Flows

Complex dialogs often involve multiple conversation topics. For example, a pizza delivery agent may have food order, customer information, and confirmation as distinct topics. Each topic requires multiple conversational turns for an agent to acquire the relevant information from the end-user.

Flows are used to define these topics and the associated conversational paths. Every agent has one flow called the Default Start Flow. This single flow may be all you need for a simple agent. More complicated agents may require additional flows, and different development team members can be responsible for building and maintaining these flows. For example, the flows of a pizza delivery agent may look like the following:

Default start flow

When you create an agent, the Default Start Flow is created automatically. For a simple agent, you can use this flow as your only flow. For more complex agents, you can add more flows, and the default start flow can be used as a simple entry point to the conversation.

Note: The Default Start Flow cannot be deleted.

When using the API, you can reference the default start flow with the following flow ID:

00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000

Flow start page

Every flow has a special page named Start in the console. When a flow is selected in the console, the start page is shown as a node on the graph. When a flow initially becomes active, this page becomes the current, active page.

A start page does not have parameters or responses messages like normal pages. However, you can send a message by using one of the following approaches:

• Intent propagation
• Use a simple true condition in a route that has a fulfillment response or a transition target to a normal page with entry fulfillment.
• Custom events

Reference start page in API requests

To reference a flow's start page in runtime API requests, use START_PAGE as a page ID.

To make design-time changes to a start page through the API, use the get and patch/update API methods for the Flow type.

Go to the Flow API reference

Select a protocol and version for the Flow reference:

Protocol	V3	V3beta1
REST	Flow resource	Flow resource
RPC	Flow interface	Flow interface
C++	FlowsClient	Not available
C#	FlowsClient	Not available
Go	FlowsClient	Not available
Java	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Node.js	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
PHP	Not available	Not available
Python	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Ruby	Not available	Not available

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Create a flow

To create a flow:

Console

1. Open the Dialogflow CX console.
2. Choose your Google Cloud project.
3. Select your agent.
4. Click the add button in the Flows section.
5. Select Create flow.
6. Enter a display name for your flow.
7. Click the flow you just created.

API

See the create method for the Flow type. Go to the Flow API reference

Select a protocol and version for the Flow reference:

Protocol	V3	V3beta1
REST	Flow resource	Flow resource
RPC	Flow interface	Flow interface
C++	FlowsClient	Not available
C#	FlowsClient	Not available
Go	FlowsClient	Not available
Java	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Node.js	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
PHP	Not available	Not available
Python	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Ruby	Not available	Not available

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Flow data

To access a flow's data:

Console

1. Open the Dialogflow CX console.
2. Choose the Google Cloud project for the agent.
3. Find the agent in the list.
4. Click the agent display name.
5. Click the flow in the Flows section.
6. The flow's pages are populated in the Pages section. See the pages guide for information on editing pages.
7. Click the flow in the graph.
8. A flow edit panel appears. Use this panel to browse and edit additional flow data.
9. Click Save to save any changes.

API

For flows, see the get and patch/update for the Flow type. Go to the Flow API reference

Select a protocol and version for the Flow reference:

Protocol	V3	V3beta1
REST	Flow resource	Flow resource
RPC	Flow interface	Flow interface
C++	FlowsClient	Not available
C#	FlowsClient	Not available
Go	FlowsClient	Not available
Java	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Node.js	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
PHP	Not available	Not available
Python	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Ruby	Not available	Not available

Close

For pages, see the get and patch/update methods for the Page type. Go to the Page API reference

Select a protocol and version for the Page reference:

Protocol	V3	V3beta1
REST	Page resource	Page resource
RPC	Page interface	Page interface
C++	PagesClient	Not available
C#	PagesClient	Not available
Go	PagesClient	Not available
Java	PagesClient	PagesClient
Node.js	PagesClient	PagesClient
PHP	Not available	Not available
Python	PagesClient	PagesClient
Ruby	Not available	Not available

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The following data is associated with flows:

• Pages: The list of pages that make up the flow.
• Routes: All of these routes may be called when the start page for the flow is active. Routes with an intent requirement may be followed when other pages of the flow are active. For details, see State handler scope and Flow-level routes.
• Event handlers: These handlers may be called when the flow is active. For details, see Flow-level event handlers

For more information about how data is applied at varying levels, see the data application levels.

Flow settings

The following settings are available for flows:

• Display name: A human-readable name for the flow.
• Description: A description for the flow.
• ML settings Flow ML settings are also accessed and described in agent ML settings.
• Language auto detection Language auto detection lets you specify which end-user languages Conversational Agents (Dialogflow CX) should automatically recognize and respond in. See the language auto detection documentation for details.

• Flow lock: A locked flow cannot be edited, including the following changes to its child resources:

  1. Pages cannot be created, edited, deleted.
  2. Versions cannot be created, edited, deleted.
  3. Flow-level route groups cannot be created, edited, deleted.
  4. Agent-level route groups referenced by a locked flow or any page under a locked flow cannot be deleted, but they can still be edited.
  Note: This setting cannot be changed if the lock is enabled at the agent level.

• Advanced speech settings: These advanced speech settings can optionally override the same agent speech settings.

• Speech adaptation settings: Flow level speech adaptation settings with more detailed instructions in manual speech adaptation.

For more information about how data is applied at varying levels, see the data application levels.

To access flow settings:

Console

1. Open the Dialogflow CX console.
2. Choose your Google Cloud project.
3. Select your agent.
4. Hover your mouse over the flow in the Flows section.
5. Click the options button.
6. Select Flow settings.
7. Browse or edit settings.
8. Click Save to save any changes.

API

See the get and patch/update methods for the Flow type. Go to the Flow API reference

Select a protocol and version for the Flow reference:

Protocol	V3	V3beta1
REST	Flow resource	Flow resource
RPC	Flow interface	Flow interface
C++	FlowsClient	Not available
C#	FlowsClient	Not available
Go	FlowsClient	Not available
Java	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Node.js	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
PHP	Not available	Not available
Python	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Ruby	Not available	Not available

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Delete a flow

To delete a flow:

Console

1. Open the Dialogflow CX console.
2. Choose your Google Cloud project.
3. Select your agent.
4. Hover your mouse over the flow in the Flows section.
5. Click the settings button.
6. Select Delete.

API

See the delete method for the Flow type. Go to the Flow API reference

Select a protocol and version for the Flow reference:

Protocol	V3	V3beta1
REST	Flow resource	Flow resource
RPC	Flow interface	Flow interface
C++	FlowsClient	Not available
C#	FlowsClient	Not available
Go	FlowsClient	Not available
Java	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Node.js	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
PHP	Not available	Not available
Python	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Ruby	Not available	Not available

Close

Train a flow

To train a flow:

Console

1. Open the Dialogflow CX console.
2. Choose your Google Cloud project.
3. Select your agent.
4. Click Agent Settings.
5. Open the ML tab.
6. To train a single flow, click Train in the corresponding row.
7. To train multiple flows, select them with checkboxs, then click Train selected flow NLU model.

API

See the train method for the Flow type. Go to the Flow API reference

Select a protocol and version for the Flow reference:

Protocol	V3	V3beta1
REST	Flow resource	Flow resource
RPC	Flow interface	Flow interface
C++	FlowsClient	Not available
C#	FlowsClient	Not available
Go	FlowsClient	Not available
Java	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Node.js	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
PHP	Not available	Not available
Python	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Ruby	Not available	Not available

Close

Export a flow

You can export a flow in two ways:

• Data export: This exports your flow as raw data, so it can be imported to any agent. When you export a flow, the resources referenced by the flow (intents, entities, webhooks) are also exported. When following steps below, choose the raw data data format.

• Diagram export (Preview): This exports your flow as a visual diagram. The export format is draw.io XML, so you can import the diagram in Lucidchart, diagrams.net, or any other diagram tool that can import the draw.io format. When following steps below, choose the XML data format.

  Note: Diagram export is not available for agents using CMEK.

You can export a flow with the following options:

• Include referenced flows: Exports the target flow and all levels of referenced flows. Referenced flows include the flows that the target flow is referencing in addition to flows referenced by subsequent referenced flows, with no maximum depth. During import, all of the exported flows will be imported and the transitions between these flows will be preserved.

To export a flow:

Console

1. Open the Dialogflow CX console.
2. Choose your Google Cloud project.
3. Select your agent.
4. Hover your mouse over the flow in the Flows section.
5. Click the options button.
6. Select Export flow.
7. Follow instructions to complete.

API

See the export method for the Flow type. Go to the Flow API reference

Select a protocol and version for the Flow reference:

Protocol	V3	V3beta1
REST	Flow resource	Flow resource
RPC	Flow interface	Flow interface
C++	FlowsClient	Not available
C#	FlowsClient	Not available
Go	FlowsClient	Not available
Java	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Node.js	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
PHP	Not available	Not available
Python	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Ruby	Not available	Not available

Close

Import a flow

When you import a flow from a source agent to a target agent, the global resources referenced by the flow (intents, entities, webhooks) are imported along with the flow-specific data. If the target agent has any global resources with the same display names found in the source agent, Conversational Agents (Dialogflow CX) provides a summary of these resources, along with three options to resolve the conflicts for these resources:

• Replace existing resources: Source agent resources will overwrite target agent resources.
• Import as new resources: Source agent resources will be added with a distinctive suffix in the name.
• Keep original resources: Target agent resources will be unchanged.

To import a flow:

Console

1. Open the Dialogflow CX console.
2. Choose your Google Cloud project.
3. Select your agent.
4. Click the add button in the Flows section.
5. Select Import flow.
6. Follow instructions to complete.

API

See the import method for the Flow type. Go to the Flow API reference

Select a protocol and version for the Flow reference:

Protocol	V3	V3beta1
REST	Flow resource	Flow resource
RPC	Flow interface	Flow interface
C++	FlowsClient	Not available
C#	FlowsClient	Not available
Go	FlowsClient	Not available
Java	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Node.js	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
PHP	Not available	Not available
Python	FlowsClient	FlowsClient
Ruby	Not available	Not available

Close