---
title: About Flow actions
description: >-
  Connect your app to Shopify Flow so that your app receives data when a
  workflow action runs.
source_url:
  html: 'https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/actions'
  md: 'https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/actions.md'
---

# About Flow actions

***

## How actions work

An action is a workflow component in Shopify Flow. It represents a task that's executed in a store or in an app when certain conditions are met. You can connect your app to Shopify Flow so that your app receives data when a workflow action runs.

This guide shows you how to add an action to your app so that merchants can use it in their workflows.

![A diagram that show how third party actions interface with Flow ](https://shopify.dev/assets/assets/images/apps/flow/action_diagram-YjW5oA1X.png)

***

## Next steps

* Follow our step by step guide on [how to create and test a Flow action](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/actions/create).
* Check out our action endpoint guide for more information on how to setup an [execution endpoint](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/actions/endpoints#flow-action-execution), a [custom configuration page preview endpoint](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/actions/endpoints#custom-configuration-page-preview) and [custom validation](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/actions/endpoints#custom-validation).
* Learn more about how to [return complex data](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/configure-complex-data-types) in a Flow action.
* Interested in building a custom configuration page? Follow this [guide](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/actions/build-config-ui) to learn more.

***