Start flow
The Start flow step starts a manual flow and carries on without waiting for it. Use it to hand work off to another flow that should run on its own – for example, a flow that processes an order starts a separate flow that sends the confirmation mail.
Every active manual flow appears in the step selector as its own step, under its category, like SubFlows do. Pick the flow you want to start there.
What happens when the step runs
- AutoFlow checks that the flow is still active.
- It queues a new execution of the flow's current published version, on the record you bound if the flow runs on a record.
- The step ends right away and your flow continues. The started flow runs on its own in the background.
The step's execution log links to the started execution, and the started execution's card shows which flow started it.
When the start becomes final: in a regular flow each step is saved as soon as it has run, so the started flow runs even if a later step of your flow fails. In an interactive flow, a SubFlow or a flow that runs as one transaction, the start is only saved when the whole run succeeds – if that run fails, the start is discarded along with the rest of its work.
If your flow needs the other flow's result, or both must succeed or fail together, use Run SubFlow instead.
Configuration
Flow – read-only. The manual flow this step starts, chosen when you added the step. The step always starts the flow's current published version.
Record – shown only when the started flow runs on a record. Select a SmartField reference to a record of that flow's table. The status line warns you when the reference points at a different table.
The step has one output, ExecutionNo, the entry no. of the started execution.