The screen where you draw the flow is the busiest screen in the panel: the canvas, the step editor, autosave, the issue list and six tabs all share the same space. This article introduces the editor's frame — where each button sits, when saving happens, where warnings collect. Adding and connecting the steps themselves is covered separately in Adding, connecting, moving and deleting steps.
💡 With view-only rights (agent, viewer) the editor opens read-only: a lock icon at the top left of the canvas reads You have view access; you can't change the flow. You can browse the steps and read their details, but change nothing.
What you will find in this article
- The top bar: name, state, on/off, publish
- The six tabs
- Warning banners
- The canvas toolbox
- The autosave indicator
- The pre-publish check list
- The minimap and moving around
- Common mistakes
The top bar: name, state, on/off, publish
The editor opens full width with a thin bar at the top:
- Back arrow — The arrow on the left returns to the automations list.
- The automation's name — The bold heading. You cannot rename it here; that happens on the Settings tab.
- State line — The small grey line under the name carries three pieces of information separated by dots: the state (Draft / Live / Off), the live version number (like v3) and, when relevant, Unpublished changes.
- On/off switch — Only on published automations that are not in the trash, and only with publish rights.
- Publish — The rocket button. Only with publish rights.
This bar stays in the same place on every tab: whichever tab you are on, you can turn the automation on or off and publish it.
The six tabs
Six tabs sit under the top bar:
Switching tabs saves any pending change on the canvas; nothing is lost.
Warning banners
Under the tabs, two amber banners can appear depending on the situation:
- Plan lock banner — Starts with "Your plan does not cover: …" and ends with a link to the plan page. The banner does not block publishing: the flow stays live, but sessions stop at those steps.
- Trash banner — The automation is in the trash. The banner reads Trash and (if you have edit rights) carries a Restore button. In this state the flow opens read-only.
At the top left of the canvas, inside a translucent box, sit these buttons:
- Add step — Opens the step palette. In a read-only editor a lock icon and a notice take its place.
- Undo and Redo — Reverse and reapply the latest changes. The history holds up to 100 steps.
- Zoom out and Zoom in — Only drawn on a wide screen; on a phone you pinch to zoom.
- Fit view — Fits the whole flow onto the screen. This is the first button to press when you get lost in a large flow.
- Issue button — The rightmost button. Its contents change with the state: green No issues when all is well, amber or red … issues when something needs attention.
The autosave indicator
A small cloud icon with a status beside it sits at the top right of the canvas. It has four states:
- Saved — Everything is on the server. Nothing is pending.
- Saving… — The change is on its way. It starts by itself shortly after an edit; there is no Save button.
- Couldn't save — A connection or server error. Clicking the text retries.
- Changed elsewhere — reload — The same automation was edited in another tab or by a teammate. A Reload button appears beside it.
⚠️ Note: After a "Changed elsewhere" warning, autosave stops. If you carry on working without reloading, what you type is not saved. Two people editing the same flow at once is best avoided.
If you try to leave the page while a change is pending, the browser warns you.
The pre-publish check list
Pressing the issue button opens a list headed Pre-publish check over the canvas. Each row starts with a dot:
- Red dot — Error. It blocks publishing. "The flow has no start step", "Add at least one trigger", "The message text is empty", "Connect the start to a step" and similar.
- Amber dot — Warning. It does not block publishing but should be read. "No path reaches this step", "A gallery only arrives as a single message on Instagram", "The reply time exceeds 24 hours" and similar.
Clicking a row selects that step, pans the canvas to it and closes the list. So you read the warning and land exactly where you fix it.
The same warnings appear in two other places: as a numbered badge (red or amber) in the corner of the step card on the canvas, and as coloured boxes at the top of that step's editor panel.
✅ Pressing Publish re-runs the check. If there is an error nothing is published and the issue list opens by itself.
The minimap and moving around
On a wide screen a minimap sits at the bottom right of the canvas: a tiny copy of the whole flow. You can drag on it to move and use the wheel to zoom. On phones and tablets the map is not drawn, to save space.
To move around the canvas:
- Drag empty space — The canvas pans.
- Wheel or two fingers — Zooms.
- Click a step — Selects it and opens its editor panel.
- Click empty space — Clears the selection and closes the panel.
With nothing selected, the right-hand panel on a wide screen shows two lines: "Select a step or add one with "Add step"." and the list of keyboard shortcuts.
Where the step editor panel opens
When you click a step its editor opens:
- On a wide screen, as a fixed column to the right of the canvas.
- On phones and tablets, as a sheet sliding up from the bottom (covering at most 80% of the screen).
The panel starts with the step's type and a one-line description; Duplicate, Delete and Close sit at the top right. On the start step Duplicate and Delete are not drawn: every flow has exactly one start and it cannot be deleted.
The body of the panel has three parts: the warnings for that step, the step's own fields, and Connections at the bottom.
A concrete example
A furniture shop's flow has four steps and Publish seems to do nothing:
- Look at the issue button at the top left of the canvas: red means there is an error.
- Press it to open the Pre-publish check list.
- Click the "The message text is empty" row; the editor takes you to that step.
- Write the text. The indicator at the top right returns to Saved shortly.
- When the issue button turns green and reads No issues, press Publish.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Looking for a Save button. There isn't one; the draft saves itself. Watch the indicator at the top right.
- Seeing "Saved" and assuming the flow went live. What was saved is the draft. Going live needs Publish.
- Ignoring the "Changed elsewhere" warning. From that point nothing is saved. Press Reload and continue from the latest version.
- Mistaking warnings for errors and giving up on publishing. Amber rows do not block publishing; you can read them and move on deliberately.
- Reading the plan lock banner as a publishing block. The flow does publish; only sessions that reach a locked step stop.
- Hunting for the minimap on a phone. The minimap is only drawn on a wide screen; use Fit view on a phone.
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