Salesforce Platform Flow: Understanding Running User for Scheduled Flows

Explains the running user for Schedule-Triggered Flows and provides instructions on how to configure debug logs for troubleshooting errors such as "Apex CPU time limit exceeded."

Schedule-Triggered Flow: A type of platform flow that runs automatically at specified times and frequencies without user interaction. It starts at the scheduled time and processes records in batches. The flow operates in the background and cannot be launched manually.

Running User: The user context under which a flow executes. This determines the flow's access to Salesforce data, including record access and field visibility. The running user's permissions, profiles, and sharing rules impact what the flow can do. For example, if the running user lacks edit permissions for a record, the flow will fail to update it.

When a scheduled flow runs nightly to update records, it executes under the context of the last user who modified the flow, not the record owner. This means the flow's access to records is limited by the permissions and visibility of the modifying user. For instance, if the modifying user lacks access to certain records, the flow will not be able to process those records.