# Flow Open A Page Action > Use when a Screen Flow needs to send the user to another page — the native Open a Page action (Summer '26) that opens a Salesforce record or an external URL directly from a flow. NOT for launching or embedding a flow — use flow/screen-flows. NOT for a custom navigation LWC — use flow/flow-screen-lwc-components. - Skill: `pranavnagrecha/flow-open-a-page-action` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 7 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add pranavnagrecha/flow-open-a-page-action` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/pranavnagrecha/flow-open-a-page-action/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: PranavNagrecha (https://skillmd.com/u/pranavnagrecha) - Updated: 2026-09-08 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/pranavnagrecha/flow-open-a-page-action --- # Flow Open A Page Action This skill activates when a Screen Flow needs to move the user to another page — most often to the record it just created or updated, or to an external URL. Salesforce shipped a native **Open a Page** action in the Summer '26 release (release note: *"Simplify the User Workflow with the Open a Page Action"*) so this common navigation no longer requires a custom Lightning web component, a Redirect local action, or a URL hack. Use it to design that navigation, or to migrate an existing homegrown redirect onto the supported action. --- ## Before Starting Gather this context before working on anything in this domain: - **Confirm it's a Screen Flow.** Open a Page is introduced as a **Screen Flow** action ("Screen Flows now support the new Open a Page action"). Navigation needs a running UI surface to act on, so an autolaunched, record-triggered, scheduled, or platform-event flow has nowhere to send the user. If the requirement is "after this automation, send the user somewhere," the automation must ultimately run inside a Screen Flow the user is interacting with. - **Know the two destinations.** The action opens either a **Salesforce record** or an **external web page (URL)**. Decide which you need and where the target value comes from — a record variable/`recordId` for the former, a text/URL resource for the latter. - **Decide where the page should open.** The action exposes a **Where to Open Page** input that controls the open location. Nail this down with the requester: opening in a new browser tab behaves very differently from replacing the current view. - **Maturity and verification status (read this).** The Summer '26 release-note title for this action carries no "(Beta)" or "(Pilot)" label — unlike some sibling Summer '26 features that are explicitly stamped "(Generally Available)" — but the retrievable official pages did **not** state a GA/Beta/Pilot maturity for this action, and the full Help reference article renders only as a client-side app shell to automated fetchers. **Do not assert a GA/Beta/Pilot status this action's release notes don't state.** Before you lock a build, open the action in Flow Builder (or read its in-product help panel) in a Summer '26 org to confirm the **exact input labels, the available Where to Open Page options, and edition/license availability** — those specifics are not fully pinned by a citable official quote here. --- ## Core Concepts ### The action: a supported replacement for redirect hacks Before Summer '26, "when this Screen Flow finishes, take the user to the new record" had no first-class control. Admins reached for one of three workarounds, all of which this action is meant to retire: - a **custom LWC** screen component calling `NavigationMixin` / `lightning/navigation`, - the **Redirect Flow Users with a Local Action** pattern (the `c:navigateToUrl` / `force:navigateToURL` local action), or - a **retURL URL hack** — customizing the flow's finish URL so the runtime lands somewhere specific. The Open a Page action packages the common cases (open a record, open a URL) as a configurable, clicks-not-code action, so the flow's navigation is declarative metadata instead of a component or a URL string that breaks on the next runtime change. ### The two navigation targets | Target | What it opens | Typical source of the value | |---|---|---| | Salesforce record | The record's page (its default view) | A record variable / `recordId` produced earlier in the flow | | External web page | An arbitrary URL | A text/formula resource holding the URL | When it opens a record, you choose **View** or **Edit** mode via the action's **View Mode** input; either way the user lands on the record's main page — there is no built-in way to target a specific related list / related tab. (A live IdeaExchange request, *"Provision to navigate to a related tab from Open a Page action in Flow,"* exists precisely because the shipped action opens the record's main page, not a chosen tab.) ### The "Where to Open Page" input `Where to Open Page` is the input that controls **how/where** the page opens. Treat it as the highest-risk configuration choice, because it changes whether the flow "hands off" the user or opens the page alongside where they are. Two documented constraints frame it: - There is currently **no "Current Page" option** — a live IdeaExchange request, *"Open a Page Flow Action - Add 'Current Page' as Where to Open Page Option,"* asks Salesforce to add one. So you cannot (yet) tell the action to reuse/refresh the exact page the user is on. - The exact set of open-location option labels is not pinned by a citable official quote in this skill's sources — **confirm them in Flow Builder** before you promise a specific behavior (e.g. "opens in a new tab"). ### Navigation is not the flow's finish behavior The Open a Page action is a step you place **inside** the flow's canvas, distinct from the older *finish behavior* mechanisms ("Understanding When a Screen Flow Finishes," the retURL customization). Because it's an action, you can branch to it, run it conditionally, or place it before a final screen — you are not limited to what happens only when the interview completes. --- ## Common Patterns ### Post-create redirect to the new record **When to use:** a Screen Flow creates a record (Case, Opportunity, custom object) and the user should land on that record immediately afterward. **How it works:** Create Records → store the new `recordId` → add an **Open a Page** action, set the target to that record, and set **Where to Open Page** to the location the user expects. Place it after the Create so the Id exists. **Why not the alternative:** a custom `NavigationMixin` LWC works but is code you now own, test, and version; the native action is declarative and upgrade-safe. ### Open an external URL from a screen **When to use:** the flow must send the user to an external system (a payment page, a partner portal, a document) using a URL the flow computed or fetched. **How it works:** build the URL in a text/formula resource, then point an Open a Page action's target at it as an external web page and choose the open location. **Why not the alternative:** the `force:navigateToURL` local action / retURL hack still works, but it's undocumented-feeling glue; the action is the supported path and keeps the URL logic in a named resource. ### Migrate a legacy redirect onto the native action **When to use:** you find an existing Screen Flow that redirects via a custom LWC, a `navigateToUrl` local action, or a retURL formula. **How it works:** confirm the flow is a Screen Flow, drop in an Open a Page action pointing at the same record/URL, verify the open location matches the old behavior, then remove the custom component/local action/URL hack and its now-dead variables. **Why not the alternative:** keeping the homegrown redirect means maintaining code or a fragile URL string that the native action already covers. --- ## Decision Guidance | Situation | Recommended Approach | Reason | |---|---|---| | Screen Flow should open a record or URL for the user | Native **Open a Page** action | Supported, declarative, no code to maintain | | Need to land the user on a **specific related tab** of a record | Not available in the action today | It opens the record's default view (see IdeaExchange) — use a targeted URL/custom component if the related tab is mandatory | | Need to **reuse/refresh the current page** (same view) | Not available today (no "Current Page" option) | Where to Open Page has no current-page option yet (IdeaExchange) — verify options in-org | | Navigation needed from an autolaunched / record-triggered flow | Redesign so a **Screen Flow** owns the hand-off | Open a Page is a Screen Flow action; background flows have no UI to navigate | | Rich, conditional, or reactive in-screen navigation UX | Custom LWC screen component (`NavigationMixin`) | The action covers common cases, not bespoke component behavior — see `flow/flow-screen-lwc-components` | | Only need behavior when the interview **finishes** | Native action late in the flow, or documented finish-behavior | The action can run mid-flow; finish-URL/retURL only fires at completion | --- ## Recommended Workflow 1. **Confirm the surface.** Verify the flow is (or will be) a Screen Flow the user actively runs. If the trigger is background automation, redesign so a Screen Flow owns the navigation — the action can't fire without a UI. 2. **Pin the target.** Decide record vs. external URL, and make sure the value exists at that point in the flow (e.g. the record Id is populated after a Create). Store URLs in a named text/formula resource. 3. **Choose the open location.** Set **Where to Open Page** deliberately, and open the action in Flow Builder to read the actual option labels for your org — do not assume a "current page" / same-tab option exists. 4. **Place and (optionally) branch the action.** Add the Open a Page action where the navigation should occur; use a Decision before it if navigation is conditional. 5. **Retire any legacy redirect.** If you're migrating, remove the custom LWC / `navigateToUrl` local action / retURL formula and delete the variables it required, so two mechanisms don't fight. 6. **Validate against org constraints.** Test the record-access behavior (below), the open location on each surface the flow runs, and confirm the maturity/edition assumptions in a real Summer '26 org before promoting. --- ## Review Checklist Run through these before marking work in this area complete: - [ ] The flow is a Screen Flow (it has screens); the action isn't sitting in a background flow that can't navigate - [ ] The navigation target (record Id or URL) is guaranteed to be populated at the point the action runs - [ ] **Where to Open Page** is set intentionally and its behavior was confirmed against the action's in-Builder options, not assumed - [ ] Record-access reality is tested: navigating a user to a record they can't see shows an insufficient-access page, not the data - [ ] Any legacy redirect (custom LWC / local action / retURL) being replaced is fully removed, along with its dead variables - [ ] No GA/Beta/Pilot maturity claim is made that the action's release notes don't state - [ ] The open location was verified on every surface the flow runs (desktop, and any Experience Cloud / mobile / console context) --- ## Salesforce-Specific Gotchas Non-obvious platform behaviors that cause real production problems: 1. **It's a Screen Flow action, not a universal navigator** — dropping the intent into an autolaunched or record-triggered flow gives the user nowhere to go; navigation requires a Screen Flow the user is running. 2. **It opens the record's default view only** — you can't target a specific related list / related tab, so "take them straight to the Contacts tab" is not achievable with the action alone (live IdeaExchange request). 3. **No "Current Page" open option (yet)** — Where to Open Page has no option to reuse the exact current page, so you can't declaratively "just refresh where the user already is" (live IdeaExchange request); verify the actual option set in Flow Builder. 4. **Navigation doesn't override record access** — opening a record only routes the browser; the record page still enforces sharing/FLS, so a user sent to a record they can't see gets an insufficient-access screen. Don't treat the action as a way to expose data. 5. **Maturity/edition specifics aren't fully pinned here** — the retrievable official pages didn't state GA/Beta/Pilot or edition availability for this action, and the Help reference renders as an app shell to fetchers; confirm in a Summer '26 org before committing. --- ## Output Artifacts | Artifact | Description | |---|---| | Configured Open a Page action | A Screen Flow action set to open a record/URL with a deliberate Where to Open Page value | | Navigation-design recommendation | Native action vs. custom LWC vs. finish behavior, with the reason from Decision Guidance | | Legacy-redirect migration plan | Steps to replace a custom LWC / `navigateToUrl` local action / retURL hack and remove dead variables | | `scripts/check_flow_open_a_page_action.py` output | Heuristic scan of Flow metadata flagging navigation in non-screen flows and legacy-redirect migration candidates | --- ## Related Skills - `flow/screen-flows` — designing the Screen Flow itself (screens, navigation, validation, finish behavior) that this action lives inside. - `flow/flow-screen-lwc-components` — the custom `NavigationMixin` screen component this action replaces for common cases; use it when you need bespoke or reactive navigation the action can't express. - `flow/flow-for-experience-cloud` — runtime-surface differences and guest/external-user data-access safety to verify before relying on the action in an Experience site. - `flow/flow-runtime-context-and-sharing` — the sharing/FLS boundary that still governs whether the user can actually see the record you navigate them to.