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Flows

A flow is an automation built as steps. A simple rule does its actions one after another; a flow can branch with If, end early with Stop, and decide for each action whether a failure stops it. Flows are listed with the rules under Platform → Automations, marked Flow, and run in the same order with them.

A new flow​

Under New automation, choose Flow. Give it a name, what it runs on (cases, or with their plugins on, changes, problems or events), when it starts and the unit it's for. It opens in the designer, off, with no steps yet.

To turn a simple rule into a flow, open it and choose Open as flow. Its actions become steps in a draft. The rule keeps running as it is until you publish; Discard draft under More goes back to the simple rule.

The designer​

The flow reads top to bottom, each step in words:

  • When: the trigger, the unit, and conditions every run must match first, as in a rule.
  • Action: anything a rule can do. Under If it fails, Go on carries on with the next step; Stop the flow ends the run there.
  • If: conditions of its own, with Yes and No branches side by side. After the branch, the flow goes on below the If.
  • Stop: this flow's run ends here; steps after it don't run.

The plus between steps adds a step there. Pick a step to change it in the panel beside the flow, move it up or down, or remove it; removing an If removes the steps in its branches. A step that still needs something, such as a value or a condition, is marked in amber with what's missing.

A flow has at most 60 steps, and Ifs inside Ifs go at most 5 deep.

Drafts, publishing and versions​

Every change is saved as a draft as you make it; nothing runs differently until you publish. Publish checks the flow as a rule is checked, step by step: a problem marks its step and opens it. You can say what changed; the note is kept with the version. The first version turns the flow on.

After that, each publish makes a new version, and the one before stops running. Versions under More lists them with who published each, when and the note. Copy to draft takes an earlier version back into the draft, to publish again. Discard draft goes back to the version that runs.

Publishing is in the audit log (rule.published, with the version and the note), and each run keeps the version that ran and a log of its steps.

For the API, see Flows in the automations API.