Current behavior
Today, after creating an Action Flow, we can update, deactivate, or delete it — but we cannot clone it.
From what we’ve experienced (and as noted in the product ecosystem), Action Flows also have limitations such as:
- No option to duplicate an entire flow from the Action Flows list
- No option to copy/paste steps within a flow or across branches
- When logic is repeated across branches (e.g. notify Slack, call an external API, update ticket fields), the same steps must be configured again manually
This becomes especially painful for flows with many steps, conditions, API integrations, and mapped inputs/outputs.
Desired behavior
Please add the ability to:
-
Duplicate / clone an Action Flow from Admin Center (similar to other Zendesk objects)
- Creates a copy with a suffix like
(Copy)in the name - Copy should include trigger, steps, branches, and configuration
- Copied flow should start as inactive by default (safer rollout)
- Creates a copy with a suffix like
-
Duplicate individual steps inside the Action Builder
- Copy a step within the same branch
- Optionally paste into another branch
-
(Nice to have) Export / import Action Flow definitions (JSON) for backup, migration, and sandbox → production promotion
Use Cases
1. Variants of the same process
We often need nearly identical flows for different scenarios (e.g. marketplace, region, brand, or ticket type) with only small differences in conditions or field mappings. Cloning would let us create a baseline flow and adjust only what changes.
2. Faster iteration and testing
When experimenting with new automation logic, we could clone a production flow into a test version instead of rebuilding it from scratch.
3. Reduced human error
Manual recreation increases the risk of missing steps, misconfigured API mappings, or broken variable references — especially in flows with external integrations.
4. Better scalability
As Action Flows replace or complement triggers and other automation, teams will build more of them. Without duplication, maintenance cost grows linearly with every similar workflow.
5. Consistency with other Zendesk features
Other areas of the product already support cloning (for example, recent improvements to task lists include clone functionality). Action Flows would benefit from the same pattern.
