---
title: Build your first flow on the canvas
description: Create a flow, add and connect steps on the canvas, fix problems, run a test and switch it on. Autosave and shortcuts included.
url: "https://hiveplugins.com/docs/hive-mail-build-your-first-flow/"
updated: "2026-10-28"
category: Hive Mail
---

# Build your first flow on the canvas

This page builds a welcome email followed by a follow-up three days later. Set the sender in **Settings > General** first; flow emails use it unless a step has its own.

## Create the flow

1. Go to **Automation > Flows** and click **New flow**.
2. Type a **Name** (for example "Welcome"). **What it is for (optional)** is a note for your team.
3. Click **Create flow**. The canvas opens full screen. A new flow is always a Draft.
4. On the card **What starts this flow?**, click **Contact subscribes**. To change it later, select the trigger card and use **What starts the flow** in the right panel (this clears its settings). See [Triggers](/docs/hive-mail-triggers/).

![The Flows list with the row menu of a flow open: Open the canvas, Add people…, Report, Runs & logs, Duplicate, Stop and Delete](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-automation-flows-list-01.webp)

## Add the steps

1. Click the **+** under the trigger, type "email" and choose **Send an email**.
2. In the right panel click **Choose an email**, open **Starters**, pick **Welcome** and click **Create the email from this starter**. Type a **Subject line**, for example `Welcome to {{site_name}}!`.
3. Click the **+** under the email card, choose **Wait**, and set **Wait for** to 3 and **Unit** to days.
4. Click the **+** under the wait, choose **Send an email**, then pick or create the follow-up and write its subject.

Click **Preview** in the panel to read the whole email before you go on.

![The Send an email step selected, with the template thumbnail, subject line and kind in the panel](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-automation-email-step-04.webp)

Every step is described in [Steps](/docs/hive-mail-steps/) and [Waits, conditions, goals and splits](/docs/hive-mail-waits-conditions-goals-splits/).

## Test and switch on

1. Click an empty spot on the canvas. The **This flow** panel should say "Ready to switch on." If not, fix the **Problems** (see below).
2. Click **Test run**, pick a contact and click **Run the test**. Nothing is sent or changed. The list shows each step and its way out (Yes, No, A, B, Met, Not met). **Show on the canvas** numbers the cards. An **If** or **Goal** is decided for the real person; a **Wait until** takes its "Not met" way. The test stops after 50 steps.
3. Use the on/off switch in the top bar. The badge becomes **On**.

![A finished welcome flow with the flow panel saying Ready to switch on](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-automation-canvas-finished-05.webp)

## Work on the canvas

The palette is on the left (Trigger, Actions, Logic), the canvas in the middle, the settings panel on the right. Click a card for its settings, an empty spot for the flow's own.

- **Add a step:** drag from the palette; click a palette step while a card is selected; click a **+** under a free port; or press `/` to search.
- **Connect:** drag from a port to the top of another step. Each port leads to one step; nothing leads into the trigger. To remove a line, select it and press Delete. Keyboard users use the **What happens next** pickers in the panel.
- **Rename:** double-click a card or press F2. **Copy, cut, paste:** Ctrl+C, X, V (also into another flow; a second trigger is left out). **Duplicate:** Ctrl+D. **Delete:** Delete.
- **Top bar:** **Undo** and **Redo** (last 100 changes), **Tidy up**, **Fit the flow in view**, **Map**, **{n} in this flow** (the people drawer), **Test run**, **Report**, and **More** (**Who is in this flow**, **Runs & logs**, **Keyboard shortcuts**, **Stop the flow…**). Press `?` for all shortcuts.

## Autosave

Changes save by themselves; the top bar shows **Saving…** then **Saved**. Ctrl+S saves at once. If the flow was changed in another tab or by someone else, a red bar offers **Load the saved version** or **Keep mine**.

## Problems that stop switch-on

Red problems block switch-on; orange ones are advice. Click a problem to jump to the step.

| Problem | Fix |
| --- | --- |
| The flow needs a trigger | Choose one. |
| Add at least one step after the trigger | Add a step. |
| Choose the email to send / Write a subject line | Pick a template, type a subject. |
| Choose the tag / Choose the list | Pick one (it may have been deleted). |
| Enter the web address to call | Fill in the webhook address. |
| Add at least one rule | Add a rule to the **If** or **Goal**. |
| Subscribing someone needs the consent box ticked | Tick it on **Change status**, or pick another status. |
| The flow loops back without a delay | Put a **Wait** inside the loop. |
| Nothing leads to this step (orange) | Connect or delete it. |

Once the flow is On, a pill on each card shows how many people are there. To pause, use the same switch. To end all runs, choose **More > Stop the flow…**.

> **Tip:** There is no version history. Use **Duplicate** on the Flows list to keep a copy before a big change.

Next: [Re-entry, existing contacts, and editing a live flow](/docs/hive-mail-re-entry-existing-contacts-and-editing-live-flows/), [Runs & Logs and flow reports](/docs/hive-mail-runs-and-logs-and-flow-reports/).