Flows

A flow guides a call or chat step by step. You build it from cards on a canvas: a situation, a question, something the assistant says, a booking, a transfer, a row in your spreadsheet. The assistant follows the cards, asks the questions in its own words and picks the next branch itself, based on what the customer says.

Open it under Assistants → Flows. Flows are on every plan. Editors and admins build them.

Optional and advanced

Flows are an optional, advanced feature. You don't need them: without flows your assistant works as always from its instructions and tasks, and for most businesses that is enough. Only use a flow when a conversation must always follow the same fixed steps, such as an insurance claim where you always need the same details. Otherwise, start with the instructions.

What a flow is

• Flows belong to your business. Every assistant sees the same list on its Flows tab and chooses which ones it starts with Use in this assistant. Build a flow once and use it in several assistants.
• A flow comes first when its situation applies. The assistant reads the situations on the When cards of the flows it uses. As soon as one applies, it follows that flow. If none applies, it works from its instructions as usual. An assistant without flows works exactly as before.
• The customer stays in charge. If the customer clearly wants something else halfway through, the assistant can leave the flow and help them as usual.
• Changes save automatically, as everywhere in the assistant editor. There is no save button.

The four start types

When you create a flow, you choose under Starts when when it may start. You can change this later in the flow's header.

Start	When it runs
Call or chat starts	In a call and in a chat, when the customer's question fits.
Call starts	Only in a phone call.
Chat starts	Only in a chat: webchat, SMS or WhatsApp.
Subflow call starts	Only when another flow calls it with a Subflow card. Use it for steps you need in several flows, such as taking down a claim or an address.

In a flow that starts with a call or chat, the card right after the start decides when it runs:

• When cards: those are the situations the flow reacts to. It starts as soon as the customer's request fits one.
• Any other card, such as Ask: the flow runs at the start of every call and chat, once. Useful to always ask for a name first, for example. In a phone call it begins after the caller's first words, because the greeting is fixed.

Don't put When cards next to other cards right after the start. A subflow starts straight away with its steps.

The cards

Add a card with Add card, or from the list next to the canvas. The cards come in three groups.

Conversation

Card	What it does
Start	Where the flow begins. Every flow has one; you can't delete it or connect a line into it.
When	A situation in plain words, under When the customer…, for example "wants to report damage to their car". The assistant follows this branch when it applies. Put several When cards after one card to make a choice.
Say	Something the assistant says or explains, then it goes on. You write the Instruction.
Ask	A question. The assistant asks it in its own words and keeps the answer under Save the answer as, so later cards can use it as a variable, for example {{damageDate}}. Under Kind of answer you choose Text, Number, Yes or no or Date. With Answer required off, the flow goes on when the customer doesn't want to answer.
Subflow	Runs another flow (Flow to run) and comes back here. Only flows that start with Subflow call starts are listed.
Return	Goes back to the flow that called this one.
End	Wraps up: the flow is done. Write how the assistant finishes, for example: confirm what happens next.

Tasks

Card	What it does
Knowledge	Answers from your knowledge about a Topic, then goes on.
Booking	Finds a free time, books, moves or cancels an appointment (What happens). The assistant needs Book appointments on its Tasks tab.
Transfer	Transfers the call. Under Who to transfer to you write in plain words who, for example "the claims department", and the assistant picks the matching transfer rule from its Tasks tab.
Request	Saves the customer's request as a request, with a Note for the request for your team.

Connections

A Connection card runs a task with an app or system, either Now, during the conversation or After the conversation. A card after the conversation only runs when the conversation actually reached it.

Card	What it does
Add row to Google Sheet	Adds the answers as a row once the conversation is over.
Look up in Google Sheet	Looks up a row right away, for example an order number.
Airtable / Baserow	Adds a record or row to a table. You fill in the key, the Table name and the columns on the card.
Call a webhook	Sends the answers to your own system, or to an Activepieces, Make or n8n automation.
Email / SMS / WhatsApp	Sends a message after the conversation. See Email and SMS and WhatsApp.
Slack	Posts a message in a Slack channel after the conversation.
CRM note	Logs the conversation in HubSpot or Pipedrive. See HubSpot and Pipedrive.

A card that still misses something shows Not set up. Select it to see what is left under To do on this card.

Example: an insurance claim

An insurer wants the assistant to take down car damage the same way every time. That takes two flows: one that recognises the situation, and a subflow with the questions, which other flows can use too.

Report car damage (Call or chat starts)
  When: the customer wants to report damage to their car
    Subflow: Insurance claim
      End: confirm that the claims team calls back within one working day

Insurance claim (Subflow call starts)
  Ask: On what date did the damage happen?      -> damageDate (Date)
  Ask: Where did it happen?                     -> damagePlace (Text)
  Ask: What is the licence plate?               -> licensePlate (Text)
  Ask: Was anyone hurt?                         -> injured (Yes or no)
  Add row to Google Sheet (after the conversation)
  Return

Build the subflow first, so you can choose it in the first flow:

1. On the Flows tab, choose New flow. Name it "Insurance claim", choose Subflow call starts and choose Create flow.
2. Choose Add next step under the start card (on a computer you can also drag a card from the list) and add an Ask card. Write the Question "On what date did the damage happen?", set Save the answer as to damageDate and Kind of answer to Date.
3. Add the other Ask cards in the same way, then an Add row to Google Sheet card (see below) and a Return card.
4. Switch the flow On in its header.

Then the flow that starts it:

1. Go back with All flows and choose New flow. Name it "Report car damage", choose Call or chat starts and choose Create flow.
2. After the start card, add a When card and write under When the customer…: "wants to report damage to their car".
3. After the When card, add a Subflow card and choose "Insurance claim" under Flow to run.
4. After the Subflow card, add an End card: "Confirm that the claims team calls back within one working day."
5. Switch the flow On and turn on Use in this assistant.

When a caller now says their car was hit in a car park, the assistant asks the four questions, saves the row and wraps up. Want a second situation, such as "wants to change their policy"? Add another When card after the start of "Report car damage".

Switch a flow on and use it in an assistant

A flow only runs when two things are true:

1. The flow is on. Use the On switch in the flow's header. You can only switch it on when every card is set up; until then you see how many cards still need attention. A subflow has to be on too.
2. The assistant uses it. In the list on the Flows tab, turn on Use in this assistant for the flow. The list shows for each flow whether it is on and which assistants use it (Used by). An assistant uses up to 10 flows; the subflows they call come along and don't count.

If you add a card that isn't set up yet to a flow that is on, the flow stays on and your work is saved as usual. The header then says Calls and chats skip this flow until … cards are set up. That way a half-finished card never reaches a customer. As soon as every card is set up, the flow runs again by itself.

You can't delete a flow while an assistant or another flow still uses it: you see who, and you remove it there first. Duplicate makes a copy that is off, with "(copy)" after its name.

Flows run in phone calls, webchat, SMS and WhatsApp. On the Instructions tab of an assistant that uses flows, a note links to the Flows tab.

Test a flow in Try it out

Open Try it out in the editor's header while the flow is open. The panel opens next to the canvas and waits until your last change, including the flow, is saved.

• Call runs the flows for calls (Call or chat starts and Call starts), Chat the flows for chats (Call or chat starts and Chat starts).
• Each time the assistant moves a step through a flow, you see flow_step under Tools used.
• With Perform actions for real off, connection cards and bookings are only simulated. Turn it on to see a real row in your spreadsheet.

The tests on the Tests tab are chats, so the flows for chats run there too. See Test your assistant.

Connections

Add a row to a Google Sheet

1. Prepare your spreadsheet and the service account once, as in Google Sheets.
2. Add an Add row to Google Sheet card where the flow has the answers, for example at the end of "Insurance claim".
3. Fill in the Spreadsheet id, the Sheet name and the Google service account.
4. Under Columns, map each column header to a template, for example Date of damage to {{damageDate}} and Plate to {{licensePlate}}. The built-in variables, such as {{personNumber}} and {{summary}}, work too.

The row is added after the conversation, so the summary is ready by then.

First and last name from your CRM

When HubSpot or Pipedrive looks up the customer Before the call, the assistant already knows their first and last name. Use that in a flow:

• Give the Ask cards for the name the answer names firstName and lastName. When the CRM, or a known contact, already has the name, the assistant skips those questions.
• A card that runs Now, during the conversation gets {{firstName}} and {{lastName}} either way.
• In a card after the conversation, {{firstName}} and {{lastName}} hold the name too: what the customer said, or what the CRM already had when the question was skipped.

The look-up runs at the start of a phone call, SMS or WhatsApp conversation. In the webchat it only runs once the customer has confirmed their number with a code.

A webhook for an Activepieces, Make or n8n automation

Activepieces, Make and n8n start an automation from a webhook, and from there reach thousands of apps.

1. In your automation, start with a webhook trigger and copy its address.
2. In the flow, add a Call a webhook card where the answers are known and paste the address.
3. Choose After the conversation to send everything once the conversation is over. With an empty Body template, the request holds all built-in variables plus the flow's answers as JSON, signed with X-Yarla-Signature (see Webhooks).
4. Or choose Now, during the conversation when the automation has to answer straight away, for example with a claim number. Under Save the result as you name the answer, so later cards can use it.

Ready-made recipes are in Make & n8n.

Working on a phone

The flow editor is made for a phone too:

• The canvas fills the screen. Drag with one finger to move around, pinch to zoom, or use Show the whole flow.
• Tap a card to open its fields at the bottom of the screen. The canvas stays visible above it.
• Drag a card to move it. Dragging does not open its fields.
• Press and hold a card for a menu with Edit, Add next step, Duplicate and Delete. On a computer, right-click the card. A copy lands next to the original, with the same line into it.
• Full screen in the toolbar makes the editor fill the screen, without the menu and tabs above it. Tap it again to go back.
• Add next step above the fields adds a card and connects it straight away, without dragging.
• To connect two cards yourself, tap the dot at the bottom of one card and then the dot at the top of the other. Tap a line and choose Remove line to remove it.

On a computer the screen shows three columns: the cards, the canvas and the fields of the selected card. Drag a card from the list onto the canvas or click it. With Try it out open, the list of cards folds into the toolbar. Full screen works on a computer too; press Esc to go back.

Limits

• 50 flows per business, and up to 10 per assistant.
• 150 cards per flow, of which up to 10 connection cards.
• A flow can be at most 200 KB. If you hit that, remove cards or shorten long texts.
• Subflows can call other subflows, up to 5 deep. A flow can't call itself.

Related articles

• Assistants
• Test your assistant
• Actions
• Google Sheets
• HubSpot and Pipedrive
• Make & n8n