Tutorials > Collect external data in a step

First, navigate to the Flow Builder section from the left-hand menu and click "Build a New Flow" at the top right.

Enter a Flow Title, such as "My External Step Flow," and optionally add a description. Once you're ready, click "Start Building" to move into the flow editor.

Once inside the flow editor, click "Add Step" to define the first action in your workflow. You'll be presented with different step types.

For this tutorial, select "Single Line Text" to create a simple data collection step.

Name the step something like "Collect customer data".

To allow external users to submit data for this step, navigate to the "Step Settings" tab.

Toggle "Allow External Submissions", which enables an external user to receive an email invitation to complete the step, or for you to input the result manually.

To build on the collected data, add a second step by clicking “Add Step”.

Choose an "Acknowledgment step", name it something like "Do something based on customer data" to leave a simple confirmation checkbox.

Once all steps are set up, click "Publish" to finalize the workflow.

A confirmation box will appear and then click "Publish" again to make the flow available to run.

Go to My Flows and locate the newly created Flow Design.

Click "Run Flow for Myself", since this Flow will mostly be for the employee dealing with the customer input. If you would like a tutorial where most of the steps will be accomplished by the customer/external user instead, you can view our Run a Flow for external users tutorial. Now, you can enter an email address to invite an external user to complete the step. You can also include an optional message before sending the invitation.

Alternatively, you can manually fill in the external submission on behalf of the customer by selecting "Fill in Manually" and completing the form.

Once the information has been filled in, the workflow moves to the next step. A team member assigned to the flow can confirm receipt by checking the acknowledgment box and clicking "Submit".

That’s it! You’ve successfully created and executed a workflow in Slipstream that accepts external submissions. Now, you can use this process to collect data from external users while seamlessly integrating their responses into your workflow.