting started

Rime Editor is the visual workbench for the same pipeline.dag.yaml the CLI runs. The app is not a separate project format: it opens a Rime folder, renders the DAG, lets you inspect every node output, and keeps the YAML/spec close enough that you can always drop back to files.

Rime Editor showing the dag-showcase pipeline canvas and selected node inspector.

The First Five Minutes

Open a Rime project folder.
Run the DAG or let the editor use the latest cached outputs.
Click a source or transform node.
Read the selected node panel: shape, cached/run state, table preview, column profiles, and source/config.
Open the report preview and use View in browser when you want the generated HTML artifact.

The fastest demo project is examples/dag-showcase. It has CSV and Parquet sources, expression nodes, SQL, aggregate rollups, statistical terminals, and a report.

What You Are Looking At

The canvas is the pipeline:

source nodes at the top bring files into the DAG
core transform nodes shape the tables
SQL/script nodes show named input edges
statistical nodes produce object outputs for reports
selected nodes open a right-side inspector

Focused Rime Editor DAG canvas with table-producing and statistical nodes.

The inspector is where the editor earns its keep. It should answer:

Did this node run, cache, fail, or skip?
What shape did it output?
Which columns changed?
Are nulls, high-cardinality columns, or warnings worth investigating?
What expression, YAML, SQL, or script produced this output?

Read The Spec Without Leaving Context

The editor keeps the YAML visible because the spec is still the source of truth.

Rime Editor showing the selected node YAML/spec view.

Use the spec view when:

a visual control does not expose the field you need yet
you want to inspect named slots like in: and out:
a review comment needs an exact YAML diff
you are moving from editor exploration to CLI/CI execution

Preview The Report

Reports are generated from the current run. The editor preview is for review; the browser view is the artifact you can share or archive.

Rime Editor report preview with the report DAG and node output sections.

Report preview is especially useful after statistical nodes, because warnings and assumptions sit next to the result instead of being buried in logs.

Where The CLI Still Fits

Use the editor to design, inspect, and debug. Use the CLI when you need repeatable automation:

rime validate pipeline.dag.yaml
rime run pipeline.dag.yaml
rime build pipeline.dag.yaml

Both surfaces consume the same files and produce the same outputs.