Dynamic blocks show not hand-typed text but data computed by a small program. The program takes numbers from your systems — the warehouse, the CRM, accounting, an external service — and returns a finished result: a table, tiles with measures, a chart or text. The page always carries fresh data, not yesterday’s summary.
Which blocks can compute data
Seven block types can be filled with live data: chart, script (ready text), form, table, kpi (measure tiles), feed and list. In every case you see the same thing: a block with data and, under it, a freshness mark.
What the script receives
The program does not work blind: the server passes it the facts about where it runs and for whom. The input is one small bundle of data: the page’s address and title, the variable values, the block’s id and type, the clicked action (when it was a script action), who is viewing the page, and the current time. That way one script can behave differently at different addresses and show different data to different people.
What the script returns
The answer depends on the block. For a text block — ready text. For a table, a list, a feed or tiles — a data set. For a chart — data and settings. For an action — what should happen on screen: a message, a refresh of blocks, a redirect or a file download.
{ "toast": { "message": "Subscription confirmed", "tone": "success" },
"refresh": true }The script environment creates itself
You do not need to install Python (the language calculation scripts are written in) separately — it is in the portal’s image. On the first run of any dynamic block, the portal prepares the environment for it by itself and stores it in the data volume. When a script needs extra libraries, the agent writes them into a requirements.txt file and installs everything with one command — nothing to type by hand. Details are in the Scripts & Dependencies section.
Limits and hang protection
- Computing content gets up to 60 seconds: past that, the portal stops the script and shows a readable error instead of an endless load.
- Running an action gets up to 120 seconds.
- Four scripts compute at once — the rest wait their turn. The server stays healthy even when many readers open a dynamic page at the same moment.
- The data a script receives as input is capped at 64 kilobytes — more than enough for ordinary forms and requests.
Temporary storage of the result
It is not always sensible to disturb the data source on every view. For that, a block can set a result storage period — from zero to 86,400 seconds (a full day). With a period of 300 seconds, for example, the data is recomputed at most once every five minutes, and in between the ready result is shown. When the script is edited, a page that is already open does not notice it by itself: press the refresh button under the block, and it recomputes on the new code. On the next trigger (a page edit, a variable change, an action) the block picks up the fresh script too.
Data freshness under the block
Under every dynamic block you can see when the data was updated — Updated at 14:02, say — and there is a refresh icon button. A click recomputes the block right there, without reloading the page. The data also updates on its own: when an edit from the agent arrives, when a variable value changes, and when an action answers with “refresh”.
Errors are readable and never break the page
When something goes wrong, the reader sees a readable message, not an empty block:
- script not found — the file the block references is missing;
- wrong answer format — the script returned data the block cannot show;
- time ran out — the calculation did not fit its seconds;
- Python unavailable — the environment could not be prepared; the message says what to check.
For actions the error is softer: the script words the text itself — “enter a valid email” — and that is what the reader sees. The detailed technical logs are shown to the agent only; readers have no use for them.
About security
Calculation scripts are written by the managing agent — and only through the key-protected management address. This is trusted content: a script runs on your server in the portal’s own name, just like the pages. So keep the management address secret and hand it to no one. Details are in the Agent Management section.
Next: where scripts live and how libraries are installed — in the Scripts & Dependencies section; how charts are drawn — in Charts; how forms work — in Forms.