## Problem to solve Low code solutions like [Nodered](https://nodered.org/) need to be backed up and versioned like any other application solution, but the underlying representation isn't designed to be human readable (e.g. stored in a machine representation in various JSON files for example). I want to be able to store, review, version and edit my low code projects in GitLab. ## Vision We should identify a strong OSS low code solution and integrate it deeply with GitLab to offer a low code solution out of the box. Until such a tool is identified and there is demand, we can support simple basic integrations. ## Further details [Nodered](https://nodered.org/) projects are a collection of JSON files that can be viewed and edited through the Nodered interface. Since they are text files, these can be stored and versioned in Git like any other text file. However, they can't be easily be edited directly by hand using a text editor, reviewing changes to JSON isn't easy, and conflicts are likely! Since we don't currently package any Nodejs deps with GitLab, and there are various different low code solutions in the market, we can take an approach of making it easy to integrate low code tools with GitLab rather than bundling a preferred low code solution. In the future, if one of these becomes dominant, we can then package it natively and improve the integration further. Open source low code tools: - [Nodered](https://nodered.org/) (10.7k :star:, Node.js is problematic for packaging :-1:, Apache 2.0 :+1:) - https://n8n.io/ (9.7k :star: Node.js based :-1:, Apache plus Commons Cause :-1:) - https://github.com/huginn/huginn (29.6k :star:, Ruby :+1:, MIT license :+1:) Commercial tools (from Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms): | Leaders | Challengers | Visionaries | Niche | |------------|---------------|-------------------------|-------------| | Salesforce | Oracle (APEX) | Pega | AgilePoint | | Microsoft | | Zoho | Quick base | | Outsystems | | Betty Blocks | Creatio | | Mendix | | Oracle (Visual Builder) | Kintone | | Appian | | | Newgen | | ServiceNow | | | AuraQuantic | | | | | ProntoForms | | | | | TrackVia | <details><summary>Gartner 2020 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms chart</summary>  </details> ## Proposal Add **Project Integrations** for popular low code solutions so that it is easy to open the low code editing interface from GitLab. | Project integration | Repository browsing | Low code interface | |---|---|---| |  |  |  | Because there does not appear to be a strong open source leader in low code solutions, this proposal is **NOT** to bundle a low code solution with GitLab currently. Each low code solution would need to be hosted and run separately by the customer. ## Links / references - https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3956079/magic-quadrant-for-enterprise-low-code-application-platf