Salesforce Flow is a declarative automation tool, and most of its value comes from picking the right type of Flow for the job. This guide covers the five primary Flow types, which between them address roughly 90% of common business process needs.
1. Screen Flow
Screen Flows are the only type that interacts directly with users through an interface. They work as guided wizards or custom forms, collecting input and presenting information as the user moves through. Record pages, validation rules, and field-level security work on what a user has already entered; a Screen Flow guides them and heads off errors before submission.
Screen Flows suit:
- Onboarding new customers
- Logging support cases
- Guiding internal teams through complex procedures
- Processing product returns or exchanges
- Creating internal reimbursement request forms (e.g., for attaching receipts)
Progress indicators and pre-built components improve the experience on longer processes without custom development.
2. Record-Triggered Flow
Record-Triggered Flows automate processes in the background, starting automatically when a record is created, updated, or deleted. They are the modern replacement for Process Builder and Workflow Rules, with significantly more flexibility.
What they can do:
- Before-save logic, which runs before a record is saved to the database (similar to Apex triggers).
- After-save logic, which runs once the record is saved.
- Cross-object updates to related records.
- Looping through collections of records.
- Calling other Flows as subflows.
Record-Triggered Flows suit:
- Automatically creating a Task when a high-priority Case is created.
- Updating an Opportunity Stage based on a related Quote's approval status.
- Recalculating a custom field value when a related child record changes.
- Assigning a custom object record to the appropriate queue based on field values.
They are efficient for set-and-forget automations that maintain data integrity and process consistency.
3. Scheduled-Triggered Flow
Scheduled-Triggered Flows run on a defined schedule rather than in response to data changes, which makes them ideal for routine, time-based tasks.
Scheduled-Triggered Flows suit:
- Sending reminders every Monday for open Opportunities with no upcoming tasks.
- Updating
Customer_Since__cdates for newly created Accounts on the first of each month. - Archiving inactive Cases nightly by updating their status.
- Deactivating sales team members every Saturday if they haven't logged in for over 60 days.
These Flows can process batches of records efficiently, which suits recurring maintenance and reporting tasks.
4. Autolaunched Flow
In Flow Builder, an Autolaunched Flow is any Flow that runs without user interaction, meaning no screens. That definition technically includes Record-Triggered and Schedule-Triggered Flows. When people say "Autolaunched Flow (No Trigger)", they mean a Flow that requires an external invocation mechanism:
- Another Flow
- Apex code
- Custom buttons
- Processes (legacy)
Autolaunched Flows suit:
- A custom button on a record page that triggers a Flow for batch updates.
- An Apex trigger invoking a Flow to handle a specific part of a custom process.
- A reusable Flow that handles common fault path logic called by multiple other automations.
Breaking complex logic into modular Autolaunched Flows promotes reusability and maintainability.
5. Platform Event-Triggered Flow
Platform Event-Triggered Flows act as listeners, responding to the publication of Platform Events. They are typically employed for advanced scenarios involving asynchronous communication between different system components or integrations.
Platform Event-Triggered Flows suit:
- Near real-time updates driven by external system events.
- Inter-system communication in complex integrations.
- Responding to events that fall outside the standard record lifecycle.
They are useful for decoupling processes and for event-driven architectures.
Flow types at a glance
| Flow Type | Trigger Mechanism | Primary Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Screen Flow | User Interaction (UI) | Guided user input and task completion |
| Record-Triggered Flow | Record Create, Update, Delete | Backend automation based on data changes |
| Scheduled-Triggered Flow | Time-based schedule | Routine, recurring tasks |
| Autolaunched Flow | External Invocation (API, Flow) | Reusable logic, invoked by other processes |
| Platform Event-Triggered Flow | Platform Event Publication | Asynchronous event processing, integrations |
Key takeaways
- Screen Flows enable guided user interaction and data collection.
- Record-Triggered Flows automate processes based on data changes, replacing Process Builder and Workflow Rules.
- Scheduled-Triggered Flows handle time-based automations for routine tasks.
- Autolaunched Flows provide reusable automation logic invoked externally.
- Platform Event-Triggered Flows handle asynchronous communication and event-driven automation.
Selecting the appropriate Flow type is what keeps Salesforce automation efficient.
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