From 85b3eeb57809509fec171ef4bf4aca20bcac2bd7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nicole Rappe <nicole.rappe@bunny-lab.io>
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2025 20:54:53 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] Updated README with detailed breakdowns of Borealis.

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-## Borealis Overview:
-Borealis is a workflow management system that ingests various sources of data and manipulates them in useful and meaningful ways. Used for automation or analysis processes, and helpful for making intelligent assumptions from data.
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+# 🌌 Borealis - Workflow Automation via Visual Node Graphs
+
+**Borealis** is a cross-platform **visual automation platform** that lets you design and execute workflows using drag-and-drop "nodes" in an interactive graph. Think of it like building a flowchart that actually **runs** — in real-time.
+
+Powered by a Flask backend and a React Flow frontend, Borealis is perfect for anyone looking to automate tasks, visualize data processing, or build reactive tools using a modular, extensible system.
+
+---
+
+## ✨ Key Features
+
+| Feature | Description |
+|--------|-------------|
+| 🧠 **Visual Editor** | Intuitive graph-based UI powered by React Flow. Nodes represent data, logic, or actions. |
+| ⚙️ **Dynamic Node Updates** | All nodes react to data changes live using a shared memory bus and global update timer. |
+| 🔗 **Live Connections** | Connect nodes via "wires" to transmit values in real time — no refresh needed. |
+| 🖼️ **On-Screen GUI Interactions** | Supports custom Python-based GUI prompts, like on-screen region selectors. |
+| 🔍 **OCR and Vision Support** | Use EasyOCR and Tesseract to extract data from screenshots or webcam feeds. |
+| 🧩 **Custom Node Support** | Easily define your own nodes using JSX — each one modular and reactive. |
+| 🚀 **Cross-Platform** | Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS (via provided `.sh` and `.ps1` launch scripts). |
+
+---
+
+## 🧱 Core Components
+
+| Component | Role |
+|----------|------|
+| **Flask Server** | Hosts API endpoints and serves the React frontend |
+| **React Flow UI** | Visual canvas for building and managing workflows |
+| **Python Virtual Env** | Encapsulates dependencies, avoids global installs |
+| **Shared Value Bus** | All nodes communicate via `window.BorealisValueBus` |
+
+---
+
+## ⚡ Getting Started
+
+```bash
+# Windows
+Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope Process
+.\Launch-Borealis.ps1
+
+# Linux / macOS
+bash Launch-Borealis.sh
+```
+
+The launch script will:
+- 🐍 Create a virtual Python environment
+- 📦 Install all required Python + JS dependencies
+- ⚛️ Build the React app
+- 🌐 Launch the Flask web server
+
+---
+
+## 🧠 How It Works
+
+Borealis workflows run on **live data propagation**. Each node checks for incoming values (via edges) and processes them on a recurring timer (default: 200ms). This allows for highly reactive, composable logic graphs.
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