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Creating flows

A flow is the heart of Hop — the guided experience people complete in WhatsApp. There are two ways to create one, and you can move between them.

Option 1 — Build in the Flow Builder​

The Flow Builder lets you assemble a flow visually:

  1. Create a new flow and give it a name.
  2. Add screens — each screen is one step the person sees.
  3. Add components to each screen — text inputs, single- and multi-select choices, dates, and display-only notes.
  4. Set up routing between screens, including any conditional paths.
  5. Preview the flow to check how it reads end to end.

Option 2 — Import from an XLSForm​

If you'd rather author in a spreadsheet, build your flow as an XLSForm and import the .xlsx into the Flow Builder. Hop converts the sheet into screens and components, which you can then refine.

This is a great fit when you:

  • already work with XLSForms,
  • want to manage a larger flow as a single file, or
  • prefer to draft questions in a spreadsheet first.

:::tip Keep your source file After importing, Hop keeps the original .xlsx with the flow — so you can download it, edit it, and re-upload a revised version without starting over. :::

Publishing​

Once a flow is ready, publish it. Publishing makes the flow live so it can be reached by people — typically through a short code.

Collecting responses​

As people complete your flow, Hop records their answers as structured data. You can review responses in Hop and export them for analysis.

:::note Walkthrough coming soon Step-by-step Flow Builder and publishing screenshots will be added here. :::

👉 Next: Short codes — give your flow an entry point.