Flow Setup Essentials

Flows power automation by letting you define how data should move and be processed across your systems.

What Are Flows?

In Fastn, flows are sequences of steps that perform a complete operation from start to finish. These steps can include actions like API connectors, condition-based switches, loops, and even custom code. Flows power automation by letting you define how data should move and be processed across your systems.

Accessing Flows

You can view and manage all your existing flows by navigating to the Flows section from the left-hand menu in your project workspace.

Flow Types

Fastn supports two types of flows:

APIs (Synchronous)

These flows respond immediately with a result and can be integrated as REST APIs. Use the “Embed this Flow” option to generate code and connect them to your applications or tools like Postman.

Workflows (Asynchronous)

These flows run in the background and return a job ID while they process. They are best used for long-running or scheduled operations.

Using Webhooks with Workflows

Workflows can be triggered using Fastn’s webhook system, which supports:

• Routes: Trigger workflows in real-time when the webhook URL is hit.

• Triggers (Schedulers): Automatically initiate flows based on defined schedules.

Generated Webhook URL

Route Configuration - this will trigger a workflow named test whenever the Webhook URL receives a request

Triggers can be configured for auto-triggering the webhook and its configured workflow based on a schedule.

Trigger Configuration - this will trigger a workflow named test as per the configured schedule

Deploying Flows

When a flow is created, it is initially saved as a draft. You can test draft flows with the Debugger or trigger them using the draft API URL.

Once finalized, use the Deploy button to make the flow live, enabling external triggers and integrations.