What is a Robot?
A Robot is a Transloadit feature that performs one specific file-processing operation, such as resizing an image or encoding a video. Assembly Steps reference Robots by name and connect them to create a custom processing workflow.
How Robots work
Within an Assembly, a Robot represents one processing capability with a documented input contract, parameter set, and result shape. At runtime, the work performed by a configured Step is scheduled as one or more Encoding Jobs. This keeps Robot (the operation), Step (its configured use in the Instructions), and Encoding Job (a runtime execution) distinct. Step names provide the graph nodes, while input selectors connect a Robot to uploads or earlier results, allowing branching and fan-in workflows. The same Robot type can appear in multiple Steps with different configurations. This abstraction lets orchestration describe media work declaratively, while Transloadit schedules the underlying execution and exposes each Step’s outputs.
Key facts
- A Robot’s type identifies the operation family, while the user-defined Step name is how other Assembly Steps refer to that configured instance.
- One Step can consume results from selected earlier Steps, so changing a dependency can alter both the files processed and when the Step becomes runnable.
- Files in Assembly
resultsare grouped under the Step that produced them. Storage Robots do not produce separate files or Step keys inresults; export information belongs to the producing Step’s files.
When Robots matter
Select each Robot according to the required operation, then connect its inputs to earlier Assembly Steps. An unsupported input type or incorrect Step dependency can stop processing or produce an unintended result.