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AgentforceIntermediateagent-actionsflowapexdesign-patterns

When should you use Agent Actions vs Flow vs Apex for agent capabilities?

Real World Scenario

Your team is building an Agentforce agent that can check order status, create cases, and apply loyalty credits. Developers disagree on whether everything should be Flow-based or Apex invocable methods.

Expected Answer

• Agent Actions are the contract surface—each action should do one business operation with clear inputs/outputs • Use Flow for declarative orchestration, approval steps, and admin-maintainable logic with moderate complexity • Use Apex for bulk-safe integrations, complex validation, cryptographic operations, or performance-critical paths • Avoid embedding long-running callouts inside synchronous agent action paths—use async patterns • Standardize action naming, error payloads, and idempotency keys so agents can retry safely • Document which actions are read vs write and apply CRUD/FLS checks consistently • Prefer composable small actions over monolithic "do everything" actions that confuse LLM tool selection

Follow-Up Questions & Answers

Click to expand — each follow-up includes a direct, interview-ready answer

Direct answer: Agent Actions are the contract surface—each action should do one business operation with clear inputs/outputs Also consider: Use Flow for declarative orchestration, approval steps, and admin-maintainable logic with moderate complexity In practice: Use Apex for bulk-safe integrations, complex validation, cryptographic operations, or performance-critical paths Balance speed of delivery with maintainability.

Architect Perspective

Agents pick tools probabilistically. Smaller, well-described actions improve tool selection accuracy. The implementation behind an action can change (Flow to Apex) without retraining users if the action contract stays stable.