PART I - Power Automate Basics CONCEPTS : Creating Maintainable Flow -P1

Overview

This video part covers Power Automate “maintainable flows”—the idea of writing automation logic so it’s easy for other developers/power users to understand later, similar to maintainable code.

Key Concepts / Guidance

What “maintainable flow” means

Logic should be readable and understandable by someone else who takes over the flow later (for example, after you move projects).

Best practices for maintainable flows (2 main actions)

1. Use meaningful names for each step

   • Example shown: an approval flow with non-meaningful step names is hard to understand from outside the actions.
   • Improved example: with meaningful names, you can quickly tell what a step does (e.g., a condition for manager approval vs. HR approval condition).

2. Add comments for actions

   • Comments explain the purpose of a step, especially when the default naming isn’t descriptive.
   • In the example, a comment explains that the step is checking the outcome from an earlier approval step (e.g., from “wait for an approval”).

UI Actions Demonstrated in Power Automate

• Renaming steps

  • Click the step’s three dots → choose Rename → enter a descriptive name reflecting the step’s purpose.

• Adding comments

  • Use an “add comment/node” area to insert a comment describing what that action/step is doing.

Speaker / Source

• Main speaker: The creator/host speaking directly to the audience (“hello guys… welcome back… see you in the next session”).