If you’re just getting started with Power Automate, there’s a handful of things worth picking up early that’ll save you frustration and help you build confidence quicker. These tips aren’t exhaustive, and they’re not hard rules—but they’re the kind of things I wish I’d known when I was learning.

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1. Start with templates—but don’t stay there

The gallery’s full of great templates—approval emails, file monitoring, Teams alerts.
Tip: Pick one, run it, then break it. Change a filter, add a condition, tweak actions. Learn what each connector really does.

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2. Use Compose as your debug buddy

Everything you get from a trigger or action? Stick it in a Compose step.
Why? You can peek at what you’re working with. Pull a sample run, expand the Compose, look at the JSON, and figure out how to reference it properly later.

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3. Learn to reference manual dynamic content

At some point you’re going to run in to a situation where the dynamic content menu doesn’t show your field, in that situation you’re going to need to learn this. If you want to learn early do this:

1. Add a Compose action.
2. Put your JSON expression in manually, like:
   • outputs('MyAction')?['body']['someField']
3. Save your flow.
4. Later, when edit mode comes back, that manual expression will show up in the dynamic picker.

This trick is essential when working with JSON arrays, HTTP calls, or dynamic table names and also lets you use outputs from actions that aren’t available via the dynamic content menu. If you want to learn a bit more I wrote a post about using this to resolve issues with a dynamically selected excel table

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4. Wrap logical sections in Scope

As your flow grows:

• Segment it: Get Data, Process Data, Notify.
• Collapse Scopes—less noise, more focus.
• Name them clearly—so when you revisit in six months, it just makes sense.

And here’s the real kicker:
When you get into proper error handling, Scopes become your try/catch. You’ll run your main logic in one Scope, and handle failures (logging, alerts, retries) in another. Once you’ve got this habit early, it’s much easier to build resilient flows later.

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5. Use Flow Checker + Monitor like a debugger

Flow Checker flags mistakes before you run.
Once it runs, open Flow Run history—step through each action, check variable contents, and find where things actually go wrong.

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💡 Example—your first diagnostic flow

1. Trigger: e.g. “When an item is created or modified” from SharePoint
2. Compose: Add a compose step and select body from the dynamic content menu.
3. Run a test. Inspect Compose outputs to see what fields are there.
4. Copy its JSON path. Paste it into another Compose using manual dynamic reference.
5. Put everything in labeled Scopes.
6. Run again. Debug with Flow run history and fix what breaks.

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✅ Next steps

Once you’re comfortable:

• Inject expressions: formatDateTime(), concat(), etc.
• Add error-handling and retry logic.
• Touch on more advanced concepts: secure inputs/outputs, environment variables, even calling external APIs via HTTP with Entra ID.

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TL;DR

• Start smart: use and modify templates.
• Debug with Compose.
• Master manual referencing—it’s a superpower for hidden or nested data.
• Structure flows with Scopes.
• Debug like a pro using Checker + Flow Run History.