Your First Function

What we'll build

A button on the Lead record that, when clicked, sets that lead's Status to Qualified — instantly, with one click, no edit screen.

It's the smallest useful function there is, and it exercises the four moves you'll repeat in almost every function you ever build:

Receive an id → read the record → change a value → write it back. Master that loop and you can build most of a CRM.

Declare your intent

Good builders say out loud what they're about to make before placing a single node. It takes ten seconds and prevents most mistakes.

The shape of an intent statement is always the same:

INTENT: This is a layout_button function that
        marks a Lead as Qualified.
Receives: recordId (text) — the id of the clicked Lead.
Returns:  nothing — it just updates the record.

That one sentence already told us three decisions:

• The call context is layout_button — it's a button action (the Zero Rule from Module 01).
• Its input is recordId, a text value the button will hand us.
• There's no output — the result is the saved record itself.

Create the function & define the input

Open a fresh board and tell it two things: what to call the function, and what data it receives.

1. Open a new function

   Go to the Functions area and create a new function. Name it something clear like mark_lead_qualified. (Function names that are wired to buttons carry an __fx suffix under the hood — the platform manages that for you.)

2. Set the call context to layout_button

   This is the single most important choice. It tells the platform the function will be launched from a button and will receive a record id.

3. Declare the input parameter

   Open the Variables panel and add the input the button will pass:

   

Load the Lead

The button gives us an id, but to change a field we need the whole record. That's a query node.

1. Add a query node after start

   Drag from the start node's output (the yellow dot) onto the canvas and choose query. Set its object to Lead.

2. List the fields you need — explicitly

   Queries don't use a wildcard. Name the fields you'll touch: _id, name, status. (For a lookup field you'd use its dotted form, e.g. owner__m._id.)

3. Filter to the clicked record

   Add one condition: _id Equal recordId. Because we want exactly one record, set the take mode to first and store the result in your lead variable.

Change the status, then save it

Two nodes finish the job: an assignment to change the value in memory, and an update to persist it.

1. Assignment: set the status

   Add an assignment node. Target lead.status, value Qualified — a plain literal (no quotes-as-variable, no formula:true). Literals are values typed exactly as written; variables are names that resolve to data.

2. Update: write it back

   Add an update node. Object: Lead; record variable: lead. Since it's a single record, leave the list option off.

Save, compile & test

Your flow reads start → query → assignment → update. Time to make it live and prove it works.

1. Press Save to compile

   Hit Save. The platform compiles the flow — and compiling is activating. If anything's incomplete (a missing field, a half-finished condition), the compiler tells you exactly where. Fix and Save again.

2. Test it from the board

   Open the Test panel, supply a real Lead's recordId, and run. Watch the flow execute and confirm the lead comes back with Status = Qualified. Testing here means you never ship a broken button.

3. Wire it to a button

   On the Lead layout, add a button whose action type is function, pointing at mark_lead_qualified and passing the record's id as recordId. Open any Lead, click your button — done. (Button wiring in depth is Module 06.)

Earn the First Build stamp

Five questions on what you just built.