Flows
Build repeatable user journeys in the Flow Designer.
A flow is a test you build in Flow Designer — a sequence of nodes that models a real user journey through your application. You add nodes, connect them into a path, configure each one, then run, approve, or promote the flow.
This page covers the canvas itself and how the pieces fit together. Each node type has its own reference page, linked below.
01When to use a flow
- Critical paths — signup, checkout, billing, onboarding
- High-risk areas — features that regress often or have complex logic
- Multi-step journeys — workflows spanning multiple pages or user roles
For guidance on writing flows that stay reliable and fail with clarity, see Designing a good test.
02Node types
A flow is built from nodes. The three core nodes drive the browser; the rest add checks, control, data, and side effects.
| Node | What it does | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Login | Sets the user context (acts as a credential) | Core nodes |
| Navigate | Directs the browser to a page or path | Core nodes |
| Action | Performs a user interaction on the page | Core nodes |
| Assertion | Verifies an expected outcome (warn or fail) | Assertions |
| Wait | Pauses the run for a set duration | Specialty nodes |
| Condition | Branches the flow on a runtime condition | Specialty nodes |
| Notification | Sends an outbound email mid-flow | Specialty nodes |
| Audio | Plays a clip into the mic, or checks captured audio | Specialty nodes |
| Seed / Setup | Runs another flow first to prepare data or state | Setup, seed & teardown |
Actions can carry inline assertions so a check rides along with the step that triggers it — see Assertions.
03Flow lifecycle roles
Every flow has a type that decides when it runs relative to other flows in a suite:
- Standard — a normal test. This is the default.
- Setup, Seed, Teardown — preparation and cleanup flows that run around your standard tests.
See Setup, seed & teardown for how these attach to a suite and hand data to your tests.
04Building a flow
Start from a blank canvas, an import, or a recording. Import entry points include CSV files, test-file conversion, and Jira tickets; recordings come from the Canary Recorder extension. Each path opens a draft in Flow Designer so you can review the suggested goal, context, and generated steps before you run, approve, or promote.
To build by hand:
- Click Create Node on an empty canvas, or the + button on an existing node.
- To draw a connection as you add, click and hold a node type in the add menu, then drag to where the next step should sit.
- Select the node type and configure it in the Configure panel — changes auto-save.
- Click an edge to insert a node between two existing nodes, or to delete the connection.
If your journey changes user context partway through, add a Login node at the switch point to keep the flow easy to follow.
Configure panel and workflow inputs
With no node selected, the Configure panel holds workflow-level details: the summary card, description, and workflow inputs — reusable run-time values your steps share. See Variables & macros and Scenarios.
Validation, approval, and promotion
Flow Designer saves as you edit but holds most validation until you click Run Flow, so you can keep building without interruption. Resolve any flagged inputs, variable references, or incomplete steps in the run experience before the run starts.
Approve a flow after review to record human sign-off that the test checks the right behavior. Promote approved standard flows when they should run in suites, CI, and schedules. Existing promoted flows keep running after the lifecycle split, but they may still show as Draft until someone approves them once; that approval is a one-time formality, not a removal from the gate.