Power Platform Community Forum Thread Details

Summary

Power Automate is powerful but unnecessarily difficult to use when building or debugging flows due to friction around accessing and reusing action outputs. A streamlined way to copy outputs from one action and insert them into subsequent actions would significantly improve developer productivity and reduce frustration.

Problem Description

Today, when building or debugging flows, it is common to:

Run a flow

Open a specific action card

Navigate to the Outputs tab (last tab)

Manually copy output text or JSON

Paste it into the next action and guess at the correct syntax

This workflow is slow, error-prone, and unintuitive—especially for complex expressions, JSON parsing, or dynamic content references.

As a result, users (including experienced engineers) can spend hours debugging syntax issues that stem from small mistakes when manually copying or reformatting outputs.

Key Pain Points

No easy way to reuse outputs from one step directly in the next step

Output copying requires multiple clicks and manual formatting

High likelihood of syntax errors when pasting JSON or expressions

Debugging experience is disconnected from flow authoring

The new AI helper is helpful but:
- Only works with a limited subset of cards
- Cannot consistently help with complex expressions or output transformations

Proposed Enhancements

1. “Copy Output as Expression” Action

Add a one-click option in the Outputs tab of an action:

Copy as Expression

Copy as JSON

Copy as Dynamic Content Reference

This would generate correct, ready-to-use syntax for downstream actions.

2. Output-to-Input Binding

Allow users to:

Right-click an output value

Select “Use in next action”

Automatically insert it into a selected field in another card

3. Inline Output Picker

When editing an input field:

Show recent outputs from previous steps

Allow search/filter by action name and property

Insert them without navigating away from the card

4. Expand AI Helper Coverage

Enable the AI helper across all action types

Allow it to understand flow history outputs

Let it suggest fixed expressions based on actual runtime outputs

Expected Benefits

Dramatically reduced debugging time

Fewer syntax and formatting errors

Improved developer confidence and adoption

More approachable experience for both new and advanced users

Stronger parity with modern low-code/no-code tooling expectations

Conclusion

Power Automate is extremely capable, but the current output reuse and debugging workflow creates unnecessary friction. Small UX enhancements—especially around copying and reusing outputs—would have an outsized positive impact on productivity and user satisfaction.

Thank you for considering this feedback.

If you want, I can: