# Flows

> Use ClickClacks Flows to see the paths people take before and after any event: anchor, direction, steps, path window, display options, sampling above 20,000 people, and turning a path into a funnel.

- Canonical URL: https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/flows
- Section: Product guides
- Last updated: 2026-09-26

Pick one event, the anchor, and Flows shows the paths people took before it, after it, or both. It is the quickest way to find the routes you didn’t plan for.

## When to use it {#when}

- “What do people do right after they land on pricing?”
- “Which pages lead to sign-up?”
- “Where do people go when checkout fails?”

Flows show what actually happened. [Funnels](https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/funnels.md) measure a path you have already decided on. Many people use Flows to find the path, then turn it into a funnel.

## Build a flow {#build}

1. Go to **Flows** and click **Choose an anchor event**.
2. Pick an event from **Your events** or **Autocaptured**. For a pageview anchor, a **Path** field appears. Type a page, such as `/pricing`, or leave it as _Any page_.
3. Choose a direction: **Before**, **After** (the default) or **Both**.
4. Set **Steps** from 1 to 5. The default is 3.
5. Choose the path window: **Same session** (the default), **Within 1 hour**, **Within 6 hours**, **Within 24 hours** or **Within 7 days**.

The [filter bar](https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/filters.md) sets people (segment), dates, source and property filters. Flows can’t compare to the previous period yet, so Compare is switched off here.

## Display options {#display}

The **Display** menu tidies the picture. A badge counts how many options you changed from the defaults.

- **Hide passive events** (on): leaves out scrolls and identify calls.
- **Hide pageviews** (off): shows only clicks and custom events.
- **Pageviews by path** (on): one step per page. IDs in paths are grouped, so `/orders/8412` and `/orders/9120` are one step.
- **Collapse repeats** (on): the same step twice in a row counts once.

## Reading a flow {#read}

Switch between **Flow**, a diagram of bands between steps, and **Table**. On a phone, Table is the default.

- Each step shows its top 6 events or pages. The rest are grouped as **Other**.
- Paths that end are marked **Session ends** or **Drop-off**. Paths with nothing before them are marked **Session starts** or **Nothing earlier**. They are drawn dashed.
- The summary line says what you are looking at, for example _2,410 people did Signed up · paths before, 3 steps, same session_.
- Select a step or a band to see the people behind it: up to the 100 most recent, under the flow’s anchor, window and filters.

In **Table**, **Top paths** lists up to 50 complete paths with how many people took each. **By step** lists each step’s top values with people and share.

## From a path to a funnel {#funnel}

Next to a path in Top paths, or in the people panel for a step, click **Open as funnel**. A new funnel opens with those steps in order, up to 8. Nothing is saved until you click **Save funnel**. You can’t build a funnel from _Other_ or a drop-off, because they aren’t events.

## Sampling {#sampling}

When more than **20,000 people** did the anchor in the range, Flows follows a sample so the answer comes back quickly. The summary line says **sampled** and tells you how many people the flow follows.

- The sample is chosen by person ID, so it is the same people every time and results don’t jump around between refreshes.
- People counts come from the sample. Shares describe everyone.
- The people panel says _from the sampled flow_.

To follow everyone, narrow the date range, a source or a segment until fewer than 20,000 people did the anchor.

## Saving {#save}

The whole flow lives in the page address, so a link reopens it exactly. To keep it for the team, name it (it starts as _Untitled flow_) and click **Save**. **Save as new** makes a copy. Open saved flows from the **Saved flows** menu, where **New flow** starts fresh. Deleting a saved flow removes it for everyone. Links to it still open the flow they carry, unsaved.

## Tips and gotchas {#tips}

- **“Too many distinct steps to draw”?** Click **Group all pageviews**, or turn on Pageviews by path.
- **Same session is the strictest window.** For journeys that span days, such as sign-up then first project, use Within 24 hours or Within 7 days.
- **Before and Both** are how you answer “what leads to X?”.

## Recipes {#recipes}

### Which pages lead to sign-up?

1. Choose `Signed up` (or your sign-up event) as the anchor.
2. Set the direction to **Before** and **Steps** to 3.
3. Keep **Pageviews by path** on, and switch to **Table** › **Top paths**.

The top paths are the routes people take to sign up. Click **Open as funnel** on the most common one to measure how many people who start it finish.

### What do people do right after they see pricing?

1. Choose `$pageview` as the anchor and type `/pricing` in **Path**.
2. Keep the direction as **After** and the window as **Same session**.

A thick _Session ends_ band means many people leave from pricing. Select it to see who they are.

### What do new sign-ups do in their first day?

1. Anchor on `Signed up`, direction **After**, **Steps** 5.
2. Set the window to **Within 24 hours** and turn on **Hide pageviews** to see only actions.

## Related {#related}

- [Funnels](https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/funnels.md): Measure the path you found.
- [Filters, dates and comparisons](https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/filters.md)
- [People and profiles](https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/people.md): Follow one person through their path.
- [Recipes](https://clickclacks.io/docs/guides/recipes.md): More questions answered step by step.