langflow/docs/docs/Components/components-helpers.md

title	slug
Helpers	/components-helpers

Helper components in Langflow

Helper components provide utility functions to help manage data, tasks, and other components in your flow.

Use a helper component in a flow

Chat memory in Langflow is stored either in local Langflow tables with LCBufferMemory, or connected to an external database.

The Store Message helper component stores chat memories as Data objects, and the Message History helper component retrieves chat messages as data objects or strings.

This example flow stores and retrieves chat history from an AstraDBChatMemory component with Store Message and Chat Memory components.

Create List

This component dynamically creates a record with a specified number of fields.

Inputs

Name	Display Name	Info
n_fields	Number of Fields	Number of fields to be added to the record.
text_key	Text Key	Key used as text.

Current date

The Current Date component returns the current date and time in a selected timezone. This component provides a flexible way to obtain timezone-specific date and time information within a Langflow pipeline.

Inputs

Name	Display Name	Info
timezone	Timezone	Select the timezone for the current date and time.

Outputs

Name	Display Name	Info
current_date	Current Date	The resulting current date and time in the selected timezone.

ID Generator

This component generates a unique ID.

Outputs

Name	Display Name	Info
value	Value	Unique ID generated.

Message history

:::info Prior to Langflow 1.1, this component was known as the Chat Memory component. :::

This component retrieves and manages chat messages from Langflow tables or an external memory.

Inputs

Name	Display Name	Info
memory	External Memory	Retrieve messages from an external memory. If empty, it will use the Langflow tables.
sender	Sender Type	Filter by sender type.
sender_name	Sender Name	Filter by sender name.
n_messages	Number of Messages	Number of messages to retrieve.
session_id	Session ID	The session ID of the chat. If empty, the current session ID parameter will be used.
order	Order	Order of the messages.
template	Template	The template to use for formatting the data. It can contain the keys {text}, {sender} or any other key in the message data.

Outputs

Name	Display Name	Info
messages	Messages (Data)	Retrieved messages as Data objects.
messages_text	Messages (Text)	Retrieved messages formatted as text.
lc_memory	Memory	A constructed Langchain ConversationBufferMemory object

Store Message

This component stores chat messages or text into Langflow tables or an external memory.

It provides flexibility in managing message storage and retrieval within a chat system.

Inputs

Name	Display Name	Info
message	Message	The chat message to be stored. (Required)
memory	External Memory	The external memory to store the message. If empty, it will use the Langflow tables.
sender	Sender	The sender of the message. Can be Machine or User. If empty, the current sender parameter will be used.
sender_name	Sender Name	The name of the sender. Can be AI or User. If empty, the current sender parameter will be used.
session_id	Session ID	The session ID of the chat. If empty, the current session ID parameter will be used.

Outputs

Name	Display Name	Info
stored_messages	Stored Messages	The list of stored messages after the current message has been added.

Structured output

This component transforms LLM responses into structured data formats.

Input

Name	Display Name	Info
llm	Language Model	The language model to use to generate the structured output.
input_value	Input message	The input message for the language model to process.
schema_name	Schema Name	Provide a name for the output data schema.
output_schema	Output Schema	Define the structure and data types for the model's output.
multiple	Generate Multiple	Set to True if the model should generate a list of outputs instead of a single output.

Output

| structured_output | Structured Output | The resulting structured output based on the defined schema. |