Testing and Sharing Cloud Flows

Why testing matters

How to test a cloud flow

In the flow designer, click Test in the top-right corner. You get two options:

Test Mode	How It Works	When to Use
Manually	You trigger the flow yourself (for automated flows, you perform the trigger action; for instant flows, you click the button)	First-time testing, verifying new changes
Automatically	Uses data from a previous successful run to re-run the flow	Re-testing after making changes, quick validation

What you see during a test

When a test runs, the designer shows each step with a status indicator:

• Green tick — the step succeeded
• Red cross — the step failed
• Grey circle — the step was skipped (e.g., the “No” branch of a condition when the result was “Yes”)

You can click on any step to see:

• Inputs — what data went into the step
• Outputs — what data came out
• Error details — if the step failed, the exact error message

💡 Testing tip: use test data

When testing an automated flow (like “When an item is created in SharePoint”), you need to actually create the item to trigger the test. Create a test item with recognisable data (like “TEST - Carlos Test Record”) so you can easily identify and clean up test data afterwards.

For scheduled flows, manual testing runs the flow immediately — you do not have to wait for the scheduled time.

Run history

Every time a flow runs (whether triggered by a test, an event, or a schedule), Power Automate logs it in the run history.

Run history shows:

Column	What It Shows
Start time	When the flow run began
Duration	How long the run took
Status	Succeeded, Failed, or Cancelled
Trigger	What started this particular run

Click on any run to see the same step-by-step view you get during testing — green ticks, red crosses, inputs, and outputs for every action.

Exam tip: Run history is where you go to troubleshoot a flow that ran but did not produce the expected result. You can inspect exactly what happened at each step.

Monitoring and analytics

Beyond run history, Power Automate provides analytics dashboards:

• Flow analytics — success rate, failure rate, average run duration over time
• Error trends — see if failures are increasing or decreasing
• Usage patterns — how often the flow runs and when
• Performance insights — identify slow steps that could be optimised

These dashboards help you maintain your flows proactively instead of waiting for someone to report a problem.

Troubleshooting common issues

Problem	Likely Cause	How to Fix
Flow never triggers	Trigger not configured correctly, connection expired	Check trigger settings, re-authenticate the connection
Flow fails at an action	Missing required input, wrong data format, permission issue	Click the failed step, read the error message, fix the input
Flow runs but does nothing useful	Condition routing to wrong branch, empty data	Check condition logic, verify dynamic content has data
Flow takes too long	Too many actions, large data sets, slow connectors	Enable concurrency on loops, reduce data scope with filters
Connection error	Expired credentials, revoked permissions	Re-authenticate the connection in the flow settings

ℹ️ Flow checker

Before you even test a flow, the flow checker runs automatically when you save. It identifies configuration errors like:

• Missing required fields in an action
• Invalid expressions
• Disconnected or expired connections
• Actions that reference deleted steps

The flow checker shows warnings and errors in the designer. Fix all errors before testing — a flow with errors will not run.

Sharing a cloud flow

Once your flow is working, you may want to share it with colleagues. Power Automate offers two sharing models:

Co-owner vs Run-only User

Feature	Co-owner	Run-only User
Can edit the flow?	Yes	No
Can delete the flow?	Yes	No
Can run the flow?	Yes	Yes (instant flows only)
Can view run history?	Yes	Only their own runs
Can share with others?	Yes	No
Can manage connections?	Yes	No — uses their own or the owner's
Best for	Team members who build and maintain	End users who just trigger or benefit

How to share

1. Open the flow in the maker portal
2. Click Share (or the sharing icon)
3. Add people by name or email
4. Choose their role: Co-owner or Run-only user
5. Save

Connection handling when sharing

When you share a flow, the connections matter:

• Co-owners use their own connections — they must have access to the connected services
• Run-only users can either use their own connections or the flow owner’s connections (you choose which when sharing)

💡 Sharing with a Microsoft 365 group

Instead of sharing with individuals, you can share a flow with a Microsoft 365 group or security group. Everyone in the group gets access automatically, and new members get access when they join.

This is especially useful for department-wide flows — share the leave request flow with the “All Staff” group instead of adding 200 people individually.

Carlos wraps up Domain 4

Carlos has come a long way at Greenleaf Health. Here is what he built with Power Automate:

Flow	Type	What It Does
New hire onboarding	Automated	Sends welcome pack, creates tasks, notifies the team
Leave request	Automated + Approvals	Routes leave requests to managers for approval
Weekly expense report	Scheduled	Emails finance team every Friday with the week’s expenses
Site visit logger	Instant	Logs clinic visits with a single tap on his phone
Patient data entry	Cloud + Desktop	Enters data into a legacy system that has no API
Invoice processing	Automated + Document processing	Extracts invoice data, routes for approval if over the limit

He tested each flow, reviewed run history to fix issues, and shared them with his team — co-owners for the IT staff and run-only access for everyone else.

🎬 Video walkthrough

🎬 Video coming soon

Testing and Sharing Flows — PL-900 Domain 4

Testing and Sharing Flows — PL-900 Domain 4

~10 min

Flashcards

Question

What are the two test modes in Power Automate?

Click or press Enter to reveal answer

Answer

1) Manually — you trigger the flow yourself to test it. 2) Automatically — uses data from a previous successful run to re-run the flow. Both show step-by-step results with green ticks and red crosses.

Click to flip back

💡 Show hint

Question

Where do you go to troubleshoot a flow that ran but produced the wrong result?

Click or press Enter to reveal answer

Answer

Run history. Click on the specific run to see the inputs and outputs of every step. Green ticks show success, red crosses show failures. You can identify exactly which step went wrong and why.

Click to flip back

💡 Show hint

Question

What is the difference between a co-owner and a run-only user?

Click or press Enter to reveal answer

Answer

Co-owners can edit, delete, share, and manage the flow. Run-only users can only trigger instant flows and see their own run history. Co-owners help maintain the flow; run-only users just use it.

Click to flip back

💡 Show hint

Question

What does the flow checker do?

Click or press Enter to reveal answer

Answer

It runs automatically when you save a flow and identifies configuration errors — missing fields, invalid expressions, expired connections, broken references. Fix all errors before testing.

Click to flip back

💡 Show hint

Knowledge Check

Knowledge Check

Carlos wants to see why his flow failed last Tuesday. Where should he look?

AFlow analytics dashboardBRun history for the specific flowCThe Copilot assistantDThe template gallery

Check Answer

Knowledge Check

Carlos wants to share his leave request flow with all 200 staff at Greenleaf Health so they can trigger it from their phones, but he does not want them to edit or delete the flow. What should he do?

AAdd each person as a co-ownerBShare with a Microsoft 365 group as run-only usersCExport the flow and email it to everyoneDDo not share — have everyone build their own copy

Check Answer

Knowledge Check

During testing, Carlos sees a grey circle on one of the steps in his flow. What does this mean?

AThe step succeededBThe step failed with an errorCThe step was skippedDThe step is still running

Check Answer

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Congratulations! You have completed Domain 4: Demonstrate the Capabilities of Power Automate. You now understand cloud flows, desktop flows, Process Mining, approvals, logic controls, building flows, and testing and sharing them.

Next up: Domain 5 — Describe the Capabilities of Microsoft Copilot Studio.