# Node Pinning The Pin feature in Pixelflow allows you to cache the output of a node in your workflow. When a node is pinned, it will not be re-executed, and its previous output will be used as input for downstream nodes. This can be useful for saving time and resources, especially for nodes that are computationally expensive or time-consuming to run.
### How it Works Each node in a Pixelflow workflow has a pin icon in the top right corner. You can click this icon to toggle the pin status of the node. * **Pinned Node:** A pinned node will have a highlighted pin icon. When the workflow is run, a pinned node will not be executed. Instead, it will use the output from its most recent successful execution. * **Unpinned Node:** An unpinned node will have a regular pin icon. When the workflow is run, an unpinned node will be executed as usual. ### Rerunning Pinned Nodes A pinned node will only be rerun under the following circumstances: * **The node is unpinned:** If you manually unpin a node, it will be rerun the next time the workflow is executed. * **The node's configuration is changed:** If you make any changes to the parameters or settings of a pinned node, it will be automatically unpinned and rerun. * **An upstream node is changed:** If a node that provides input to the pinned node is changed or rerun, the pinned node will be automatically unpinned and rerun to ensure data consistency. ### Use Cases The Pin feature is particularly useful in the following scenarios: * **Iterative Development:** When you are developing a workflow, you can pin nodes that have already been successfully executed to focus on the parts of the workflow that you are currently working on. * **Cost Optimization:** For workflows that use expensive resources, you can pin nodes that have already produced the desired output to avoid incurring unnecessary costs. * **Time Savings:** For workflows that have time-consuming nodes, you can pin them to significantly reduce the overall execution time.