Flow Builder
The Flow Engine lets you create automated workflows that run in the background based on triggers and actions you define, without manual intervention.
How it works
Each flow is built from nodes on a visual canvas. A flow must start with exactly one trigger — the event that kicks it off. From there, you add actions and conditions to define what happens next. Nodes connect in sequence to form the complete workflow.
Available triggers
Manual Trigger - run the flow on demand at any time
Record Created - fires when a new record is created in your CRM
Record Updated - fires when a record is updated and specific fields change to target values
Available actions and conditions
Actions:
Aggregate Records — aggregate records using a function and optional filters
Check Recent Activities — fetch the last activity time for an entity, useful for detecting inactive records
Create Record — create a new record for a selected entity type
Lock/Unlock Custom Object — lock or unlock a custom object record
Select Record — retrieve a record by ID and store it as a variable for use in subsequent nodes
Update Record — update an existing record using field mappings
Webhook Outbound — send data to an external webhook endpoint
Conditions:
If / Else — branch the flow based on conditions
Utilities:
Set Variable — set a variable value for use in later steps
Wait — pause the flow for a specified amount of time
Integrations:
Send Email — send an email using configured recipients, subject, and content
Slack Message (Coming Soon) — send a message to Slack via webhook
How to create a flow
Step 1: Open Flows
Go to Settings
Click Flows
Click Create Flow
Step 2: Name your flow
Enter a Flow Name
Add a Flow Description (optional)
Step 3: Add a trigger
In the Node Palette, select the Triggers tab
Click a trigger to add it to the canvas - each flow requires exactly one trigger to start
Step 4: Add actions and conditions
Select the Actions tab in the Node Palette
Add the actions or conditions your flow needs
Connect nodes in sequence on the canvas to define the order of execution
Click each node to configure it in the right-side panel
Step 5: Save
Click Save to activate the flow.
The canvas will show a warning until a trigger node is added
If you need to reference fields not included in a Record Updated trigger, add a Select Record action immediately after to retrieve the full record
To trigger flows via API, set up a custom object and use WebToCRM to create an API endpoint
Related guide pages
Original Outline page: https://wiki.alano.ai/s/alano-user-guideline/doc/flow-builder-q2mxkAJvLF