Flow Orchestration Admin

Activate when building multi-step, multi-actor processes with Flow Orchestration in Setup: pause-and-wait workflows that cross users, queues, and background systems. Flow Orchestration is the successor to Approval Processes for complex branching; it is a no-code first-class orchestrator with stages, steps, and work items.

Before Starting

• Confirm the process actually needs orchestration. Single-user approvals → Approval Process is fine. Multi-actor with parallel work, waits, and conditional branching → Orchestration.
• Map the actors and handoffs. Every hand-off (user A → user B, system → user, user → system) is a Step. Diagram them before opening Flow Builder.
• Decide on interactive vs background steps. Interactive step = a user opens a work item screen. Background step = a Flow runs headless. Wrong choice produces confused users or stuck work.

Core Concepts

Stage → Step → Work Item

An orchestration consists of Stages (run sequentially). Each Stage has Steps (can run in parallel). Each Step is either Interactive (produces a Work Item a user picks up) or Background (runs a flow). Stages advance when all steps complete — including conditional skips.

Evaluation Flow

A Stage's entry and exit conditions are evaluated by an Evaluation Flow — a small autolaunched flow returning a boolean. Used to decide whether to skip a stage, loop back, or proceed.

Work Items

Interactive steps produce WorkItem records assigned to a user or queue. The assignee opens the Work Items list, picks an item, completes the associated screen flow, and the step advances.

Pause and resume

Orchestration pauses at Interactive Steps waiting for user action and at wait elements inside Background Steps. Resumption is automatic on work item completion or wait-condition satisfaction.

Common Patterns

Pattern: Parallel review with consolidated decision

Stage 1: Background — populate context. Stage 2: Three Interactive Steps in parallel (legal, security, finance review), each producing a Work Item. Stage 3: Evaluation Flow consolidates approvals. Stage 4: Background — enact the decision.

Pattern: Long-wait with external callback

Background Step kicks off an external process via callout and stores a correlation ID. Orchestration waits on a Platform Event the external system publishes on completion. The event resumes the step.

Pattern: Conditional rework loop

Stage 4 Evaluation Flow detects a rejection. The orchestration loops back to an earlier Stage to rework. Use conditional navigation (branches between stages) carefully — infinite loops are possible.

Decision Guidance

Situation	Recommended Approach	Reason
Single approver, simple	Approval Process	Lower setup cost
Multi-actor parallel work	Flow Orchestration	Approval Process cannot branch
Wait for external callback	Orchestration + Platform Event	Decouples from source
Time-based timeout	Stage with Evaluation Flow + wait	Shipped pattern
Round-robin assignment	Work item to queue + assignment rules	Don't hand-code

Recommended Workflow

1. Whiteboard the process: actors, decision points, handoffs, SLAs.
2. Decide Approval Process vs Orchestration with standards/decision-trees/automation-selection.md.
3. Build required screen flows (for Interactive Steps) and autolaunched flows (for Background / Evaluation).
4. Create the Orchestration in Flow Builder; lay out Stages and Steps; wire Evaluation Flows.
5. Configure work item assignment (user, queue, role-based) and notifications.
6. Test in a sandbox with full actor list; validate parallel-stage timing and evaluation branches.
7. Deploy; monitor the Orchestrations tab; set up alerts for work items aging past SLA.

Review Checklist

• Stage and step diagram matches whiteboarded process
• Evaluation Flows tested for each branch
• Work item assignment routes to correct queue/user
• Timeouts in place for long-wait stages
• Fault paths defined on Background Steps
• Monitoring view available to ops team
• Training doc for users completing Interactive Steps

Salesforce-Specific Gotchas

1. Parallel steps finish when ALL complete. A slow reviewer holds up the whole stage; consider timeouts + reassignment.
2. Evaluation Flows run every entry and exit. Expensive logic in an Evaluation Flow runs many times across a long orchestration; keep them lean.
3. Deleting an in-flight Orchestration metadata breaks running instances. Always retire with a migration plan; do not delete while instances are active.

Output Artifacts

Artifact	Description
Orchestration diagram	Stages, steps, branches, evaluation flows
Work item assignment spec	Queue, user, or role per step
Screen + autolaunched flow inventory	All flows the orchestration invokes
Monitoring + SLA runbook	Ops procedure for aging work items

Related Skills

• admin/approval-processes — simpler alternative for linear approvals
• flow/flow-record-triggered-patterns — underlying flow building
• admin/platform-events-for-admins — external-callback resume pattern