--- title: "Anatomy of a flow: SmartyTap docs | Chargezen" description: "How a SmartyTap flow works: the trigger that starts it, trigger filters, re-entry, profile filters, Email steps, time delays and Splits, and how to turn it on." url: "https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows" lang: "en" updated: "2026-10-19" --- Canonical URL: https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows # Anatomy of a flow How a SmartyTap flow works: the trigger that starts it, trigger filters, re-entry, profile filters, Email steps, time delays and Splits, and how to turn it on. Last updated: 2026-10-19 A flow is an automation that sells and cares for customers while you work on something else. It starts when a customer does something, like placing an order or leaving checkout, and runs steps for that customer: emails, waits, order tags and Splits. A campaign is one send you schedule; a flow keeps running for every customer who qualifies until you turn it off. Every flow has the same parts. Learn them once and you can build any flow. | Part | Answers the question | | --- | --- | | Trigger | What starts the flow? | | Trigger filters | Which of those events count? | | Re-entry | Can the same person go through it again? | | Profile filters | Who stays in it, and who leaves early? | | Steps | What happens, and when? | ## Find your flows In SmartyTap, open **Campaigns > All flows**. The **Workflows** page lists each flow with its status, **Active** or **Inactive**. Click **Create workflow** to start one, then **Select a trigger**. **Recent flow runs** shows every customer's trip through your flows. ## 1\. The trigger In **Select a trigger**, browse **Recommended** or **All triggers**. Flows start from two kinds of events: * **Order events from Shopify**: Order created, Order created or updated, Order tags, Order tags removed, Order paid, Order fulfilled, Order partially fulfilled, Order cancelled and Refund created. See [Order flows](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/order-flows). * **Storefront activity from the Chargezen pixel**: Viewed Product, Added to Cart and Checkout Started. These power [browse abandonment](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/browse-abandonment) and [abandoned checkout](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/abandoned-checkout). Each order starts a flow once, so a repeated or late order event from Shopify never sends the same email twice. ## 2\. Trigger filters Trigger filters decide which events count, using details of the event itself: **Order total**, **Currency**, **Order tags** or **Item SKUs** for orders, and product or cart details for storefront events. With no filters, every event starts the flow. Click **Add filter**. Use **Add AND requirement** when an event must match several rules, and **Add OR alternative** when any one of several rules will do. Example: Item SKUs contains `COFFEE-1KG` AND Order total is at least 50. ## 3\. Re-entry Under **Re-entry criteria**, choose how often one person can go through the flow: * **Allow re-entry**: every time the trigger happens. Right for order updates, like a shipping email for each order. * **No re-entry**: once, ever. Right for a first-order thank-you. * **Allow re-entry after a time period**: again only after a **Re-entry period** in minutes, hours or days. Storefront flows start at 30 days, so regular visitors don't feel watched. A flow counts events from the moment it's turned on. Orders and visits from before don't start it. ## 4\. Profile filters Profile filters are about the person, not the event. They're checked when someone enters and again before every step. Anyone who stops matching leaves the flow. That's how a reminder stops the moment its job is done. Click **Add profile filter**. You can check: * **What someone has done**: Placed order, Viewed product, Added to cart, Started checkout or Started subscription, over a time period such as **Since starting this flow**, **In the last** or **Over all time**. * **Segment membership** and **List membership**. * **Marketing eligibility**: whether they can receive marketing. * **Active Shopify subscription SKUs**, the **Current contact**'s details and **Custom contact property** values. The exit every reminder needs A new profile filter starts as **Placed order = 0 since starting this flow**. Keep it on any reminder or win-back flow, so customers who buy stop getting nudged to buy. ## 5\. Steps Drag a step from **Actions** onto the flow, or choose a step to add after it. ### Email 1 #### Name and write it Give it an **Email name**, a **Subject** and **Preview text**. Click **Select template** to start from a saved email, or create one with **Drag and drop**, **Plain text** or **HTML**. 2 #### Check the sender Click **Edit sender** to change the **Sender email**, **Sender name** and where **Replies** go. 3 #### Pick the email type Under **Sending**, set **Email type** to **Marketing** or **Transactional**. Transactional emails skip marketing consent, so use them only for order and account updates. Anything that promotes a product is marketing. 4 #### Set Smart Sending For marketing emails, **Skip recently emailed profiles** skips anyone who got a marketing email in the last 16 hours. Choose whether that counts **campaign** messages, **flow** messages, or both. 5 #### Preview Use **Preview & check fields** to see it with sample data on desktop and mobile, then **Done**. ### Time delay A **Time delay** waits before the next step: a **Delay amount** in days, hours or minutes. For delays in days, you can also **Delay until a specific time of day** or **Delay until specific days of the week**, in the **Recipient local timezone** or your **Account timezone**. Example: wait 2 days, then send at 10 a.m. the customer's time, on weekdays only. ### Conditional split A **Conditional split** sends people down different paths. Add a path for each group with **Add path** and **Add condition**. Paths are checked in order, the first match wins, and everyone else follows the last path. A Split can check everything a profile filter can, plus the **Triggering order** (or storefront event) and a **Random sample** for testing two paths against each other. Example: after a fulfilled order, Path 1 is Item SKUs contains a coffee SKU and gets brewing tips; everyone else gets general care tips. ### Add order tags **Add order tags** adds tags to the order that started the flow, like `thank-you-sent`, so your team can filter on it in Shopify. ## Turn it on 1 #### Name the flow Type a name in the top bar, where it says **New Workflow**. 2 #### Preview the flow Click **Preview** to see each step and when it would run. No customer run is started. 3 #### Save or turn on Click **Save draft** to keep working, or **Turn on workflow** and confirm with **Turn on**. SmartyTap checks every step first and tells you what's missing, like a subject line or a sender. Editing a live flow Changes to an active flow apply when you save. If you delete a step or a Split path, people waiting in it leave the flow. To stop a flow, click **Save draft**: it goes back to Draft and cancels runs in progress. ## See who went through it **Recent flow runs** lists every run with its flow, trigger, status (**Completed**, **Waiting**, **Running**, **Failed**, **Cancelled**), its current step and when it resumes. A run that failed shows why. ## Flows to build first [ ### Order flows Thank-you, shipping, order tag, cancellation and refund emails Learn more ](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/order-flows)[ ### Abandoned checkout Bring back shoppers who started checkout Learn more ](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/abandoned-checkout)[ ### Browse abandonment One helpful email about a product they viewed Learn more ](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/browse-abandonment)[ ### Birthday email Birthday points and an email on the day Learn more ](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/birthday) ## FAQ ### Can I build flows by asking Claude or ChatGPT? Yes. Connect SmartyTap to Claude or ChatGPT and describe the flow. The AI app writes the email, saves the flow as a Draft and turns it on when you ask. See [SmartyTap in Claude](https://chargezen.com/smartytap/integrations/claude). ### Do flows respect unsubscribes? Yes. Marketing emails go only to customers who agreed to marketing email. Transactional emails go to everyone, so keep them about the order. ### Why can't I edit a flow? Creating and changing flows needs the SmartyTap flows permission. Ask a workspace owner to give it to you. ## Related **Guides** * [Order flows](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/order-flows) * [Abandoned checkout](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/abandoned-checkout) * [Browse abandonment](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/browse-abandonment) * [Segments](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/audience/segments) **On the product page** * [Flow library](https://chargezen.com/smartytap/flows) * [SmartyTap in Claude](https://chargezen.com/smartytap/integrations/claude) **Learn more** * [What is an SMS flow?](https://chargezen.com/glossary/sms-flow) ### Related Articles [ #### Order flows Thank-you, shipping, tag and refund emails ](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/order-flows)[ #### Abandoned checkout Win back shoppers who left at checkout ](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/abandoned-checkout)[ #### Browse abandonment Follow up on a product they viewed ](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/browse-abandonment)[ #### Birthday email Points and an email on the day ](https://chargezen.com/docs/smartytap/flows/birthday) Was this page helpful? 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