When to use a Subflow?

[stvngunn]

Hey everyone, this might be a stupid question, but when is it best to use a subflow? I’m new to Gumloop and haven’t used one yet, but was wondering when you know to add one to a flow. Thank you.

[Gumloop_Bot]

Hey @stvngunn! If you’re reporting an issue with a flow or an error in a run, please include the run link and make sure it’s shareable so we can take a look.

1. Find your run link on the history page. Format: https://www.gumloop.com/pipeline?run_id={your_run_id}&workbook_id={workbook_id}

2. Make it shareable by clicking “Share” → ‘Anyone with the link can view’ in the top-left corner of the flow screen.
   

3. Provide details about the issue—more context helps us troubleshoot faster.

You can find your run history here: https://www.gumloop.com/history

[Wasay-Gumloop]

Hey @stvngunn - this is a great question! Subflows are one of Gumloop’s most powerful features, and knowing when to use them can really level up your workflow building.

When to Use Subflows

There are three main situations where subflows really shine:

1. When Your Flow Gets Too Complex
If your canvas is getting crowded with many nodes that serve a specific purpose, consider grouping them into a subflow. This keeps your main flow clean and easier to understand—similar to how functions help organize code.
For example, if you have 10+ nodes just to process website data, moving that logic into a subflow labeled “Process Website” keeps your main flow much more readable.

2. For Repetitive Operations (Looping)
Subflows are perfect when you need to perform the same set of operations on multiple items. Build a subflow that handles a single item perfectly, then use it in Loop Mode to process many.
Say you’re analyzing 100 company websites—create a subflow that processes one website, then loop it over your URL list.
Bonus: you can wrap the subflow in an error shield, so if anything fails during the loop, it’ll safely skip that item and keep going.

3. For Multi-level Processing (Nested Loops)
When working with nested data structures (like reports > orders > line items), subflows let you build multi-layered automation:

• One flow processes the full report
• A nested subflow handles each order
• A third-level subflow processes each line item

It works just like nested for-loops in programming.

You can check out a video tutorial here.

And if you’re looking for inspiration, I’d recommend browsing the template library to see how other flows are structured.

[stvngunn]

Thank you for the detailed response @Wasay-Gumloop, much appreciated.

[Wasay-Gumloop]

No problem!