We employ a recently developed method for constructing rational electromagnetic field configurations in Minkowski space to investigate several properties of these source-free finite-action Maxwell ("knot") solutions. The construction takes place on the Penrose diagram but uses features of de Sitter space, in particular its isometry group. This admits a classification of all knot solutions in terms of $S^3$ harmonics, labelled by a spin $2j\in{\mathbb N}_0$, which in fact provides a complete "knot basis" of finite-action Maxwell fields. We display a $j{=}1$ example, compute the energy for arbitrary spin-$j$ configurations, derive a linear relation between spin and helicity and characterize the subspace of null fields. Finally, we present an expression for the electromagnetic flux at null infinity and demonstrate its equality with the total energy.

1+14 pages LaTeX, 4 figures in 6 parts; v2: additional j=1 knot solution, discussion and illustration of energy densitites and field lines, 3 more refs., published in PLA