User access to Flow Designer

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated May 13, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of User Access to Flow Designer

    Administrators can manage user access to Flow Designer by assigning specific roles or delegated development permissions, allowing control over which features and content users can access. This enables application developers to utilize Flow Designer functionality effectively through APIs for flows, subflows, and actions.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Role Assignment: Administrators can grant the flowdesigner role, which allows users to create and edit flows and subflows. Caution is advised, as this role provides extensive permissions akin to the admin role.
    • Flow Designer Roles: Various roles such as flowoperator, actiondesigner, and read-only roles are available, each granting specific access levels to functionality and execution details.
    • API Access: Developers can enable flows, subflows, and actions to be client callable, granting greater flexibility in their usage.
    • Delegated Development: Administrators can create applications and assign users as developers, controlling access to certain features typically reserved for admins.
    • Role-Based Content Filtering: Administrators can define which user roles are needed to access specific Flow Designer content through content definitions and filtering rules.
    • Feature Access Management: Access to specific UI elements in Flow Designer can be controlled through the Feature Access List, allowing for tailored user experiences.

    Key Outcomes

    By effectively managing user access to Flow Designer, organizations can ensure that only authorized users can create and edit flows, maintain security, and streamline development processes. Proper role assignment enhances collaboration and productivity while mitigating risks associated with excessive permissions.

    Administrators can grant users access to Flow Designer by assigning delegated development permissions or directly assigning a user role. Administrators can also specify which features and content a user can access based on user roles. Application developers can access Flow Designer functionality through APIs for flows, subflows, and actions.

    Access by user role

    Administrators can grant access to Flow Designer by directly assigning users the flow_designer user role, which includes the role to view flow execution details.

    Warning:
    Directly granting a user the flow_designer role is equivalent to giving the user the admin role, because Flow Designer can run flows as the System user, which has access to all tables and all database operations.

    Administrators can also grant users one or more Flow Designer roles to enable them to create flows and subflows, view flow execution details, and create actions.

    Table 1. Flow Designer roles
    Role title [name] Description Contains Roles
    flow_designer Enables a user to launch the Flow Designer design environment to create and edit flows and subflows. flow_operator
    flow_designer_scripting Enables a user with the flow_designer or action_designer role to set and modify input values by writing inline scripts. For information, see Inline scripts. none
    flow_operator Enables a user to view flow execution details, dashboards, and logs. Administrators can grant this role to users that want to be able to view flow results but not create, change, or test them. none
    flow_report_viewer Enables a user to view reports for Flow Designer tables. For a list of relevant reporting tables, see Flow execution details retention. none
    action_designer Enables a user to launch the Action Designer design environment to create and edit actions. none
    action_category_creator Enables a user with the action_designer role to create action categories for actions and subflows. none
    fd_read Enables a user to launch the Flow Designer and Action Designer design environments to view the configuration and execution details of flows, subflows, and actions.
    Note:
    Read only roles are incompatible with roles that provide write access. Avoid granting the same user both a read only and a write access role.
    		 fd_read_flows, fd_read_actions, fd_read_operations
    fd_read_flows Enables a user to launch the Flow Designer design environment to view the configuration and execution details of flows and subflows.
    Note:
    Read only roles are incompatible with roles that provide write access. Avoid granting the same user both a read only and a write access role.
    		 fd_read_operations
    fd_read_actions Enables a user to launch the Action Designer design environment to view the configuration of actions.
    Note:
    Read only roles are incompatible with roles that provide write access. Avoid granting the same user both a read only and a write access role.
    		 none
    fd_read_operations Enables a user to view flow and action execution details. Administrators can grant this role to users that want to be able to view flow results but not create, change, or test them.
    Note:
    Read only roles are incompatible with roles that provide write access. Avoid granting the same user both a read only and a write access role.
    		 none
    Note:
    Some applications provide UI actions to view related flow or flow contexts. You need an application-specific user role to view such UI actions. For example, users require the itil or equivalent user role to view the Flow Context UI action available from Requested Item records.

    API access

    Application developers can access Flow Designer functionality through APIs for flows, subflows, and actions. Flow designers can enable individual flows, subflows, and actions to be client callable during design. For more information, see API access to Flow Designer.

    Delegated development access

    Administrators can grant users access to Flow Designer by creating an application and assigning users as developers with the Flow Designer delegated development permission. Delegated development allows administrators to control whether flow designers can access features normally restricted to admin users such as assigning user roles, creating access controls, or creating scripts. For more information, see Developer permissions.

    Role-based content filtering

    Specify the user roles necessary to access Flow Designer content. For example, flows, flow triggers, actions, and subflows. Manage content filtering by creating content definitions and content filtering rules. For more information, see Content filtering for Flow Designer.

    Note:
    Your users must have the flow_designer role to create and edit flows. You can specify the additional roles that a user must have to access particular features or content.

    Role-based feature access

    Specify additional user roles necessary to access the UI elements of Flow Designer. For example, specify a role to access the buttons to save, test, or activate a flow or to access the option to copy a code snippet. Manage feature access directly through the Feature Access List. For more information, see Manage access to Flow Designer features.
    Note:
    Your users must have the flow_designer role to create and edit flows. You can specify the additional roles that a user must have to access particular features or content.