Skip to content

Attached Flow

The Flow attachment feature removes the need to duplicate functionality across Cognigy.AI agent Flows. Flows can simply be Attached to each other, in order to recognize the intents built in other locations.

Flow functionality is shared between Flows by making their Intents available in the other Flow. If the Intent of the attached Flow is scored highest, the attached Flow is executed instead of the main Flow.

In order to attach a flow, the Flow with the shared functionality must first be written to populate the Attached Flows list.

Build and refactor Flows in a modular fashion

As a best practice, we recommend keeping your Flow size small. Refactor often and use a modular approach for clear, maintainable, and effective Flows.

Note you can copy, cut & paste nodes and sub-trees also between Flows. Making it easy to, for example, cut sub-trees from a large Flow and distribute the logic to smaller attached Flows.

Intent Inheritance

As described above, the Intents of the Attached Flow are added to the list of Intents on the Main Flow. Then, during Intent mapping, the attached Intents are scored together with the Main Intents.

Beware of Overlapping Intents

Cognigy small-talk Flows, and any other Attached Flow, may contain Overlapping Intents. You must ensure Intents across all attached Flows are distinct.

The order in which the Intents are scored is determined by the Map global Intents first setting in Agent Settings.

If the intents scored first get a score of 1.0 (the highest match), then the other intents are not evaluated.

Map global Intents first Effect Result
false Intents in the Main Flow are scored first If Intents in the Main Flow score the same or higher than Intents in Attached Flows, Intents in the Main Flow win.
true Intents in Attached Flows are scored first If Intents in Attached Flows score the same or higher than Intents in the Main Flow, Intents in Attached Flows win.

Managing Attached Flows

Accessing the Attachment Menu

From the flow editor, select the NLU tab in the top menu and then select the Attachments sub-tab to open the Attachments menu.

Attach a Flow

Flows are attached by clicking the flow in the list which enables the attachment toggle.

Train Intents when Attaching

The NLU must be re-trained anytime a new flow or lexicon is attached.

Sorting Flow Intent Mapping

You can sort the Intent mapping of available Flows as follows:

  1. Click the Sort button next to the Attach button at the top of the flow list. The view will switch to Sort mode.
  2. Sort attached Flows by dragging and dropping Flows into the desired order