# Flows
> Flows enable custom, event-driven data processing and task automation within Directus.
Flows enable custom, event-driven data processing and task automation within Directus. Each flow is composed of one trigger, a series of operations, and a data chain that is passed between each step.
Flows live in the **Flows** module in the module bar and are available to users with admin access. See [Manage Flows](/guides/flows/manage-flows) to organize, search, duplicate, import, and export them.
Flows run arbitrary code with elevated accountability. See [Security Best Practices](/guides/security/best-practices#flows) for guidance on restricting who can create, edit, or trigger them.
## Fields
- **Name (required)** — The displayed name of the Flow.
- **Status** — Sets the flow to active or inactive.
- **Icon** — Adds an icon to help quickly identify the flow.
- **Description** — Sets a brief verbal description of the flow.
- **Color** — Sets a color to help identify the flow.
- **Folder** — Shows which folder holds the flow on the Flows page. This is read-only. A new flow goes into whichever folder you have open when you create it, and you move it afterwards with **Move to Folder**. See [Manage Flows](/guides/flows/manage-flows#organize-flows-into-folders).
- **Activity and Logs Tracking** — Selects whether the flow should be tracked in both the [activity log](/guides/auth/accountability) and the flow's logs, only in the activity log, or neither.
## Logs
Accessible from the sidebar, logs store information for each flow execution. Each log will display information from
triggers as well as each operation in the flow.
Logs are not a 1:1 mapping to the data chain. Each trigger and operation gets its own dropdown, which stores its
relevant data. Here's what you'll get from each of these:
### Trigger
- **Options** — The values you input when you configured the trigger.
- **Payload** — Displays the data appended under `$trigger`, which includes the data passed into the flow itself.
- **Accountability** — Displays data appended under `$accountability`, which is a breakdown of the permissions and request information of the user that triggered that event.
Note that `$accountability` is not nested under the `$trigger` key. However, it is listed under the trigger in the log
because `$accountability` is generated by the trigger.
### ``
- **Options** — The values you input when you configured the operation.
*(These configuration options are not stored on the data chain)*.
- **Payload** — Displays the data appended under this ``.
**Logs are stored in the database**
Flows configured to tracks will store this information in the database, which may require occasionally deleting.
**Where is $last?**`$last` constantly updates to store the data of the most recently executed operation. Since the log shows the results of the entire flow, `$last` would only be the final
operation in the flow.