Abstract A constructive approach is developed to build the solar flare complex network by utilizing a visibility graph condition alongside the Abe–Suzuki method. Solar flare information such as position, start time, and peak flux is used for this purpose. The obtained characteristics of the topological features (such as the characteristic path length, power-law behavior of the probability distribution function of degrees, and the clustering coefficient) demonstrate the scale-free and small-world properties of the solar flare modified network. To explain the complexity of the constructed network, Omori’s law as well as the universal scaling features are investigated. Furthermore, a nonextensive modification of the Gutenberg–Richter law is examined for the solar flare modified network using a q-stretched exponential model. Establishing a two-dimensional map for the configuration of 118 energetic main flares observed between 2006 and 2016, it is found that the main flares are located within the regions consisting of hubs (high-connectivity regions) of the network. A fractal dimension of the solar flare network of about 0.79 is also obtained.