Create a workflow

Create a workflow in a workspace, then look after it from the Workflows page: find it, copy it, move it to another Flow installation and delete it. This guide is for workflow authors.

Before you start

• You need a workspace and the Editor or Owner role in it. Deleting a workflow needs Owner. See Manage a workspace.
• When workspace quotas are on, the Workflows page shows Workflow quota - <n> of <m> used. At the limit, the Create a new workflow tile is disabled until a workflow is deleted or the quota is raised. See Quotas.

Open the Workflows page

Select the workspace switcher (the two-arrows icon in the header), then the workspace. Its Workflows page opens. If you're already in the workspace, select Workflows in the side nav.

The page shows a card for each workflow, then the Create a new workflow tile. Each card shows the workflow's icon, display name, description and status, a Run it button and an overflow menu. Select a card's name to open the workflow in the workflow editor.

Create a workflow from scratch

1. On the Workflows page, select Create a new workflow. The Create a new workflow modal opens on Start from scratch.
2. In Display Name, enter the name people see, for example Nightly report. Flow fills Name with nightly-report.
3. Optional: change Name. It's the workflow's identifier: letters, numbers and dashes, up to 100 characters, unique in the workspace. Webhook and event URLs name the workflow by it.
4. Optional: enter a Description (optional) of up to 250 characters. It shows on the workflow's card.
5. Under Pick an icon (any icon), select an icon. Bot is selected to start with.
6. Select Create.

The workflow editor opens on the Canvas tab with the message Workflow successfully created. The canvas holds only Start and End. To add tasks, see Workflow editor.

Create stays disabled until the form is valid. If Name shows "There’s already a workflow with that name in this workspace. Names must be unique.", choose another name.

Start from a starter

A starter is a ready-made workflow that you copy into a workspace. The copy is an ordinary workflow, yours to change. Starters appear on Home under Start a workflow when the installation has any.

1. Select Home in the side nav.
2. Under Start a workflow, select a starter. The Create Workflow from Template modal opens.
3. In Workspace, choose the workspace. It's preset when you belong to only one.
4. Optional: change Workflow Name (up to 64 characters), Description (optional) and the icon.
5. Select Create and View.

The new workflow opens on the Canvas tab with the message Successfully created workflow from template. The copy keeps the starter's display name; change it under Configure › General (see Configure a workflow).

Find a workflow

Type in Search for a workflow at the top of the Workflows page. The cards narrow to the workflows whose Name matches, so search for nightly-report rather than Nightly report. The search is kept in the page's URL, so you can share the filtered view. When nothing matches, the page shows "No results from that search, try again."

The search box is disabled while the workspace has no workflows.

Templates on the Workflows page

An administrator can share a workflow with every workspace as a template. A template's card has a Template tag and the status Available until your workspace first runs it or saves its settings. Its menu offers only View and Export.

After that first use, the template is your workspace's own workflow: the card shows Template and Read-only. The tasks and parameters still belong to the template, and Duplicate isn't offered. See Workflows for how templates and starters differ.

What's on a card's menu

Open a card's overflow menu. Every item is disabled while the card shows Executing..., Duplicating... or Deleting....

Item	What it does
Edit	Opens the workflow on the Canvas tab.
View Activity	Opens Activity, filtered to this workflow's runs. Shown when Activity is turned on. See Activity.
Update	Replaces the workflow from an exported file, as a new version. See Update a workflow from a file.
Export	Downloads the workflow as a JSON file.
Duplicate	Copies the workflow within the workspace.
Delete	Deletes the workflow and its run history.

Duplicate a workflow

1. On the workflow's card, open the overflow menu and select Duplicate.

The card shows Duplicating..., then the message Successfully duplicated workflow, and the copy appears on the page. The copy's Name ends in -duplicate and its display name in (duplicate). It keeps the tasks, the parameters (secured values included) and the settings. It doesn't get the original's schedules, tokens or runs.

If the workspace already has a workflow with the copy's name, the copy fails with Request to duplicate workflow failed. Rename or delete that workflow, then try again.

Export a workflow

Export saves a workflow's latest version as a JSON file. Import it into another workspace or Flow installation, or keep it under version control.

1. On the workflow's card, open the overflow menu and select Export.

Flow shows Export starting soon, then your browser downloads <name>.json, for example nightly-report.json.

The file doesn't carry secrets. A secured parameter's default, and a task's secret value, read ***** when one is set. Set them again after you import the file.

Import a workflow from a file

1. On the Workflows page, select Create a new workflow.
2. Select Import a workflow.
3. Drop the .json file on Choose a file or drag one here, or select it to browse. The file must be 1 MiB or less and be a workflow export.
4. Check Name, Display Name (optional) and Description (optional), which Flow fills from the file. Name must be unique in the workspace.
5. Select Create.

The imported workflow opens on the Canvas tab with the message Workflow successfully imported. Set its secured values again: see Use secrets.

A file Flow can't use shows "Whoops!" and the reason, such as "File is larger than 1MiB" or "File is invalid". Export the workflow again, or choose a different file.

Update a workflow from a file

Update replaces a workflow's tasks, parameters and settings with those in an exported file of the same workflow, for example one you changed in version control. Flow saves the file as a new version, so the earlier versions stay in the Change Log.

1. On the workflow's card, open the overflow menu and select Update. The Update workflow modal opens.
2. Drop the .json file on Choose a file or drag one here. The file's name must match this workflow's Name. A good file shows "All set! This workflow is valid, and will fully replace the existing workflow."
3. Select Update.

Flow shows the message workflow successfully updated. Open the workflow to check the new version.

Delete a workflow

1. On the workflow's card, open the overflow menu and select Delete.
2. In Delete workflow, select Delete.

The card shows Deleting..., then the workflow leaves the page with the message Workflow successfully deleted.

If deletion fails, Flow shows Request to delete workflow failed. Check that you have the Owner role in the workspace.

Not seeing what you expected?

• Why is Run it greyed out on the new workflow's card?
• Why doesn't a starter workflow do what its description says?

Next steps

• Workflow editor: add tasks, link them and save a version.
• Configure a workflow: set triggers, run options and the run workspace.
• Run a workflow: start a run and follow it.
• Workflows: what a workflow is, and how templates and starters work.