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Workflow Automation CoE > Flows > Getting Started with Flow Designer
What are Flows?
Flows are the heart and core of our Workflow Automation toolkit, which allows you to automate business logic to run synchronously and asynchronously. Create subflows, custom flow actions, and flow templates as contained logic entities that can be re-used repeatedly.
Find out more high-level information on building flows in Workflow Studio on the servicenow.com product page and this Flow Designer Data Sheet.
What happened to Flow Designer?
With the introduction of Workflow Studio in the Washington DC Release, all workflow automation types can be developed in a unified builder experience. Going forward, we will refer to building flows, subflows, and flow actions in Workflow Studio.
How do I get started with Flows?
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Step 1: Documentation
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Step 2: Training
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Step 3: Guidance & Best Practices |
Step 4: Further Resources
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Step 1: Documentation 
To familiarize yourself with the complete spectrum of features and the newest enhancements in a given release, ServiceNow Docs is the place to go.
Release Highlights
Washington DC
Flows in Workflow Studio Washington DC Release Notes
- Create multi-step flows with generative AI.
- Open Flow Designer from within Workflow Studio.
- Save flows automatically as you work on them.
- Start a flow when Performance Analytics conditions are met.
- Undo changes that you've made while editing a flow.
- Use the flow diagramming view to add annotations and Try flow logic.
Vancouver
Flow Designer Vancouver Release Notes
- Create a flow by selecting components from a set of Generative AI recommendations.
- Add and configure subflows from the diagramming view.
- Use the new Dynamic Inputs data type to create arbitrary action inputs.
- Use the improved Flow Designer landing page to work with flows.
- Add and configure Do the following until flow logic in the diagramming view.
Utah
Flow Designer Utah Release Notes
- Convert consecutive items of a flow into a new subflow that preserves data pill references between the converted items.
- See the list of flows that include a custom action or a subflow.
- Specify the priority that you want a background flow to have in relation to other flows waiting to be run.
Step 2: Training 
Now Learning Training
Start by completing the training on Now Learning, we have 2 courses to learn building flows, subflows, and flow actions.
Get certified:
Flow Designer Fundamentals Micro-Certification Assessment
Knowledge
CreatorCon is a special program of sessions and training that runs every year during our Knowledge conference. Every year, we get access to new great presentations and courses about our Workflow Automation Products. These courses from the K23 content catalog are now available on Now Learning:
CCL1270-K23 - Lab: Get on the tools with the Hyperautomation Toolbox
CCL1190-K23 - Lab: Magically transform a system of record with automation
I will update with the K24 on demand content as soon as it's available.
Developer Program
Next, request a Personal Developer Instance (PDI) to practice what you learned. Check out the additional Flow Designer courses available on the Developer Portal. These courses are designed to be completed on a PDI.
Step 3: Guidance and Best Practices 
Whether you’re a first-time implementer or an experienced developer, if you’re only just starting to use the Workflow Automation products, or are looking to migrate off your legacy tech stack, the following resources will help you understand how to best approach using Flow Designer.
Center of Excellence
We've put together a series of articles covering best practices for Flow Designer, Action Designer, and Integration Hub.
CoE/Flow Designer Best Practices
Learn how to do simple, complex, and scripted approvals with Flow Designer
Learn how to do hierarchical lookups in do-until logic with Flow Designer
Learn how to run subflows dynamically with a Decision Table
CoE/Running subflows dynamically with Decisions
Learn how to determine access to Flow Designer, its features, and access at runtime
CoE/Securing Workflow Automation Products
New! Learn about Flow and Action Error Handling, and how to use the new Go back to Flow Logic
CoE/Flow and Action Error Handling
FAQ
Platform Academy
We have also been covering Flow Designer topics in our Platform Academy. These include sessions on Best practices, guidance, performance, debugging, error handling, and migration use cases.
February 17, 2022 - Flow Designer Good Practices
June 9th, 2022 - Flow Designer Migration Use Cases
June 23rd, 2022 - Flow Designer performance and debugging tips
April 27, 2023 - Flow Designer Approvals
July 6, 2023 - Better together: Virtual Agent and Flow Designer
August 3, 2023 - Better together: Building Flows for Subscription Management
November 8th, 2023 - Securing Workflow Automation Products
Workflow Academy
New in 2024: Check out the Workflow Academy video series!
Migration Considerations
CoE Article: Migration Considerations (Author: Lisa Holenstein, Release: Washington)
Blog: Is your work flowing? What makes Flow Designer and IntegrationHub better and why you should migrate ... (Author: Lisa Holenstein, Release: Rome)
Use Cases
Blog: Scripted Approvals in Flow Designer with Flow Variables (Author: Lisa Holenstein, Release: Rome)
Blog: Handling errors and planned process time-out in Flow Designer (Author: Lisa Holenstein, Release: Rome)
YouTube: Configure a sequence to fulfill items in order guides
Step 4: Further Resources 
Developer Program
In addition to PDIs and courses, the developer program publishes blogs, podcasts, and videos about Flow Designer regularly.
CT | What's new for Flow Designer in Washington DC
Blog | Remote Tables Flow Trigger
LCHH | Workflow Studio & Flow Designer
BP | Workflow Studio & Flow Designer w/Jingfei Chen
CT | What’s New in Flow Designer for Vancouver
Blog | What’s New in Flow Designer for Vancouver
CT | Dynamic Inputs in Action Designer
Blog | What's new in Flow Designer for Utah
Creator Toolbox | Utah Flow Designer Updates
Community Content
Our greatest asset is YOU. Our ServiceNow community has a wide array of amazing ServiceNow developers, practitioners, admins, and content creators. Thank you!
Blog: Integration Hub Spokes and How to Build Them (Author: Joe Wilmoth, Release: Vancouver)
Blog: How to migrate from scripted integration to Integration Hub - Part 1 (Author: Daniel Draes, Release: Vancouver, 5 parts total!)
Article: How to Use Multirow Variable Sets (MRVS) in Flow Designer (Author: Jon Lind, Release: Utah)
YouTube Series: Go with the Flow - A collection of ServiceNow Flow Designer Tutorials (Author: Robert Fedoruk, Release: Rome/San Diego/Tokyo) – YouTube Playlist
Link collection: Platform: Flow Designer || Knowledge & Troubleshooting Resources (Author: Maik Skoddow, San Diego)
Article: Set Value of a Catalog Variable at Flow Designer (Author: Maik Skoddow, Release: Rome)
Blog: 6 mistakes to avoid when using Flow Designer (Author: Paul Morris, The ServiceNow Nerd, Release: Tokyo)
Article: Using list collector in Flow Designer 'For Each loop' by converting string into array of string (Author: Ankur Bawiskar, Release: Paris)
