Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow) allows you to automate business processes across SharePoint Online, Office 365, and other services. With PnP PowerShell, you can trigger Power Automate flows programmatically, making it useful for bulk processing, scheduled tasks, and integrations.
This guide will walk you through step-by-step how to trigger a Power Automate flow using PnP PowerShell.
Step 1: Install and Connect to SharePoint Online
Before running any PnP PowerShell commands, install PnP PowerShell:
Install-Module -Name PnP.PowerShell -Scope CurrentUser -Force
Then, connect to your SharePoint Online site:
$SiteUrl = "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/yoursite"
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteUrl -Interactive
🔹 Replace yourtenant with your tenant name
🔹 Replace yoursite with your SharePoint site name
Successfully connected to SharePoint!
Step 2: Get Available Power Automate Flows
To check all available Power Automate flows, use:
Get-PnPFlow
This will list all flows associated with your tenant or SharePoint site.
Flows retrieved!
Step 3: Get the Flow ID
To trigger a specific flow, you need its Flow ID. Run:
Get-PnPFlow | Select DisplayName, Id
This will return a list like:
DisplayName Id
------------ ------------------------------------
Approval Workflow 123abc45-6789-def0-gh12-345678ijklmn
Document Review Process 789xyz12-3456-abcd-ef78-90123ghijkl
Copy the ID of the flow you want to trigger.
Flow ID obtained!
Step 4: Trigger the Power Automate Flow
Now, trigger the flow using Invoke-PnPFlow:
$FlowId = "123abc45-6789-def0-gh12-345678ijklmn" # Replace with your flow's ID
Invoke-PnPFlow -Identity $FlowId
Flow successfully triggered!
Step 5: Trigger a Flow with Parameters (Advanced)
Some flows require input parameters, like an approval request or a document URL.
Use the Parameters option:
$FlowId = "123abc45-6789-def0-gh12-345678ijklmn"
$Params = @{
"Requester" = "user@domain.com"
"DocumentURL" = "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/yoursite/Shared Documents/sample.docx"
}
Invoke-PnPFlow -Identity $FlowId -Parameters $Params
Flow triggered with parameters!
Step 6: Trigger a Flow on a SharePoint List Item
If your flow is linked to a SharePoint list, trigger it when a new item is added:
$ListName = "ApprovalRequests"
$ItemId = 1 # Replace with actual list item ID
Invoke-PnPFlow -List $ListName -Identity $FlowId -ItemId $ItemId
Flow triggered for List Item ID 1!
Step 7: Automate Flow Execution with Task Scheduler
To trigger the flow automatically every day, create a PowerShell script:
$SiteUrl = "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/yoursite"
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteUrl -Interactive
$FlowId = "123abc45-6789-def0-gh12-345678ijklmn"
Invoke-PnPFlow -Identity $FlowId
Write-Host "Flow triggered successfully!"
Schedule the script:
1️⃣ Save this script as TriggerFlow.ps1
2️⃣ Open Task Scheduler
3️⃣ Create a new Basic Task
4️⃣ Set it to run daily or at specific intervals
5️⃣ In the Action, select Start a Program and enter:
powershell.exe -File "C:\Path\To\TriggerFlow.ps1"
6️⃣ Click Finish
Flow will now trigger automatically!
Step 8: Monitor Flow Execution
To check flow execution logs:
Get-PnPFlowRun -Identity $FlowId
Execution logs retrieved!
Step 9: Managing Power Automate Flows using PnP PowerShell
List all Flows
Get-PnPFlow
Enable or Disable a Flow
Set-PnPFlowState -Identity $FlowId -State Disabled # Disable the flow
Set-PnPFlowState -Identity $FlowId -State Enabled # Enable the flow
Delete a Flow
Remove-PnPFlow -Identity $FlowId
Flow management simplified!