---
schema_version: "1"
id: 5edff2863570189d5e8909fe3e13eb6f3bad62750e5df048a4cba0b906003282
title: Triggered Flows
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/flow_concepts_trigger.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 1966b3cdcddac5480f70f51cabfc12575a1225ca465fc13961d7196b92b787eb
description: In the Start element of a triggered flow, you can specify what starts a flow. For example, the flow trigger can be a schedule or the new and changed records of a specified object. Without a trigger, you need to set up other things to launch the flow, such as custom buttons, processes, Apex classes, or even Einstein Bots.
products:
  - Flow Builder
  - Salesforce Platform
release: "264"
---
# Triggered Flows

In the Start element of a triggered flow, you can specify what starts a flow. For example, the flow trigger can be a schedule or the new and changed records of a specified object. Without a trigger, you need to set up other things to launch the flow, such as custom buttons, processes, Apex classes, or even Einstein Bots.

### 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=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;"><a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_ref_supported_editions.htm&amp;release=264.0.0&amp;type=5" title="Learn about the editions and user interfaces that support Flow Builder. Some Flow Builder features integrate with other Salesforce products that require additional licenses.">View supported editions.</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

## Where to Start

Choose the trigger type that matches what starts your flow, then learn to manage all your triggered flows together.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:23.076923076923077%">
          <col style="width:30.76923076923077%">
          <col style="width:46.15384615384615%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d163054e67">Trigger Type</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d163054e70">Topic</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d163054e73">What You Learn</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Trigger Type" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e67 ">Record changes</td>

            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_record.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Before-Save Record-Triggered Flows</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Understand why before-save flows update records up to 10 times faster than
              record-change processes, which elements are available, and when to use an after-save
              flow instead.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_scheduled_path.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Scheduled Paths</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Add a scheduled path to a record-triggered flow so that part of the flow runs
              at a configurable offset after the triggering event, such as sending a follow-up
              message three days after a record is created.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Trigger Type" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e67 ">Time schedule</td>

            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_schedule.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Schedule-Triggered Flows</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Configure a flow to run once, daily, or weekly for a batch of records that meet
              your filter criteria. Understand how the <code>$Record</code> global variable
              gives each flow interview access to its record's field values.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Trigger Type" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e67 ">External system or event</td>

            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_data_cloud.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Data Cloud-Triggered Flows</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Start a flow when a Data Cloud data model object (DMO) change meets your
              specified conditions. Learn the required permissions and how to configure the DMO
              trigger in the Start element.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_flow_concepts_trigger_automation_event.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Automation Event-Triggered Flows</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Automatically respond to business events such as customer orders or SMS signups
              using provided triggers, custom Data Cloud triggers, real-time data graphs, or
              engagement signals you promote to the event library.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_on_demand.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">On-Demand Flows</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Integrate marketing flows into external systems using the standard invocable
              action REST endpoint. Understand the required inputs, how to grant permissions to
              the triggering user, and how to retrieve a flow's available inputs before calling
              it.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Trigger Type" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e67 ">Audience or segment</td>

            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_flow_concepts_audience.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Audience Flows</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Choose from four audience sources—segment, list, record, or campaign—to target
              the right group. Understand which source creates which underlying flow type and when
              each fits your use case.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_flow_concepts_trigger_segment.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Segment Flows</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Send messages to everyone in a Data Cloud segment on a schedule. Learn how
              segment membership is managed, how exit rules work, and how to pause, resume, or
              deactivate a running segment flow.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Trigger Type" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e67 ">Managing triggers</td>

            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_trigger_explorer.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Manage Record-Triggered Flows</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Use Flow Trigger Explorer to view, filter, reorder, and navigate all
              record-triggered flows for a given object and trigger type, including before-save,
              after-save, and asynchronous paths.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Topic" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e70 ">
              <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_task_trigger_run_order.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Define the Run Order of Record-Triggered Flows for
                an Object</a>
            </td>

            <td data-label="What You Learn" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d163054e73 ">Assign a trigger order value (1–2,000) to before-save or after-save flows on
              the same object so they run in a predictable sequence, letting you divide automation
              by team or logical owner.</td>

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

## IN THIS SECTION

- **[Schedule-Triggered Flows](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_schedule.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    A schedule-triggered flow starts at the specified time and frequency for a batch of records. Configure the schedule trigger in the Start element of your autolaunched flow.
- **[Before-Save Record-Triggered Flows](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_record.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Creating or updating a record can trigger a record-triggered flow to make additional updates to that record before it's saved to the database. A record-triggered flow can update a Salesforce record 10 times faster than a record-change process. Configure the record trigger in the Start element of your record-triggered flow.
- **[Scheduled Paths](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_scheduled_path.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Use scheduled paths in record-triggered flows to run some elements on a different path at a scheduled time. You can base the scheduled time on the record-triggering event or on a date or date/time field in the record.
- **[Audience Flows](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_flow_concepts_audience.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    An audience flow runs on a schedule and sends messages to a specified audience. Select a data source—segment, list, record, or campaign—when you create the flow.
- **[Segment Flows](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_flow_concepts_trigger_segment.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    A segment flow sends messages to people in a segment at a scheduled time. When you activate the flow, it sends messages to everyone in the segment at that time.
- **[Trigger Flows with Data 360 Data](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_data_cloud.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    A Data Cloud-triggered flow starts when conditions are met in a data model object (DMO).
- **[On-Demand Flows](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_trigger_on_demand.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    On-demand flows are triggered by REST API calls. For example, create an automation to send your customer an SMS message that triggers after a user signs up for a membership program, or after the user clicks a button on your site.
- **[Automation Event-Triggered Flows](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_flow_concepts_trigger_automation_event.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Create event-triggered flows that automatically respond to business events, such as customer orders, SMS signups, or service level changes. Choose from provided triggers, define custom triggers using Data 360, real-time data graphs, or create triggers with engagement signals.
- **[Manage Record-Triggered Flows](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_trigger_explorer.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    See, manage, reorder, and filter your record-triggered flows with Flow Trigger Explorer. Flow Trigger Explorer shows all the flows that are associated with a specified object and that run when a record is created, updated, or deleted. You can navigate between a flow in Flow Builder and other flows that run under the same circumstances.
- **[Define the Run Order of Record-Triggered Flows for an Object](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_task_trigger_run_order.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Specify a trigger order value to determine the run order of before-save or after-save flows for the same object.

#### See Also

- [_Apex Developer Guide_: Triggers and Order of Execution](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexcode.meta/apexcode/apex_triggers_order_of_execution.htm)