---
title: "Manage flows"
url: "https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/data-management/flows/"
last_modified: "2025-08-12T13:09:37+02:00"
---

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/llms.txt).

# Manage flows

## Create flow

To create a new flow, open the AxoConsole, then complete the following steps:

1. Select **Flows**.
2. Select **Add Flow > Flow**.

   To create a [fallback flow](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/data-management/flows/index.md#fallback-flow), select **Add Flow > Fallback flow**.

   ![Add flow](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/img/data-management/flow-management/flows/add-flow_hu_b0bc761c3d64964d.webp)
3. Enter a name for the flow, for example, `my-test-flow`.

   ![Create a flow](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/img/data-management/flow-management/flows/create-flow_hu_db9a84c9273151ca.webp)
4. In the **Router Selector** field, enter an expression that matches the router(s) you want to apply the flow. To select a specific router, use a name selector, for example, `name = my-axorouter-hostname`.

   You can use any labels and metadata of the AxoRouter hosts in the Router selectors, for example, the hostname of the AxoRouter, or any [custom labels](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/onboard-hosts/hosts/add-host-metadata/index.md).

   - If you leave the **Router Selector** field empty, the selector will match every AxoRouter instance.
   - To select only a specific AxoRouter instance, set the `name` field to the name of the instance as selector. For example, `name = my-axorouter`.
   - If you set multiple fields in the selector, the selector will match only AxoRouter instances that match all elements of the selector. (There in an AND relationship between the fields.)
   > **Note:**
   > You can configure multiple fallback flows, but only one fallback flow can apply to an AxoRouter (so the **Router Selector** of the fallback flows can’t overlap).
5. Select the **Destination** where you want to send your data. If you don’t have any destination configured, you can select **+ Add** in the destination section to create a new destination now. For details on the different destinations, see [Destinations](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/destinations/index.md).

   - If you don’t have any destination configured, see [Destinations](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/destinations/index.md).
   - If you’ve already created a [store](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/destinations/axostore/index.md), it automatically available as a destination. Note that the **Router Selector** of the flow must match only AxoRouters that have the selected store available, otherwise you’ll get an error message.
   - If you want to send data to another AxoRouter, enable the **Show all destinations** option, and select the connector of the AxoRouter where you want to send the data.

   ![AxoRouter as destination](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/img/data-management/flow-management/flows/axorouter-destination_hu_c11daee159de2107.webp)
6. (Optional) To process the data transferred in the flow, select **Add New Processing Step**. For details, see [Processing steps](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/data-management/processing/index.md). For example:

   1. Add a **Classify**, a **Parse**, and a **Reduce** step, in that order, to automatically remove redundant and empty fields from your data.
   2. To select which messages are processed by the flow, add a **Select Messages** step, and enter a filter into the **AQL Expression** field. For example, to select only the messages received from Fortinet FortiGate firewalls, use the `meta.vendor = fortinet AND meta.product = fortigate` query.
   3. **Save** the processing steps.

   ![Example processing steps](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/img/data-management/flow-management/flows/processing/example-processing-steps_hu_703b7f69b8d89f50.webp)
7. Select **Add**.
8. The new flow appears in the **Flows** list.

   ![The new flow](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/img/data-management/flow-management/flows/new-flow_hu_370d091411bf3803.webp)

## Disable flow

You can disable a flow without deleting it if needed by clicking the toggle on the right of the flow name.

**CAUTION:**

Disabling a flow immediately stops log forwarding for the flow. Any data that’s not forwarded using another flow can be irrevocably lost.

![Disable flow](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/img/data-management/flow-management/flows/disable-flow_hu_7ebcab96b731c62b.webp)