hello @Ethan, thanks for your question.
using NodeRED can indeed increase Tulip functionality by allowing you to run logic external to Tulip. there are some interesting examples in here: March 2021 App Competition [Node-RED] - #2 by Alan.Madorin if you’d like to take a look at how users are using NodeRED.
I do want to point out that in Release 205 (going out on 2021-04-11T23:00:00Z), we’ll be adding the ability to filter Table Queries with Arrays from apps: Table Queries functionality "in" and "not in" - #2 by gio. am I correct in thinking that this will eliminate the need for you to loop??
depending on the exact situation, this could indeed be a solution. for example, this QR Code is generated within a SQL Connector: Generating a QR Code or Barcode. I’d also like to point out that users sometimes use Connectors with the Table API (connected to their own instance), more information can be found here: How can I load unique field(table) values into dropdown list - #2 by gio.
hope this helps, let us know if you have further questions!!