---
schema_version: "1"
id: c1008be4233f99e6b935a48dfc1c09b7753da6fa75a225b98de0f2a42019c732
title: Flow Distribution Concepts
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/flow_distribute_concepts.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_distribute_concepts.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 9c5b47d6d7562df89c5c7cf1bcc23db0245222ef2a1f6c8dee4a363150c02049
description: Understand which users can run your flow, what data your flow can access, and how your flow looks in Classic and Lightning Experience.
products:
  - Flow Builder
  - Salesforce Platform
release: "264"
---
# Flow Distribution Concepts

Understand which users can run your flow, what data your flow can access, and how your flow looks in Classic and Lightning Experience.

### 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>

- **[Flow Environments](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_concepts_environments.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    A flow environment specifies where a flow can run. For example, if a flow is associated with the Slack flow environment, you can enable users to launch the flow from Slack.
- **[Limit User Access to Run Flows](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_distribute_security.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Limit which users can run flows based on their user record, profile, or permission set. To apply more granular security to an individual flow, override the default behavior, then grant access to that specific flow based on user profile or permission set.
- **[Flow Run Context](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_distribute_context.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Flows run in user context or system context. For a flow running in user context, the running user’s profile and permission sets determine the object permissions and field-level access of the flow. For a flow that runs in system context, whether it runs with or without sharing determines its data access. Understanding context helps you control what your flows can read and update on behalf of your users.
- **[Lightning Runtime vs. Classic Runtime for Flows](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.flow_distribute_runtime.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Depending on how a flow is distributed, users see either the Classic runtime or Lightning runtime UI when they run the flow. Like its name suggests, Lightning runtime looks and feels like Lightning Experience.