LEARN. PRACTICE. GROW.Concept and mechanism
Design automation from the required effect. Updating triggering-record fields before saving differs from creating another record after saving. Validation blocks an invalid state; approval represents a human decision and its consequences. Mixing these responsibilities makes ordering, errors, and repeated changes harder to predict.
Guided application
Identify the object, event, entry conditions, outcome, and failure handling. For simple changes to the record itself, evaluate before-save. To create a related task, evaluate after-save. Configured order compares flows on the same object and timing; it does not cross phases. In approval processes, design submission, steps, rejection, and completion with consistent messages and states. Describe a change from start to finish: request input, calculated values, validation, decision, and related effect. Identify points where the same record may be updated again and define conditions preventing unwanted repeated effects. For multistep approvals, distinguish a local decision from process completion. An operator should be able to tell whether a request is pending, rejected, or completed without inferring status from one isolated email. Document the evidence expected at each transition.
A request receives a calculated category before saving; afterward, a task uses that category. The team tries assigning order 1 to after-save to run it first. Review corrects that interpretation and validates the dependency with representative inputs. In another control, closing without a date is blocked by a condition combining Closed and an empty date.
Common pitfalls
Do not assume after-save necessarily means asynchronous. A first approval is not final approval when steps remain. Test the invalid condition and nearby valid cases to avoid blocking legitimate work with an overly broad OR.
Related topics: Effective access and user lifecycle · Data model and Lightning experience · Leads, campaigns, and commercial follow-up
Connect each automation to an effect, timing, and observable state, including rejection and error paths.
Reference: Before-Save or After-Save Record-Triggered Flow · Platform Administrator guide Summer 25