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Use Flow Author (Beta) to Build Flows in Visual Studio Code

Build flows using plain English from Visual Studio Code. Install the Flow Author (beta) extension in VS Code, connect it to your org, and describe the flow you want to build.

Required Editions

Available in: Developer, Enterprise, and Unlimited Editions with Data Cloud, and Agentforce 1 Editions
User Permissions Needed
To use Flow Author: Agentforce Platform Developer and Admin permission set license (PSL) AND Agentforce Developer and Admin Tools permission set
Note
Note Flow Author is a pilot or beta service that is subject to the Beta Services Terms at Agreements - Salesforce.com or a written Unified Pilot Agreement if executed by Customer, and applicable terms in the Product Terms Directory. Use of this pilot or beta service is at the Customer's sole discretion.

Before you set up Flow Author, make sure that you have these items.

  • A Salesforce org with Agentforce enabled. A sandbox org is recommended. To enable Agentforce, see Enable Agentforce.

  • Visual Studio Code (VS Code) with the code command available on your system PATH. To confirm, run code --version in a terminal.

    • On macOS, to add the code command to your PATH, run sudo ln -s "/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code" /usr/local/bin/code.

    • On Windows, the installer adds code to your PATH when you select the Add to PATH option. If the command isn’t available, rerun the installer and select that option.

  • Salesforce CLI, available on your PATH and accessible from VS Code.

    • On macOS, run brew install sf. This command requires Homebrew.

    • On Windows, run npm install --global @salesforce/cli, or download and run the Windows installer from the Salesforce CLI download page.

  • The Flow Author .vsix file. To obtain the extension, contact your Salesforce account executive.

Flow Author is a conversational flow-building tool for VS Code. You describe the flow that you want in plain English, and Flow Author generates it in your org. Flow Author supports autolaunched, record-triggered, schedule-triggered, and screen flows.

Flow Author acts within your user permissions and standard Flow Builder access, so you can do only what you're already allowed to do. Flow Author can't activate a flow by itself. Someone must review and approve activation.

  1. Install the Flow Author extension.
    • To install from a terminal, run code --install-extension vsix-file-name --force, where vsix-file-name is the name of the Flow Author .vsix file. The command is the same on macOS and Windows.
    • To install from VS Code, open the Extensions panel (Cmd+Shift+X on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows). Click the three-dot menu, select Install from VSIX, and select the .vsix file.
  2. Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows), and run Reload Window.
  3. Open the Command Palette, run Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON), and add this line to the user settings file: "salesforce.metadataVisualizer.advanced.payloadPlugins": ["flowintent"]
  4. In the VS Code activity bar, click the Flow Author icon to open the Flow Author sidebar.
  5. Click the gear icon in the title bar of the sidebar. Or open the Command Palette and run Flow Author: Configure Org Connection.
  6. Enter the instance URL of your sandbox org, for example https://your-org.my.salesforce.com, and click Connect.
    If a prompt to authorize the connection opens in your browser, approve it. Flow Author sets up the workspace and agent for you.
  7. To open the chat panel, open the Command Palette and run Flow Author: Open Chat.
    The chat panel opens and displays a welcome message.
  8. Describe the flow that you want to create.
    As Flow Author captures your intent, it displays a summary that confirms each requirement.
  9. Review the summary, and click Approve.
    Flow Author generates your flow and displays it in VS Code so that you can review its structure before deployment.
  10. Review the generated flow.
    Flow Author deploys the flow to your connected org.
Example
Example

In the chat panel, enter a prompt like “When a new account is created, send a welcome email to the primary contact.” Flow Author generates a flow in your org and shows it as a diagram.

If you run into problems during setup, try these solutions.

  • Provisioning fails with a 502 Bad Gateway error when you connect your org. Try connecting again.
  • Flow Author doesn’t recognize your org alias after you log in. Open a new terminal session, because the current session can have outdated authentication information. Then run sf org login web --instance-url https://your-org-url --alias FLOW_AUTHOR_ORG.
  • The extension doesn’t appear after you install it. Quit VS Code completely (Cmd+Q on macOS, or close all windows on Windows), and reopen it.
  • You want to update to a newer version. Download the latest .vsix file and reinstall it. The --force option overwrites the previous version.