Guides > How branching works

In Slipstream, we have many features that allow you to control process flows, letting you customize exactly how processes run. Our most recommended method of adjusting control flow in a Flow is the Branching Step. In the image above, you can view all the possible actions that a branching step can provide, and as you can see, there are a lot! During Flow execution, you can also see a preview of what action each option will produce, shown in the image below:

Next, we have the Next Step After Submission setting that will hardcode a destination on the completion of that step. This setting is available on all step types, so you can always customize the path inside of a Flow.

Finally, during Flow time, you can also modify the execution on the fly to go to previous steps or jump forward by selecting the dropdown menu for each step, as in the images below.

As you can see, with Slipstream, you always have the power to implement branching behavior in your Flows, whether it’s during build-time or run-time.

One thing that you may have noticed, however, is that steps are always shown linearly in order in the left-hand sidebar during a Flow. With the features shown above, it’s definitely possible to build Flows with complex branching behavior. However, at Slipstream, we instead encourage you to split out branching behavior into separate Flows whenever possible for several reasons:

• Splitting out Flows can simplify processes so that they are restricted by the minimum number of steps that they require
• Having more Flows can spread out work more effectively, so that processes aren’t tied up in large, overly-complex processes.
• Splitting out Flows allows you to distribute more work to run in parallel.
• Splitting out Flows allows you to easily delegate side tasks, since they can be easily reassigned to other employees.
• Spinning off Flows lets you stay focused on the main task and worry less about the things that matter less

Ultimately, splitting out Flows can have powerful benefits that can allow your organization to run more efficiently, and we encourage you to try it out!