Flows overview
What an automation flow is, how the Flows list reads, and what Draft, Live and Unpublished mean.
A flow is an automation that reacts to your customers on WhatsApp: it can reply, ask questions, look something up in your own system, wait, tag a contact and hand the conversation to a person. Nothing a flow does reaches a customer until you publish it.
How a flow works
Every flow is a set of steps joined by connections:
- It begins with one or more Start when steps (triggers), such as Customer sends a message, Tag added to a contact or On a schedule.
- Each step has one or more exits, such as "sent", "refused" or one exit per reply button. You connect each exit to the step that should happen next.
- When a trigger fires for a contact, the flow starts a run for that contact. The run walks through the steps, following the exit each step leaves by, until it reaches an End step or an exit that is not connected.
A contact is in at most one run of the same flow at a time. If the trigger fires again while their run is still going, no second run starts.
For every step and trigger you can use, see Flow steps reference.
Draft, versions and runs
A flow has one draft, which is what you edit, and any number of versions:
- When you publish, the draft becomes a new version that never changes. New runs use the newest version straight away.
- Runs already in progress finish on the version they started on.
- To change a live flow, edit the draft and publish again.
See Test and publish a flow and Flow runs and versions.
The Flows list
Go to Automation › Flows. The list shows every flow in your organisation:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Flow | The flow's name, with its description underneath. Click the name to open the flow. |
| Status | Draft, Live: version N or Unpublished (see below). |
| Starts when | The triggers of the live version, or Not live if nothing can start it. |
| Active runs | How many runs are in progress right now. |
| Updated | When the flow was last changed. |
Use Filter by status to show only flows in one status, and Load more at the bottom to see older flows. To create a flow, click New flow (see Build a flow).
From the top of this page you can also reach Inbound webhooks and Credentials, which flows use to talk to your own systems.
Statuses
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | The flow has never been published. Nothing runs. |
| Live: version N | Version N is published. Its triggers start new runs. |
| Unpublished | The flow was published and then unpublished. No new runs start; runs already in progress finish on their version unless you cancel them. |
Inside a flow, the page always tells you which of these states you are in, and the draft never pretends to be the live flow. For example: "You are editing the draft. Version 3 is live and does not change until you publish again."
Who can do what
| Task | Roles |
|---|---|
| See flows, versions, runs and test runs | Owner, Admin, Supervisor, Agent, Marketing Manager, Developer, Read Only |
| Create flows and edit drafts, run tests | Owner, Admin, Marketing Manager |
| Publish, unpublish, start a flow by hand, cancel runs | Owner, Admin, Marketing Manager |
| Delete a flow | Owner, Admin |
Note: Creating and publishing flows also depends on your plan. If your plan doesn't include automation, the app tells you so and offers a way to see plans. See Plans and trial.
Related
- Flows and WhatsApp numbers: which number a flow listens on and sends from.
- AI agents overview: put an AI agent inside a flow.
- Automation report: how your flows perform over time.
Still need help?
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