Flows automate your client process, but a flow template does nothing until it's running on a project. This guide covers every way to start a flow on a project — by hand, automatically from a lead capture form or public proposal, or chained from another flow.
How flows start on a project
A flow template is just a saved sequence of actions. It only does work once it's been applied to a specific project. Until then, it sits in your template library ready to use, but not running.
There are four ways to start a flow on a project:
Manually, from the Flows app or a flow template
Automatically when a lead capture form is submitted
Automatically when a client submits a public proposal
From inside another flow, using a Start A New Flow action
Apply a flow manually
You can start a flow manually in two ways: directly from the Flows app (or from the Flows tab inside a project), or by opening a flow template and using it from there. Both paths open the same Add Flow to Project modal.
From the Flows app or a project's Flows tab
Go to Flows in the main sidebar, or open a project and click the Flows tab.
Click Start a Flow.
In the Add Flow to Project modal, select a Flow Template from the dropdown.
Select a Project from the dropdown. If you opened the modal from inside a project, this field is already filled in and locked.
Choose how to start it:
Start flow — starts the flow immediately.
Add and edit — adds the flow in a paused state and opens it in the editor so you can make adjustments before it runs.
If you choose Add and edit, the flow is added to the project but paused. Open the flow and click Resume when you're ready to start it. For more on managing a running or paused flow, see managing your flows.
If the template you select is already running on the chosen project, a banner appears: "This flow has already been applied to this project." Select a different template or project to continue.
From a flow template
Go to Flows ➔ Flow Templates and click the template you want to use.
Click Use this flow.
In the Add Flow to Project modal, the Flow Template field is pre-filled with the template you opened. Select a Project, then choose Start flow or Add and edit.
Start a flow from a lead capture form
A lead capture form can automatically start a flow when a potential client submits it, creating a project and kicking off your process without any manual steps. There are two ways to wire this up.
Default flow
A Default flow runs the same flow every time the form is submitted. This works well if you offer a single service or want every lead to go through the same process. You configure the Default flow by navigating to the form's Settings tab and selecting which flow to apply.
Flow element
A Flows form element adds a dropdown to your lead capture form. Each option in the dropdown can start a different flow, so clients effectively self-select their service as part of filling out your form. You can only add one Flows element per form.
One flow per submission
A lead capture form starts only one flow per submission.
If your form has both a Default flow set and a Flows element, the Flows element always takes priority — the Default flow is ignored for that submission.
For full steps on setting up either method, see starting a flow from your lead capture form.
Start a flow from a public proposal
You can also connect a flow to a public proposal so it starts automatically when a client accepts. When you build the public proposal, you choose which flow to apply in the proposal's settings. The moment a client accepts the proposal through its public link, Dubsado creates the project and starts the flow you selected — moving straight from acceptance into your onboarding or fulfillment process with no manual trigger required.
For full setup steps, see setting up a public proposal.
Start a flow from another flow
Inside the flow editor, you can add a Start A New Flow action (found under the Flow Control category) to trigger a second flow template on the same project. This is useful for breaking a long process into shorter, more maintainable flows that chain together automatically.
The flow template you start must be different from the one it's being started from. For details on adding and configuring actions in the editor, see flow actions.
Editing or deleting a template after it's running
Editing or deleting a flow template does not affect flows already running on your projects. Running flows are independent copies — they carry on exactly as they were when you applied them.
If you update a template and want to push those changes to active flows, open the template and click the Update projects button (it shows the number of projects that will be updated). A confirmation dialog appears. Click Update projects to apply the changes. Only flows that aren't Complete or Archived receive the update, and any actions that have already fired are preserved.
Before clicking the Update projects button, be mindful of these important nuances to prevent actions from firing unexpectedly:
Updating a template that's already in use can fire newly added actions immediately if their trigger conditions are already met. Review which projects are using the template before you click Update projects.
If you manually removed any actions from a project's copy of a flow, clicking Update projects on that flow's template will re-add those actions to the project flows if your edits did not remove those same actions in the template. Take a moment to evaluate if your project flows differ significantly from the flow template before clicking Update projects.
FAQ
Why isn't my flow doing anything after I added it?
If you chose Add and edit when applying the flow, it was added in a paused state. Open the flow from the project's Flows tab and click Resume to start it. Also confirm that the project meets the flow's first trigger condition — if the trigger hasn't been satisfied yet, the flow will wait until it is.
Can I run more than one flow on the same project?
Yes. You can apply multiple flow templates to a single project either manually or by chaining them with the Start A New Flow action. The one-flow-per-submission limit applies only to a single lead capture form submission, not to the project overall.
If I edit a flow template, do my active flows change?
No. Running flows are independent of the template. To push changes from the template to active flows, open the template and use the Update projects button — but review the warning above before doing so.
Why can't I find the Flows app?
Flows is a Premier feature. On the Starter plan, the Flows app is not available in the sidebar and the Flows tab is not available inside projects.