Graph Hygiene: Find and Remove Orphan Nodes

Large graphs tend to accumulate "just-in-case" experiments: half-finished branches, abandoned masks, and one-off tests that never make it into the final output.

Those loose ends are called orphan nodes - nodes that aren’t connected (or don’t contribute to any final output). Keeping them around adds clutter, increases mental load, and can waste resources.

Find Orphans Fast

The easiest way to locate orphans is via the Data View.

1. Open Data View → Terrain tab.
2. Use the Filter dropdown.
3. Choose Orphan Nodes.

Gaea will isolate the nodes that aren’t participating in the graph’s outcome, so you can deal with them intentionally.

Decide What to Do with Them

Once you have the orphan list, pick one of these outcomes:

Delete

If you’re confident the branch is dead, delete it. This keeps the graph readable and reduces "false complexity".

Park It

If you want to keep an experiment for reference:

1. Create a dedicated Scratch tab or group.
2. Move orphans into it.
3. Rename the group clearly: SCRATCH - do not ship.

This keeps your production graph clean while preserving R&D work.

Keep the Graph Future-Proof

A clean graph scales better when:

• someone else opens it months later,
• you need to split work across multiple files,
• you build at extreme resolutions (8K/16K or tiled).

Treat orphan cleanup like sweeping the workshop floor: small habit, huge payoff.