The flow builder: canvas, Paths view and versions

Last updated: 13 October 2026 · 7 min read

Steps

1. 1

   Add a step

   Click “+ Step” in the top left corner of the canvas. Steps come in groups: Message, Question, Logic, Action, Hand over. Each says what it does. If you know the name, type it in “Find a step”. Dropping a line on empty space opens the same menu, and the new step is connected to the end of the line.

2. 2

   Find a step: Steps list

   Each step's card has a short code (A, B, C...) and a name. The name comes from the step's first words, and you can change it with the pencil icon in the right panel. The “Steps list” button opens all the steps on the left of the canvas. Type in “Code, name or text” and click a step: the canvas goes to that step and selects it.

3. 3

   Paths and Steps

   You choose the view in the top left corner of the canvas:

   • “Paths”: steps that follow one another without branching show on one card. A flow opens this way by default. To drag a step somewhere else, switch to “Steps”.
   • “Steps”: each step is a card of its own.

   Your choice is kept in this browser. Next to it, “Collapse all” folds the cards down to their title and outlets, and “Expand visible” opens the ones on screen. You can fold one card with “Collapse” above it. With “Shortcuts” on, a step that many lines lead to gets a button with its code instead of a line, and clicking the button takes the canvas to that step.

4. 4

   Move around the canvas

   The buttons in the corner: “Zoom in”, “Zoom out”, the zoom figure (click it to go back to 100%), “Fit the whole flow”, “Recentre” and the hand. With the hand on, or while you hold Space, you drag the canvas and no card moves. The minimap at the bottom left shows the whole flow small, and clicking it takes the canvas there. “Tidy up” lays the steps out in layers with as few crossing lines as it can. Lines run at right angles, and the selected card's lines light up.

5. 5

   Trigger card and numbers

   The first card on the canvas is the trigger card: it says when the flow starts and its inbox, and in an account with a mobile app inbox, who sees it. Clicking it opens “Settings”. On a reusable flow, the card has a “Started from” list, and each name opens that flow. A published flow shows the last 7 days' “Sent”, “Engaged” and “Completed” in the top bar, and clicking them opens “Analytics”.

6. 6

   Viewing and Edit

   A published flow opens in “Viewing” mode: you can move around, zoom and look at the steps, but nothing changes. To change it, click “Edit”. Then “Save draft” and “Publish” appear. Customers see the old version until you click “Publish”. A flow that was never published opens straight for editing.

7. 7

   The “…” menu and versions

   The “…” menu at the right of the top bar has:

   • “Duplicate”: creates a new draft named “(copy)” in the same inbox and folder. A copy of a flow that starts with a conversation, on an app event or on a status change gets the “By hand” trigger.
   • “Pause” or “Resume”: works at once, and the draft does not change.
   • “Version history”: every publish is a version, and “Live” is the one running now. “View” opens a version on the canvas, and “Back to the draft” in the bar above brings the draft back. “Restore to draft” writes that version into the draft. The live flow changes only when you click “Publish”. The last 20 versions are kept.
   • “Delete”: deletes the flow, and first shows the names of the flows that start it.