---
title: "Flows"
description: "Flows is a visual workflow system for orchestrating user experiences by managing relationships between audiences, channels, and end users. It offers a…"
url: "https://www.contentstack.com/docs/lytics/flows"
product: "Contentstack"
doc_type: "guide"
audience:
  - developers
  - admins
version: "current"
last_updated: "2026-11-05"
---

# Flows

### What is a Flow?

Flows is a visual workflow system for orchestrating user experiences by managing relationships between audiences, channels, and end users. It offers a canvas-based interface to create, manage, and monitor complex journeys.

![](https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blt2d43f51baca745a8/am5a0a7ac9cb9c5508/57ee72ded54dbd8249a88b38/5e82db7f99d641e96437572e63100a06eef61e94baffc283d66beb4dbe2ad43a-image.png)

### Why Flows?

Previously, managing user journeys in Lytics required:

*   Building custom audiences one-off
*   Setting up separate exports individually
*   Managing complex relationships between different components
*   Limited visibility into user progression through experiences

Flows improves on all of the above by:

*   **Visualizing the entire user journey** in a single, intuitive canvas
*   **Centralizing workflow management** for all audience, personalization, and export relationships
*   **Providing real-time insights** into user progression and performance
*   **Enabling advanced personalization** throughout a user's flow progression
*   **Simplifying complex campaign management** with reusable templates

### Core Concepts

#### Flow Components

Flows manage user experiences through a series of connected components that define entry conditions, sequential steps, export actions, conditional logic, and wait states. Every Flow consists of these key elements:

*   **Trigger Step**: The entry point that defines when users enter and re-enters the flow
*   **Wait & Personalize Steps**: Control cadence & personalization logic based on time or condition through a flow
*   **Export Steps**: Deliver user data to external systems and channels in real-time
*   **Conditional Splits**: Create branching paths based on custom rules

#### Flow States

Flows can exist in three states:

*   **Draft**: Flow is being configured and is not active
*   **Running**: Flow is live and processing users
*   **Draining**: Flow is in the process of stopping but allowing existing users to complete the flow

### Common Use Cases

Flows enables a wide variety of user experience scenarios:

*   **Cart Abandonment**: Re-engage users who didn't complete purchases
*   **Drip Campaigns**: Deliver content over time based on user behavior
*   **Lead Nurturing**: Guide prospects through sales funnels
*   **Retention Campaigns**: Re-activate dormant users
*   **Event-Triggered Communications**: Respond to specific user actions

### Integration with the Lytics Ecosystem

Flows integrates seamlessly with existing Lytics features:

*   **Audiences**: Use any existing audience as a trigger condition
*   **Trigger Based Exports**: Access all available export destinations and configurations
*   **Web Personalization**: Flow state becomes available for real-time website personalization
*   **Profiles**: User flow progression is tracked on individual profiles

### Next Steps

Ready to get started? Continue to [Getting Started](/docs/lytics/flows-getting-started) to learn how to access Flows and create your first workflow.