| name | power-automate-desktop |
| description | Author Microsoft Power Automate desktop (RPA) flows -- attended and unattended robotic process automation that drives UI, browsers, files, and Excel -- so an agent can design the action sequence, variables, error handling, and cloud-flow trigger wiring. Covers when RPA is appropriate versus API/connector automation and the desktop-flow execution model. |
| metadata | {"author":"AgentX","version":"1.0.0","created":"2026-05-30"} |
| compatibility | {"surfaces":["low-code-builder","agent-x","engineer"],"platforms":["power-platform","power-automate-desktop","rpa"]} |
Power Automate Desktop (RPA)
Purpose: design Power Automate desktop flows that automate UI-driven work no API exposes -- the automation of last resort -- with robust selectors, variables, and error handling.
When to Use (RPA Is a Last Resort)
Use a desktop flow only when there is no connector, API, or cloud flow that can do the job:
- Driving a legacy desktop app or a website with no API
- Screen-scraping or form-filling a system you cannot change
Always prefer, in order: native connector -> custom connector over a documented API -> HTTP action -> desktop flow (RPA). RPA is brittle (UI changes break selectors) and needs a machine/runtime -- only choose it when nothing higher wins.
Attended vs Unattended
| Attended | Unattended |
|---|
| Runs | With a signed-in user watching | On a machine with no interactive user |
| Trigger | User starts it, or a cloud flow | Scheduled / cloud-flow, queued on a machine group |
| Use for | Human-in-the-loop, desktop apps the user owns | Lights-out batch processing |
Flow Structure (Designer Model)
A desktop flow is an ordered list of actions grouped into optional subflows, operating on variables.
Main (subflow)
1. Set variable NewVar = %FormInput%
2. Launch browser (or Run application)
3. Populate text field on window (UI element selector)
4. Click UI element
5. If <condition> ... Else ... End
6. Loop / For each %item% in %list%
7. On block error -> retry / continue / go to label
- UI elements / selectors: captured per target window/control; the most fragile part. Prefer stable attributes (id, name, accessible role) over screen coordinates and ordinal indexes.
- Variables:
%VarName% syntax; typed at runtime (text, number, list, datatable, custom object).
- Excel / file / data actions: first-class actions for spreadsheets, CSV, folders -- prefer these over UI automation of Office where possible.
Error Handling
- Wrap fragile UI actions in On block error with retry counts and a fallback path.
- Set per-action timeouts; do not let a missing window hang the run.
- Capture a screenshot + log on failure for unattended diagnosis.
Cloud Flow Integration
Desktop flows are invoked from a cloud flow via the "Run a flow built with Power Automate for desktop" action: the cloud flow passes inputs, the desktop flow runs on a machine/machine-group, and returns outputs. This is how RPA participates in an end-to-end automation (trigger in Dataverse/Teams -> cloud flow -> desktop flow -> result back).
Anti-Patterns
- Choosing RPA when an API/connector exists -- accept brittleness only when unavoidable.
- Coordinate-based clicks / ordinal selectors -- break on resolution, theme, or layout change.
- Hardcoded credentials in the flow -- use the credential store / environment variables / Key Vault.
- No error handling on UI actions -- one moved button fails the whole unattended run silently.
- Long unattended runs with no logging/screenshots -- undebuggable failures.
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