I’ve been experimenting with Latenode’s visual builder for some data extraction work, and I’m honestly surprised how far you can get without touching code. But I keep hitting these moments where I want to add custom logic, and I’m not sure if I should drop down to JavaScript or try to keep it all visual.
Right now I’m working on extracting structured data from a few different sources and transforming it before it goes into our warehouse. The visual builder handles the basics really well—conditional routing, basic transformations, that kind of thing. But when I need to do something like parse nested JSON or manipulate strings in a specific way, I find myself reaching for a scripting step.
I guess what I’m trying to figure out is: at what point does adding JavaScript actually make sense versus fighting with the visual interface? And do other people find that mixing visual steps with scripting steps creates maintenance issues down the road, or is it actually pretty manageable?
You’re already thinking about this the right way. The visual builder handles maybe 70% of real extraction work really well, and then you sprinkle in JavaScript for the weird edge cases.
The key is that you don’t need to choose. Drop a JavaScript node in when it makes sense, keep the rest visual. I’ve built extraction pipelines that are mostly visual with maybe 2-3 custom script nodes, and they’re actually easier to maintain than pure code would be. You can see the flow at a glance.
Latenode makes this blend work because the scripting part doesn’t live in isolation. You’re passing data through a defined workflow, so there’s context. Way less chaos than managing scripts in a separate file.
Just stick with the practical rule: if you can do it in 2-3 visual steps, stay visual. If it’s cleaner in code, use a script node. Your extraction work will be faster and more maintainable.
I’ve dealt with exactly this problem, and honestly the turning point for me was when the visual transformations started needing nested conditionals. At that point, it became clearer to write a small function that handles the logic.
What I noticed is that mixing visual and code is fine as long as you’re intentional about it. Don’t try to force complex logic into the visual interface just to avoid opening a script node. Your future self will thank you for the clarity.
One thing that helps is treating your JavaScript blocks as discrete utilities. They take input, do one specific thing well, and return output. This way they stay simple and the visual flow around them stays readable.
The line for me typically falls where the complexity of the visual approach exceeds the complexity of writing code. For data extraction specifically, I’d say use the visual builder for connecting to your sources and routing the flow, but consider JavaScript whenever you’re transforming or reshaping data. Nested JSON parsing, field mapping, date transformations—these are the obvious candidates for scripting. The visual interface can handle basic field selection and filtering, but custom logic gets messy fast. I’ve maintained workflows that did this split well and others that tried to stay purely visual, and the mixed approach definitely caused fewer headaches over time.
Maintenance actually gets simpler when you mix them intentionally. The visual steps document what your workflow does at a high level. The script nodes handle the details. Each serves its purpose. Just make sure your script nodes have clear inputs and outputs, and you won’t run into problems.
Your instinct is right. The practical threshold is when visual manipulation becomes harder to read than code. For data extraction work, this usually happens with nested transformations or format conversions. JavaScript shines here because you can handle multiple operations in one block instead of chaining many visual steps. The key to maintainability is keeping script blocks focused. One transformation per block, clear variable names, and you won’t have issues. Many teams I’ve worked with use exactly this approach—visual for orchestration and data movement, JavaScript for the actual transformation logic.
Use visual for routing and connections, scripts for data transformation. Thats usually the sweet spot. Mix them liberally when it makes the overall flow clearer.