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Flows

Flows

Flows are the central processing unit of your application. They are responsible for orchestrating and executing all the processes and logic in a sequential manner. Flows enable you to automate tasks, respond to user actions, and integrate with various services. Each Flow is triggered by exactly one Trigger and is followed by as many Actions as necessary for the app's logic.

Flows

Triggers​

Triggers are the starting point of your Flow. They define when a Flow should start running. This could be when a user clicks a button, when a backend event of your platform was triggered, or when an event occurs in your app or a connected service. Triggers are essential for automating processes within your app.

Types​

Frontend Triggers​

Frontend triggers are initiated by user interactions in the user's browser (client-side), such as clicking a button, visiting a page or submitting a form.

Backend Triggers​

Backend Triggers can be categorized in:

  • Global Triggers: initiated from within Superflow (e.g. a time based crone job or a webhook)
  • Platform Triggers: events of the connected platform environment (e.g. an order updated)
  • Third-Party Triggers: events from your connected third party provider (e.g. a new phone call activity from twilio)

Flow Backend vs. Frontend Triggers

Actions​

Actions are "things to do" once a Flow is triggered. Superflow offers you a lot of different "things to do", whether you want to manipulate the user's frontend, save some data to your app or send a message to your internal chat service.

Types​

Frontend Actions​

Frontend actions are executed in the user's browser (client-side), such as displaying a popup, redirecting the user to a new URL or executing a custom java-script code.

Backend Actions​

Backend Actions an be categorized in:

  • Global Actions: executed within Superflow (e. g. update a Variable, create a Data Collection entry or execute a function)
  • Platform Actions: executed in your platform (e. g. create a new blog article, update a user or add a product)
  • Third-Party Actions: executed at your third-party via api (e. g. send a new slack message, add a subscriber or request the weather for tomorrow)

Flow Backend vs. Frontend Actions

Trigger and Action Combinations

It is important to understand that Frontend Actions (e.g. running a custom java-script code or updating the UI), cannot be initiated from backend triggers because there is no active session with the users browser.

Flow Backend vs. Frontend Triggers