Pass information between steps

Flows are useful because each step can use what the steps before it produced: a form answer, a new record's number, a formatted date. Here's how to pick that information, and the one rule that keeps it arriving.

01What each step hands on

When a step finishes, it hands on its results, called its outputs. The steps after it can use them.

A form hands on each answer. A Google Sheets step hands on which cells it filled. A Format Date step hands on the date in the format you chose, plus its parts: the day, month, year and day of the week.

The details of a Format Date step from a run. Its outputs include result: 28 Sep 2026, 16:18, day_of_week: Monday, day: 28, month: 9 and year: 2026. — What a Format Date step handed on in a real run. Any of these can be used by the next step.

You can see every step's outputs by opening a run and clicking the step. That's the easiest way to find out what a step produces; see Check your runs.

02Pick a value with $

In any field, click the $ button, or type ${, and choose from the list.

Typing ${res in a field of an Append to Sheet step shows a list: result from Format Date at the top, then user details and a form answer. — Type a few letters after `${` to narrow the list.

Each row shows a label, the value's name, and where it comes from on the right:

Label	What it is
INPUT	An output of the step connected directly before this one (its name is on the right), or an answer from your form
FLOW	Details of the run itself, such as start_time
USER	Profile details, such as a name and address; see below
SECRETS, CREDENTIALS	Keys and connected accounts from the flow's environment

Once picked, the field shows where the value comes from, for example ${Format Date > result}: the result output of the Format Date step. When the flow runs, Flomation swaps it for the real value.

Mix values with your own words

You can put values anywhere in a field, alongside ordinary text. For example, an email subject of Welcome, ${Your name > your_name}! becomes Welcome, Priya!

03Example: a friendly date

In your first flow, the Signed up column looks like 2026-09-28T14:38:19Z. Adding a Format Date step turns it into 28 Sep 2026, 16:18, in UK time.

Add a Format Date step
Click Add Node, search for format date and add it. Connect Form Trigger to Format Date, and Format Date to Append to Sheet. Keep the line that already runs from the form to the sheet step: it's what brings the form answers. See Answers from further back.
Set the format
Click Format Date. Leave Date/Time empty, which means "now". Set Output Format to Friendly (02 Jan 2006, 15:04) and Timezone to Europe/London.
Use its result in the sheet
Click Append to Sheet. In the third cell of the row, clear what's there, type ${res and pick result (from Format Date).

Format Date settings: Date/Time left empty, Output Format set to Friendly, and Timezone set to Europe/London. — An empty **Date/Time** means the moment the step runs.

Append to Sheet settings with one row of three cells: your_name, email_address and Format Date's result. — The row now uses the formatted date in its third column.

04Answers from further back

Form answers only arrive if the form connects straight to the step

After you add a step in the middle, the list still offers your_name and email_address, but they arrive blank unless the form is also connected directly to the step that uses them. Nothing warns you: the run says Success and the row is added with empty cells.

The fix is one extra line: connect the Form Trigger directly to Append to Sheet as well.

A flow where Form Trigger connects to Format Date, Format Date connects to Append to Sheet, and a second line runs straight from Form Trigger to Append to Sheet. — Two lines into the sheet step: one brings the date, the other brings the form answers.

The sheet step still waits for Format Date, runs once, and gets both the answers and the date. Here's the run:

A successful run with ticks on Form Trigger, Format Date and Append to Sheet, and green lines between all three. — Every step ticked; the row arrived with the name, email and *28 Sep 2026, 16:18*.

The general rule: the $ list offers the outputs of the step or steps connected directly before the one you're editing, plus your form's answers. If you need something from further back, connect that step directly too. Extra lines don't make a step run twice: each step runs once per run.

05Settings, secrets and run details

Some values don't come from a step at all.

You want	Use	Looks like
A setting you use in many flows, like a spreadsheet ID or a channel name	A property in the flow's environment	`${env.signups_sheet}`
A password or API key	A secret; see Connect your apps	`${secrets.stripe_key}`
When the run started	FLOW start_time	`${flow.start_time}`
A unique reference for this run	FLOW execution_id	`${flow.execution_id}`
Your own name or address	USER values	`${user.first_name}`

To add a property without leaving the editor, click + property at the bottom of the list. The environment opens in a new tab. Add it there, come back and click the refresh button next to it.

USER means the flow's owner, not the person filling in the form

When a public form, a schedule or a web address starts a run, the USER values are the profile of the flow's owner. For the details of whoever filled in your form, use the form's own answers.

06Check what arrived

If a value comes out blank or wrong, open the run and click the step that used it. Its Inputs show exactly what it received after Flomation filled in the values.

Blank where you expected a value? Usually the step that produces it isn't connected directly to this one. See Answers from further back.
A field is red, or the run won't start? It refers to something that doesn't exist, such as a secret or property that isn't in the flow's environment. Hover over the warning icon on the step for details.
Not sure what a step produces? Run the flow once and look at the step's Outputs.

07Next steps

Running & monitoring Check your runs and fix failures Read what each step received and produced, and fix what went wrong. Read it → Connecting apps Connect your apps Store the keys and accounts your steps need. Read it →