Every time the Salesforce release notes are published, I always jump straight to the Salesforce Flow section because, well, there’s always so much great content – content that will make the lives of Salesforce Admins a lot easier!
Salesforce Flow is on a journey to fully replace Workflow Rules and Process Builder. The Summer ’23 update has introduced new improvements, and plenty of them are worth shouting about! Here’s my summary of all that’s ‘coming soon’ to Flow…
Process Builder Is on the Brink of Death!
If you’re still putting off learning Salesforce Flow, the clock is ticking! With the Summer ‘23 release, Process Builder will not allow you to create new processes. You will still be able to activate, deactivate, and edit existing processes in this release, but the messaging is clear: it’s time to move to Salesforce Flow for all your declarative automation needs. Summer ‘23 makes this even easier with enhancements to the Migrate to Flow tool.
1. Flow UI Changes
Salesforce always includes some minor changes to the user experience – these may go unnoticed until they are pointed out, but they are slowly making the experience a lot more user-friendly. You’ll also notice a slight color change (more on that later in this article), which improves overall accessibility.
In addition to the fancy new animation, this Flow UI change means that you’re able to see more on the Flow Canvas at any time due to the new compact layout.
2. Flow User Permission Changes
You will notice a much more concise Flow and Flow Orchestration Permissions section when working with permission sets in Summer ‘23 – a small but welcome change, as it groups all permissions related to the Flow and Flow Orchestrator tools together. This will make it a lot easier for admins to manage going forward.
If you are looking to test this out for yourself in a Summer ‘23 preview org or sandbox, you will find this new section in “App Permissions”, rather than dispersed throughout System Permissions.
3. Reactive Components in Flow (Beta)
If you’re subscribed to the Reactive Screens Beta, you’ll now be able to use formulas to drive your reactive components. In the example below, you can see the display field (a read-only URL component where the value is set to a formula) is being updated in real-time based on the slider.
Note: Reactive Components needs to be enabled in “Process Automation Settings” – this allows developers to build LWCs that support Reactive Components. This URL component hack works, but it is not recommended for production applications. It’s a great demo though!
4. Choice Lookups in Flow are Generally Available
The Choice Lookup component in Flow has lost its Beta label as of Summer ‘23! Now generally available, you can use Choice Lookup to allow users to navigate a set of choices easier – this is particularly helpful when working with large sets of choices as users will be able to simply search for what they’re looking for, as opposed to scrolling through a massive list.
5. Data Cloud Objects Supported in Flow Builder
With Salesforce Data Cloud (formerly Salesforce Genie) the shiny new toy coming out of Dreamforce ‘22, it makes sense that it would be embedded deeper in everything we know and love about Salesforce today. Summer ‘23 brings support for Data Cloud Objects in Flow Builder.
If you have Data Cloud, you can use a Get Records element to query the Data Cloud object in question. There are restrictions around this though; you are only able to do this in a Production org that is connected to Data Cloud (which is why I have no examples as I’m using a preview org), and you can only query the data – you don’t have the ability to create, update, or delete Data Cloud data.
6. Flow Data Table Search Bar
The native Data Table component is handy, but there’s been a lot of conversation about when additional features will be added to it. The Summer ‘23 release brings the ability to add a search bar to the data table. Simply tick the checkbox, as in the screenshot below, and voila!
Users will then be able to search the data table, making it easier to navigate and select the desired record(s). Something that Andreea Doroftei pointed out to me is that your search applies to multiple fields. For example, if you have multiple columns in your Data Table then your search will dig through each column to try and find a match. Handy!
7. GET HTTP Callouts Are Generally Available
HTTP Callouts in Flow have been one of the most talked about features in recent years, and it’s finally GA in Summer ‘23! Now you can call web-based APIs in Flow using reusable GET callout actions that you don’t need to write a single line of code to build.
This is one of those changes that shows Salesforce is very invested in enabling all their customers, regardless of their skillset and areas of expertise, to harness the power of the Salesforce platform and connect it with their third-party services.
8. POST HTTP Callouts (Beta)
In Summer ‘23, not only can you call data and APIs from other systems, but you can also send data out of Salesforce using the new POST HTTP Callout. This is an extension of the very popular GET HTTP Callout feature that is now generally available.
9. Enhanced Send Email Flow Action
Summer ‘23 brings new properties to the Send Email Action in Flows functionality, including (but not limited to) the ability to save the email as an activity against a record – this is something that has been sorely lacking for many years.
10. Standard Flows in Flow Trigger Explorer
Standard flows will show up in the Flow Trigger Explorer now, although you aren’t able to reorder them. This provides you with some guidance as to where these flows fire in relation to your custom flows – find out more here.
Summary
There you have it! These are my favorite Flow features for Summer ‘23. This upgrade has a number of behind-the-scenes and quality-of-life updates, but also contains some notable new superpowers that will make for an even more polished experience for admins, developers (both declarative and programmatic), and end users alike.
Don’t forget to sign up to a pre-release org to test out this new functionality for yourself.
Read more about the Summer ’23 release:
- 10 Hottest Salesforce Summer ’23 Features For Admins
- 10 Hottest Salesforce Summer ’23 Features For Developers
- Summer ‘23: 10 Hottest Account Engagement (Pardot) Updates
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