---
id: SG-8
family: RT-SG
level: core
profiles: [runtime]
posture: normative-target
added: "1.0"
changed: "1.0"
source: https://flowdrop.io/spec/rules/rt-sg/sg-8
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# SG-8 — A node executed more than once keys its results by occurrence

*RT-SG (Part II) · level: core · profiles: runtime · added in 1.0*

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. A node's first execution in a run is reported under its bare node identifier; each later execution is reported under `{nodeId}:{n}`, where `n` is that node's zero-based count of prior executions in the run, and the payload of a stop raised by the node uses the same key.
>
> 2. Partial results reported for an interrupted run use an equivalent scheme.
>
> 3. Each completed execution is stamped with a higher execution order than the one before it, so a port fed by several sources resolves to the newest execution of a source node: inside a loop, the current round's.


## What it means

Only the first execution of a node keeps its bare identifier. Every later
execution — a body re-entering a loop — is reported under
`{nodeId}:{n}`, counting from zero, so the second execution is `:1` and the
third `:2`, not `:2` and `:3`. A reader who assumes the suffix counts the
execution itself, rather than how many came before it, will look for the
wrong key.

The same ordering decides what a port sees when several sources feed it: the
execution stamped with the highest order wins, which inside a loop means a
node reading from an upstream source always gets that source's most recent
pass, never a stale one left over from an earlier iteration.

## Example

A node that runs three times in one run reports its results under these
keys, first pass bare:

```json title="Three completed executions of one node" verdict="keyed"
["loop_node", "loop_node:1", "loop_node:2"]
```

## Related rules

- Names: DATA-2
- Referenced by: DATA-2

---

Rule identifiers are permanent and are never renumbered. This specification carries
no implementation status: each implementation publishes its own standing against
these rules. Licensed CC BY 4.0.