#PowerPlatformTip 122: ‘Track Flow Progress in PowerApps’

TL;DR: Track a running Power Automate flow inside Power Apps by logging status to a StateLog table and polling it with a timer.

💡 Challenge

You started a Power Automate flow from a Power App and want to show its live progress back in the app. But “Respond to a PowerApp or flow” can only return once, so you can’t push multiple status updates back while the flow keeps running.

✅ Solution

Log the flow’s progress to a StateLog table (Dataverse or SharePoint) as it runs, then use a Timer control in Power Apps to poll that table and display the latest status in real time.

🔧 How It’s Done

1. Create a StateLog table

🔸 Add a Dataverse or SharePoint table with columns like Status, Timestamp and FlowID.

2. Write progress from the flow

🔸 At each meaningful step, add or update a StateLog row with the current status and the run’s unique FlowID.

3. Poll from Power Apps with a Timer

🔸 Add a Timer control (e.g. a 1-5 second interval) that refreshes the StateLog and reads the latest entry for the current FlowID.

4. Show the status in the UI

🔸 Bind a label or progress indicator to the latest status so users see live updates while the flow runs.

🎉 Result

Users watch the flow’s progress update live inside the Power App, from “Started” through to “Completed”, instead of waiting blindly for a single response.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Real-time visibility into long-running flows

🔸 Works for multiple concurrent flows via a unique FlowID

🔸 Uses standard Dataverse/SharePoint plus a Timer, no premium requirement

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🛠️ FAQ

1. How do I set up the StateLog table? Create a Dataverse (or SharePoint) table with fields like Status, Timestamp, and FlowID. Make sure 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 1-5 second interval 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 Power Apps controls by FlowID to track multiple flows in parallel.

🔗 Related Tips

• #PowerPlatformTip 79: Retrieve Record Details Post-Update, read back data right after a flow writes it.
• #PowerPlatformTip 109: Use Timeout, control timing in long-running flows.