---
schema_version: "1"
id: a851a3cf753aa4a7fd7c870c6ff755ba87649095904ba6fb6115d2940101f9bd
title: Automated Actions
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/customize_automatedactions.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.customize_automatedactions.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: c02e74e03c6ed57a2eccff92db9c5ea2e7f4ad7a4e2992474f5030fedcbed379
description: An automated action is a reusable component that performs some sort of action behind the scenes—like updating a field or sending an email. After you create an automated action, add it to a process, milestone, or other automated process.
products:
  - Flow Builder
  - Salesforce Platform
release: "264"
---
# Automated Actions

An automated action is a reusable component that performs some sort of action behind the scenes—like updating a field or sending an email. After you create an automated action, add it to a process, milestone, or other automated process.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition">
      <colgroup>
        <col>
      </colgroup>
      <tbody>
        <tr class="" id="customize_automatedactions__d5572e148">
          <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">
            <p>Available in: both Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic</p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Flow triggers
              are available in: Salesforce Classic</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">
            <p>Available in: <span id="customize_automatedactions__d5572e160"><a name="customize_automatedactions__d5572e160"><!-- --></a><strong>Enterprise</strong>,
                <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong>
                Editions</span></p>
            <p>Outbound messages are available in: <span><strong>Enterprise</strong>,
                <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions</span></p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Email alerts are
              available in: <span><strong>Essentials</strong>,
                <strong>Professional</strong>, <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>,
                and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions</span></p>
          </td>

        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table> <table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
      <colgroup>
        <col style="width:16.666666666666664%">
        <col style="width:16.666666666666664%">
        <col style="width:16.666666666666664%">
        <col style="width:16.666666666666664%">
        <col style="width:16.666666666666664%">
        <col style="width:16.666666666666664%">
      </colgroup>
      <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
        <tr class="">
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d307141e118">Action Type</th>
          <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="5" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d307141e121">Supported In...</th>
        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d307141e127">Workflow Rule</th>
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d307141e130">Process</th>
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d307141e133">Flow</th>
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d307141e136">Approval Process</th>
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d307141e139">Entitlement Process</th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e118 ">
            <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.customize_wfalerts.htm&amp;release=264.0.0&amp;type=5" title="An email alert is an email generated by an automated process and sent to the designated recipients. The action consists of the standard text and the list of recipients. You can use an email alert in an automation, such as a flow, approval process, or entitlement process. Legacy workflow rules and processes built in Process Builder or through the Invocable Actions REST API endpoint also use email alerts.">Email
              Alert</a>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e127 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Flow" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e130 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Approval Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e133 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Entitlement Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e136 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e139 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e118 ">
            <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.workflow_managing_field_updates.htm&amp;release=264.0.0&amp;type=5" title="Field update actions let you automatically update a field value. You can associate field updates with workflow rules, approval processes, or entitlement processes.">Field Update</a>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e127 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Flow" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e130 ">&nbsp;</td>

          <td data-label="Approval Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e133 ">&nbsp;</td>

          <td data-label="Entitlement Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e136 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e139 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e118 "><a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.creating_workflow_flow_actions.htm&amp;release=264.0.0&amp;type=5" title="Create a flow trigger so that you can launch a flow from workflow rules. With flow triggers, you can automate complex business processes—create flows to perform logic, and have events trigger the flows via workflow rules—without writing code. For example, your flow looks up and assigns the relevant entitlement for a case. Create a flow trigger to launch the flow whenever a case is created, so that all new cases are automatically set with a default entitlement.">Flow Trigger</a> (Pilot)</td>

          <td data-label="Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e127 ">
            <p>
              <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">(immediate only)</p>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Flow" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e130 ">&nbsp;</td>

          <td data-label="Approval Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e133 ">&nbsp;</td>

          <td data-label="Entitlement Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e136 ">&nbsp;</td>

          <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e139 ">&nbsp;</td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e118 ">
            <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.workflow_managing_outbound_messages.htm&amp;release=264.0.0&amp;type=5" title="An outbound message sends information to a designated endpoint, like an external service. You configure outbound messages from Setup. You must configure the external endpoint and create a listener for the messages using SOAP API. You can associate outbound messages with flows, workflow rules, approval processes, or entitlement processes.">Outbound Message</a>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e127 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Flow" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e130 ">&nbsp;</td>

          <td data-label="Approval Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e133 ">&nbsp;</td>

          <td data-label="Entitlement Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e136 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e139 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e118 ">
            <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.customize_wftasks.htm&amp;release=264.0.0&amp;type=5" title="Task actions determine the details of an assignment given to a specified user by an automated process. You can associate task actions with workflow rules, approval processes, or entitlement processes.">Task</a>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e127 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td data-label="Flow" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e130 ">&nbsp;</td>

          <td data-label="Approval Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e133 ">&nbsp;</td>

          <td data-label="Entitlement Process" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e136 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

          <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" headers="d307141e121 d307141e139 ">
            <span style="vertical-align:text-bottom;display:inline-block;"><img style="margin-bottom:0;" src="https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/resources-global/_corporate/images/checkmark.png" alt="check icon indicating true"></span>
          </td>

        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>

- **[Considerations for Automated Actions](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.customize_automatedactions_considerations.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Before you start working with automated actions, familiarize yourself with relevant limits and special behaviors.
- **[Manage Automated Actions in Workflow Rules](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.managing_workflow_actions.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Edit existing automated actions.