API Triggered Flows

DeveloperAdvanced~37 mins

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to trigger an on-demand flow using the Salesforce REST API. The flow will send a personalised email to a new Individual.

This use case simulates how an external platform—such as a customer portal—can initiate a flow to send a password reset email or similar notification.

Create Apex Class

Skip If Previously Completed

If you have already completed the Record-Triggered Emails workshop, you can skip this exercise.

To personalize your email with variables from a Flow interview, you will need to define a simple Apex Wrapper class. This class acts as a Data Transfer Object (DTO), structuring your Flow data into a format that the Apex Class Data Provider can easily consume to dynamically populate email content.

Click on the icon and click the first Setup menu item.
In the Quick Find field, enter Apex Classes and select Apex Classes from the Custom Code menu.
Click New.
Copy and paste the code in the Apex Class text area.
Click Save.

public class contactValues {

    @AuraEnabled public String firstName;

}

Adding Apex Variables

This simple class will pass a Contact's first name from a Flow interview into a personalized email. If you need more personalization strings, you can easily extend this class by duplicating the line in this class for other field values.

Create Apex Test Class (Optional)

Apex test classes are separate scripts that simulate user actions and system events. They create mock data in a temporary, isolated environment to see if your logic evaluates correctly. You can't deploy code to a Production environment unless your test classes cover at least 75% of your executable lines.

While not required in an SDO, you will need to choose a deployment method in production environments which includes validating all test classes in your org.

A sample test class is provided below. Follow the steps in the previous exercise to add this test class to your org.

@isTest
private class ContactValuesTest {

    @isTest
    static void testContactValuesProperties() {
        contactValues cv = new contactValues();
        cv.firstName = 'John';
        System.assertEquals('John', cv.firstName, 'FirstName should be set');
    }

    @isTest
    static void testContactValuesWithEmptyValues() {
        contactValues cv = new contactValues();
        cv.firstName = '';
        System.assertEquals('', cv.firstName, 'FirstName can be empty');
    }
}

Create Welcome Email

Skip If Previously Completed

If you have already completed the Record-Triggered Emails workshop, you can skip this exercise.

Search for Marketing from App Launcher .
Select the Marketing App (with a gray icon).
Select the Content tab.
Select Content Workspace for Marketing Cloud from the list view.
Click Add and select Content.
Click on the Email radio button, then click Create.
Select the Use Components tile and click Select.
Click the pencil icon Under the Subject Line heading and enter the subject line Welcome to Northern Trail Outfitters in the highlighted Subject Line field.
Change the Message Purpose field to Transactional.
Drag the Paragraph component to the email content area.
Paste the below text in the paragraph content block.

Hello,

Welcome to Northern Trail Outfitters! We’re thrilled to have you join our community of adventurers, explorers, and outdoor enthusiasts. Whether you’re gearing up for your next backcountry expedition or simply looking for dependable everyday essentials, we’re here to help you make the most of every trail ahead.

See you on the trail!

The Northern Trail Outfitters Team

Click the Data Sources tab in the Email panel.
Click Add.
Select Apex Class Data Provider from the Type menu.
Enter contactValues in the Name field.
Search and select contactValues in the Apex Class field.

Click Save.
Insert your cursor in the paragraph component after the word 'Hello' and add a space character.
Click on the merge field icon then scroll down and select Apex Class Data Provider.
In the Resource field, select Primary Objects, then firstName.
Click Done in the Configure Merge Fields dialog.
Optionally, edit the email content—for example, add a banner image.

Click the gear icon in the top toolbar and enter Welcome Email in the Title field.
Click Done.
Click Save.
Click Publish.
Click Next and Publish Now in the Publish Content dialog.
Click the back arrow in the top left corner of the page to return to the Content page.

Create an On-Demand Flow

In this exercise, you will create an on-demand flow to send the transactional email you created previously.

Click the Flows tab.
Click New.
Enter on-demand the Search automations... field.
Select the On-Demand Flow tile.
Click Next in the Configure automation properties dialog.
Click the icon on the flow canvas.
Select the Send Email Message element.
Enter Welcome Email in the Label field.
Click Select Email in the Select Email to Send section.
Select the email you created in the previous exercise, then click Add.
Choose an email sender in the From Name and Address field of the Select Sender section.
Click Save.
Enter Send Welcome Email in the Flow label field.
Enter Welcome_Email in the Flow API Name field.
Remove the data graph from the Data Graph field.

Remove Data Graph

When using an API request to personalize an email and define contact point values at send time, you must leave the Data Graph field blank. You will need to remove the default data graph from this field. If a Data Graph is defined, the email will fail to send.

Click Save.
Click Activate.
Click the back arrow in the top left corner of the page to return to the Flows page.

Trigger Flow Using REST API

In this exercise, you will use Salesforce Workbench to simulate an authenticated REST API request that triggers the on-demand flow and sends the transactional email.

Update Profile-Level Flow Access

Even with a System Administrator profile, specific Flow-level restrictions or missing user permissions can prevent successful execution via Workbench. To resolve these blocks and enable API-based Flow calls, follow the configuration steps below.

Click on the icon and click the first Setup menu item.
In the Quick Find field, enter Flows and select Flows from the Process Automation menu.
Locate the flow definition with the API name Welcome_Email.
Click the down arrow next to the flow and select Edit Access.

Locate System Administrator from the Available Profiles menu
Click the Add button.
Click Save.

Call REST API From Workbench

Open workbench.developerforce.com in a new browser window.
Select I agree to the terms of service then click Login with Salesforce.
Click Allow if prompted for Workbench to allow access for your user.
Select REST Explorer from the utilities menu.
Change the HTTP method to POST.
Replace the path URL with the below string, where Welcome_Email is the flow API name you set in the previous exercise.

/services/data/v65.0/actions/custom/flow/Welcome_Email

Paste the following text in the request body, replacing [insert your email] with your email address.

{
  "inputs":[
    {
      "EmailAddress":"[insert your email]",
      "IndividualId":"[insert your email]",
      "contactValues":{
        "firstName":"Simon"
      }
    }
  ]
}

IndividualId Value

The Individual ID is a persistent, unique identifier used to map a record from a source system (such as a CRM ID or a customer number).

In many transactional use cases, individual records won't yet exist in the Individual DMO, which is why an email address contact point value is also needed in the payload to deliver the message to the recipient.

For this exercise, you can use your email address as IndividualId, or any other value, except null.

Click Execute.
Click Show Raw Response.
Confirm that "isSuccess" : true appears in the response payload.
Check that you received the personalized email.