---
title: 'No Code: Flow Builder | Shopware Community Hub'
description: >-
  Learn how to use Shopware’s Flow Builder to automate eCommerce workflows
  without coding. Create, customize, and extend automated processes using
  triggers,…
canonical_url: 'https://hub.shopware.com/learn/unit/solutions-architect-no-code-flow-builder'
---

# No Code: Flow Builder

<LearningObjectives>

- Understand what **Flow Builder** is designed for and the types of automation it supports.
- Identify **key functionalities and features**, including triggers, actions, and conditions.
- Customize Flow Builder using **built-in settings and extend it** through plugins or apps.
- Apply Flow Builder in practical scenarios to **automate** ecommerce workflows.
- Recognize when Flow Builder might not be the most suitable solution for **certain use cases**.

</LearningObjectives>

# Introduction to Flow Builder

Flow Builder is Shopware's no-code automation tool that enables businesses to automate workflows by modeling processes based on specific events. It provides a straightforward interface for creating flows that start with an original **trigger**, evaluate conditions using **Rule Builder**, and perform **actions** based on the results.

<img src="../../assets/images/flow-builder-overview.png" width="550">

Out of the box, Flow Builder is used to manage essential workflows in Shopware, such as sending emails. However, with Flow Builder, you can model many more types of processes. You can define automated actions triggered by specific events, such as sending a Slack message when an order is placed or updating inventory in a third-party system using Webhooks. As a Solutions Architect, understanding Flow Builder helps you adapt Shopware to business processes and implement integrations efficiently.

## What Is Flow Builder Built For?

Flow Builder is designed to automate repetitive tasks and processes, as well as making processes easier to edit for non-technical users. It allows businesses to define workflows that respond to specific triggers, execute conditions using Rule Builder, and perform a series of actions to complete the process. The primary goal is to move actions that were traditionally relegated to code into an environment accessible to any administration user. Thereby making business more lean, and reducing time and cost of changes. The secondary goal is to offer developers a declarative scheme for building complexity, which is easier to maintain, and guarantees backwards compatibility between versions.

## Functionalities of Flow Builder

Flow Builder consists of three main components: **triggers**, **conditions**, and **actions**, each playing a role in defining automated workflows.

### Key Functionalities

- **The editor**: An interface that allows for visual flow building, making it easy to build and maintain flows.
- **Triggers**: These are events that start the flow, such as a new order being placed, a customer registering, or a stock level changing. The list of core events is ever expanding, and third-party extension builders can add events through their own extensions.
- **Conditions**: Flow Builder uses Rule Builder to evaluate conditions, adding flexibility to the flow. Conditions can be based on customer groups, product categories, order totals, or any order Rule as we have seen in the previous chapter.
- **Actions**: The tasks performed when a flow is triggered, such as sending an email, updating customer information, or calling a webhook. Flow Builder supports various built-in actions and can be extended with custom actions. In the Shopware shop, third-party actions can also be found.

Advanced functionalities include:

- **Sharing (Shopware Rise)**: Flow Sharing allows the user to export flows to other environments, such as between an Acceptance and Production environment.
- **Webhook Integration (Shopware Evolve)**: Allows for connecting external services to Shopware using webhooks, enabling seamless data exchange between systems.
- **Delayed Actions (Shopware Beyond)**: Schedule actions to occur at a future time, such as sending follow-up emails.

## Customizing Flow Builder

While Flow Builder is a no-code tool at its core, it can be extended and customized to fit unique business requirements through the extension system.

Developers can create custom actions, triggers, or conditions via plugins or apps to extend the functionality of Flow Builder:

- [Adding custom actions in plugins](https://developer.shopware.com/docs/guides/plugins/plugins/framework/flow/add-flow-builder-action.html)

- [Customizing actions with the app system](https://developer.shopware.com/docs/guides/plugins/apps/flow-builder/add-custom-flow-actions-from-app-system.html)

This approach allows businesses to enhance Flow Builder's capabilities without losing the benefits of the no-code interface, making it adaptable to specific needs. Furthermore, these extensions can be published and sold in the Shopware shop.

## Practical Scenarios for Flow Builder

Flow Builder can be used in a variety of scenarios to automate workflows and optimize processes:

### 1. **Automated Customer Communications**

- **Scenario**: Automatically send a request for a product review threes days after an order is shipped to encourage the customer to leave a review.
- **Implementation**: Use as a trigger based on the order entering a "Shipped" status. Utilize **delayed actions** to schedule the follow-up email three days later.

### 2. **Order Picking Automation**

- **Scenario**: Notify the warehouse when an order is placed, sending a picking list.
- **Implementation**: When an order enters "In Progress" state, send out an email to the warehouse team with the order contents. Or use a webhook, to push data to a WMS

### 3. **Third-Party CRM Integrations**

- **Scenario**: Integrate the Dotmailer marketing suite using Flow Builder flows.
- **Implementation**: Dotmailer leveraged Flowbuilder to send data from Shopware to their platform to drive marketing campaigns. With different custom Flows for Customer Creation and Orders places, as well as custom actions, they created a high-impact, low-maintenance extension. [Their code is Open Source and available on Github](https://github.com/dotmailer/dotdigital-for-shopware-flowbuilder).

## When Flow Builder Might Not Be the Solution

Flow Builder is highly flexible but may not always be the best fit for every use case. Scenarios where Flow Builder might not be suitable include:

- **Complex Data Transformations**: If your workflow involves intricate data transformations Flow Builder might not be sufficient. Other, more specialized ETL tools will be a better fit.
- **High-Volume, Real-Time Processing**: Flow Builder may not be the best choice for workflows that require processing large volumes of data in real-time as it misses retry mechanisms.
- **Extremely Specific Integrations**: While Flow Builder can handle general webhook integrations, very specific or custom integrations might need dedicated API development.

## Conclusion

Flow Builder is a versatile no-code tool for automating eCommerce workflows, from simple customer communications to complex integration scenarios. Solutions Architects can leverage Flow Builder to optimize operations and reduce manual work while providing opportunities for customization when necessary. Understanding when to use Flow Builder, its limitations, and how to extend its capabilities will help you deliver the most efficient solutions for your clients' unique business needs.

Read more in this article: [Flow Builder](https://docs.shopware.com/en/shopware-6-en/settings/Flow-Builder?category=shopware-6-en/settings/shop).