akka provides some pre-defined shapes, that should probably fit 99.9% of your usage. creating a new shape should only be done in some very rare cases. the pre-defined shapes are:
Source - 1 outlet, no inletsSink - 1 inlet, no outletsFlow - 1 inlet, 1 outletBidiFlow - 2 inlets, 2 outletsClosed - no inlets, no outletsFanInN - N inlets (N <= 22), 1 outletFanOutN - N outlets (N <= 22), 1 inletUniformFanIn - any number of inlets of the same type, 1 outletUniformFanOut - any number of outlets of the same type, 1 inletAmorphous - any number of inlets or outlets, but untyped.