Web Pipes Discovery and Publishing

Web Pipes Discovery and Publishing

The Pipes catalog is where the Sweet Tea community shares workflows. You can browse what others have created, save Pipes to your desk for local use, and publish your own for others to discover. This chapter covers both sides of that exchange.

Discovering Pipes

Browsing the catalog

1. Open /pipes to see the full catalog.
2. Use search and filters to narrow by keyword, category, or creator.
3. Click any Pipe to see its detail view — or use the quick-view modal for a fast preview without leaving the listing page.

Evaluating a Pipe before use

Before saving or downloading a Pipe, check:

• Creator profile — Click the creator name to see their history and other published Pipes. A verified creator with multiple published workflows is generally a reliable source.
• Dependencies — The detail page lists required models and custom nodes. Make sure you have them (or can get them) before importing into Studio.
• Version history — A Pipe with multiple versions has been maintained. Check the version notes for any breaking changes.
• Usage stats — Download counts and usage metrics give a rough signal of community validation.

Tip: The quick-view modal is great for triaging multiple Pipes quickly. Open it, scan the description and dependencies, and only click through to the full detail page when you're seriously interested.

Saving a Pipe to your desk

When you find a Pipe you want to use:

1. Click Save to Desk (or the equivalent sync/download action) on the Pipe detail page.
2. The Pipe appears in your Library and is available for import into Studio.
3. In Studio, import it from your synced library or download the .tea package directly.

The Pipe then follows the normal import and hardening process described in Pipes & Workflows.

Publishing Your Own Pipe

Sharing your workflows with the community is a straightforward process, but it's worth doing carefully — a well-published Pipe with clear metadata gets more trust and usage than a bare upload.

Full publishing flow

1. Prepare your Pipe locally — Make sure it's validated, dependencies are documented, the schema is clean, and it has at least one successful test generation. See Advanced Pipe Management for cleanup tips.
2. Package as .tea — Export your Pipe to the .tea format from Studio.
3. Upload to the web — Go to the upload page and upload your .tea file. The platform runs an analysis pass that checks the package structure and dependencies.
4. Fill in metadata — Add a clear description, category tags, dependency notes, and a preview image if you have one.
5. Publish — Submit for publishing. Depending on your trust level, the Pipe may go through a review step before appearing in the catalog.

You can also publish directly from your My Desk if the Pipe was synced from Studio, or publish from a synced entity — both paths skip the manual upload step.

Note: The platform normalizes .tea packages during upload for safety and compatibility. If the normalizer flags issues, fix them in Studio and re-upload.

Versioning and updates

When you improve a Pipe and want to update the published version:

• Metadata-only changes (description, tags, readme) don't bump the version number.
• Package changes (workflow modifications, dependency updates) increment the patch version automatically.
• Keep compatibility notes in the version description so users know what changed.

Tip: Avoid silent breaking changes. If a new version requires a different model or custom node, say so clearly in the version notes. Users who update and hit a missing dependency will be frustrated if there's no explanation.

Unpublishing

If you need to remove a published Pipe (found a bug, want to rework it, etc.), use the unpublish action from the Pipe detail page or your desk. Unpublishing removes it from the public catalog but preserves the record in your account.

Safety and Moderation

The platform takes package safety seriously:

• Uploads go through a risk-based analysis before publishing.
• Users can report problematic Pipes through the report flow on any detail page.
• As a publisher, you're expected to provide accurate metadata, document dependencies honestly, and respond to reported issues.

Next: Web Library, My Desk, Devices, and Tokens