Building a Cloud Flow

Creating a flow from scratch

Simple explanation

Think of it like writing a recipe.

First, you decide what starts the cooking — the timer goes off, someone presses a button, or the ingredients arrive. Then you write the steps: chop this, mix that, bake at this temperature.

Building a cloud flow is the same. You pick your trigger (what starts it), then add your actions (what it does), connect them together, and hit Save. Power Automate follows your recipe every time.

Three ways to create a cloud flow

Method	How It Works	Best For
From blank	Choose a trigger, add actions step by step	Custom workflows with unique requirements
From a template	Select a pre-built flow and customise it	Common scenarios (saves time)
With Copilot	Describe what you want in plain English	Quick creation, learning, exploration

All three methods produce the same result — a working cloud flow. The difference is how you get there.

Building from blank: the flow designer

Here is the step-by-step process for creating a flow from blank:

Go to make.powerautomate.com
Select Create from the left navigation
Choose your flow type: Automated, Instant, or Scheduled
Name your flow
Select your trigger
Add actions by clicking New step
Configure each action with the required inputs
Save the flow
Test the flow (covered in the next module)

The flow designer interface

The designer is a visual canvas that shows your flow as a series of connected steps:

Trigger at the top — the starting event
Actions below — each step in the workflow
Plus button between steps — add new actions, conditions, or parallel branches
Settings on each step — configure inputs, add error handling
Dynamic content panel — insert data from previous steps into the current step

What is dynamic content?

Dynamic content is data from earlier steps in your flow that you can use in later steps. When you click into a text field in an action, a panel appears showing all the available data from previous steps.

For example, if your trigger is “When a new email arrives”, the dynamic content includes:

Subject
From (email address)
Body
Received time
Attachments

You click on the dynamic content token to insert it. So for a Teams message, you might type “New email from ” and then click the “From” token to dynamically insert the sender’s address.

This is how data flows from one step to the next — each action can use outputs from any previous action.

Building an instant flow

Scenario: Carlos wants a button that logs his current location and time when he visits a clinic site.

Create a new Instant cloud flow
Trigger: Manually trigger a flow (optionally add input fields like “Site name”)
Action 1: Get current time (using a built-in action)
Action 2: Add a row to the “Site Visits” Excel table with the site name and timestamp
Action 3: Send a confirmation notification to Carlos

Carlos opens the Power Automate mobile app, taps the button, types the site name, and the flow does the rest.

Building an automated flow

Scenario: When a new employee is added to the HR SharePoint list, automatically send them a welcome pack.

Create a new Automated cloud flow
Trigger: When an item is created (SharePoint — HR list)
Action 1: Get the new hire details from the list item (dynamic content: Name, Email, Start Date)
Action 2: Send an email via Outlook with the welcome PDF attached
Action 3: Post a message to the HR Teams channel (“Welcome [Name], starting on [Date]”)
Action 4: Create a Planner task for IT to set up their equipment

This flow runs every time a new row is added — no one needs to press a button or remember to send the email.

Building a scheduled flow

Scenario: Every Friday at 4 PM, email the finance team a summary of the week’s expenses.

Create a new Scheduled cloud flow
Trigger: Recurrence — set to every Friday at 4:00 PM
Action 1: Get rows from the “Weekly Expenses” SharePoint list (filter: this week)
Action 2: Create an HTML table from the rows
Action 3: Send an email to the finance distribution list with the table in the body

The flow runs like clockwork — no human involvement after setup.

When to Use Each Flow Type
Scenario	Flow Type	Why
Log a site visit when you tap a button	Instant	Requires user to initiate the action
Send welcome email when new hire is added	Automated	Triggered by an event in a connected system
Email a weekly expense report every Friday	Scheduled	Runs at a fixed recurring time
Alert team when a ticket is marked urgent	Automated	Triggered by a field value change in a system
Request time off with a tap on your phone	Instant	User-initiated action from mobile

Creating a flow with Copilot

Copilot in Power Automate lets you describe what you want in everyday language, and it generates the flow for you.

How it works

In the maker portal, click Create and choose Describe it to design it
Type a description like: “When a new item is added to my SharePoint list called Invoices, send an approval to my manager, and if approved, move the file to the Processed folder”
Copilot generates the flow with the trigger, actions, and connections
Review the flow, adjust any steps, and save

What Copilot can do

Generate complete flows from plain-English descriptions
Add or modify steps when you describe changes
Suggest actions based on your description
Help you understand what each step does

Copilot limitations to know for the exam

Copilot is powerful but not perfect. Key points:

Copilot generates a starting point — you should always review and test the flow
It works best with common scenarios and well-known connectors
Complex logic (nested conditions, advanced expressions) may need manual adjustments
You still need to sign in to the connectors and configure connection references
Copilot does not replace understanding how flows work — it accelerates the building process

The exam may ask about Copilot as a way to create flows. Remember: it is a productivity tool, not a replacement for flow knowledge.

Expressions in Power Automate

Beyond dynamic content, Power Automate supports expressions — formulas that transform or calculate data within a flow step.

Common expression examples:

Expression	What It Does	Example Output
formatDateTime	Format a date value	”Monday, April 14, 2025”
concat	Join text strings together	”Hello, Carlos!“
toUpper	Convert text to uppercase	”GREENLEAF HEALTH”
length	Count items in an array	15
if	Inline conditional	”Approved” or “Pending”

Expressions are typed into the expression editor, not the dynamic content panel. They use a syntax similar to Excel functions. For the PL-900 exam, you just need to know they exist — you will not need to write complex expressions.

🎬 Video walkthrough

Flashcards

Question

What are the three ways to create a cloud flow?

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Answer

1) From blank — choose trigger and add actions manually. 2) From a template — select a pre-built flow. 3) With Copilot — describe what you want in plain English and Copilot generates the flow.

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Question

What is dynamic content in Power Automate?

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Answer

Data from earlier steps in your flow that you can use in later steps. For example, using the sender's email address from a trigger in a Teams message action. You insert it by clicking tokens in the dynamic content panel.

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Question

What does Copilot do in Power Automate?

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Answer

Copilot lets you describe a flow in plain English and generates the trigger, actions, and connections automatically. You review, adjust, and save. It accelerates creation but you should always test the result.

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Question

What is the difference between dynamic content and expressions?

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Answer

Dynamic content inserts raw data from previous steps (like an email subject). Expressions transform or calculate data (like formatting a date or joining text strings). Both are used inside action inputs.

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Knowledge Check

Carlos wants a flow that runs automatically every time a new patient record is added to SharePoint. Which flow type should he create?

Knowledge Check

What is the purpose of dynamic content in the Power Automate flow designer?

Knowledge Check

Which of the following best describes how Copilot helps create cloud flows?

Next up: You have built a flow — now you need to test it, monitor it, and share it with your team. Let us cover the final piece of the Power Automate puzzle.