A flow is an automatic path. Something happens to a person (the trigger), and Hive Mail takes them through the steps you drew. Example: a contact subscribes, you send a welcome email, wait 3 days, then send a follow-up.
The words you will see #
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Flow | One trigger and the steps after it. |
| Trigger | The first card. It says what must happen for a person to enter. See Triggers. |
| Step | One card: an action (send an email, add a tag, change a list, set a field, change status, call a webhook, notify someone) or logic (wait, wait until, if, goal, A/B split, merge, end). See Steps. |
| Port | The dot under a card where the path leaves it. Most steps have one ("Then"). If leads to Yes or No. Wait until and Goal lead to Met or Not met. A/B split leads to Side A or Side B. |
| Run | One person's journey through one flow. 100 people in means 100 runs. |
Flow states #
- Draft: nothing happens. New, recipe and duplicated flows start here.
- On: people who trigger the flow enter it and move along.
- Paused: nobody new enters and nobody moves. Switch it on again and everyone carries on.
- Stop (in the flow's menu) ends every run where it is and turns the flow back into a Draft.
How it works #
- Hive Mail checks for work every minute and moves people who are due, up to 50 steps at a time. Expect "within a few minutes", not to the second. If your site has no real server cron the check can run late: see Scheduled sending and cron.
- Each person is checked before each email. Someone unsubscribed, bounced or suppressed is skipped for that email and the run carries on.
- Unsubscribing does not end a run. Use an If step or a Goal if the flow should react.
- Triggers react to new events only. To include people who already exist, see Re-entry, existing contacts, and editing a live flow.
Limits: 200 steps per flow, one trigger, one next step per port. A loop must contain a wait, or the flow will not switch on.
Where the screens are #
All are in the Automation group of the Hive Mail menu. Administrators see all of them; other roles need the "Manage automations" permission.
| Screen | Use it to |
|---|---|
| Flows | List, switch on and open flows. |
| Automation recipes | Start from a ready-made flow: Automation recipes. |
| Runs & Logs | See each person's journey: Runs & Logs and flow reports. |
| Flow Studio | A second editor for the same flows: Flow Studio. |
| Integrations | Shop and form plugins found on your site: Automation integrations. |
Warning: Marketing emails in a flow reach subscribed people only. A Change status step cannot subscribe someone unless you confirm they gave consent elsewhere.
