#PowerPlatformTip 122 – ‘Track Flow Progress in PowerApps’

💡 Challenge

You want to monitor the progress of a flow (Power Automate) that you started from a PowerApp. Unfortunately, Power Automate doesn’t support updating the status directly in PowerApps using the “Respond to PowerApps” action multiple times. So how can you track the flow’s progress within your app?

✅ Solution

Use a StateLog table to record each milestone of your flow and employ a timer in your PowerApp to poll the StateLog for real-time progress updates.

🔧 How It’s Done

Here’s how to do it:

1. Set Up StateLog Table
   🔸 Create a Dataverse table (StateLog) with fields for Status, Timestamp, and FlowID.
   🔸 Grant Power Automate and PowerApps necessary permissions to read/write entries.
2. Create Flow
   🔸 Add actions in your flow to write milestone entries to the StateLog.
   🔸 Use “Add a new row” or “Update a row” at each important step.
3. Implement in PowerApp and Display Progress
   🔸 Add a gallery or label in your app bound to StateLog entries filtered by FlowID.
   🔸 Insert a Timer control to refresh the data every few seconds for live updates.

🎉 Result

By setting up the StateLog and regularly polling it with a timer, you can see live updates of each flow milestone directly within PowerApps, improving transparency and user experience.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Real-time monitoring of flow progress
🔸 Flexible display options in PowerApps (text, icons, gauges)
🔸 Improved user engagement and transparency

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🎥 Video Tutorial

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🛠️ FAQ

1. How do I set up the StateLog table?
To set up the StateLog, create a Dataverse (or SharePoint) table with fields like Status, Timestamp, and FlowID. Ensure your flow and app both have permissions to read and write entries.

2. What polling interval should I use for the timer in PowerApps?
A polling interval of 1–5 seconds strikes a good balance between real-time feedback and performance. Adjust based on app complexity to avoid excessive API calls.

3. Can I monitor multiple flows concurrently?
Yes. Include a unique FlowID in each StateLog entry and filter your PowerApp controls by FlowID to track multiple flows in parallel.