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Use Prompt Templates to extract and automate data from files

Insights & Updates from the Cloudastick Team

Introduction

Salesforce works best with structured data—but real-life processes rarely start that way.

You deal with:

  • Business cards
  • PDFs
  • Scanned documents
  • Uploaded images

All of these contain valuable information, but none of it is directly usable inside Flow.

With Prompt Templates, you can now take those files, extract meaningful data, and turn them into actionable records—automatically.

What Makes This Powerful

A Prompt Template allows you to:

  • Define reusable AI instructions
  • Pass dynamic inputs (records, variables, or files)
  • Process real file content (not just metadata)

Supported file types:

  • Images (JPG, PNG)
  • PDFs
  • Text files

Limitations:

  • Max file size: 15 MB

Use Case: Business Card to CRM Data

To make this practical, let’s walk through a simple scenario:

  • User uploads or takes a photo of a business card
  • Salesforce extracts the contact details
  • Flow creates or updates records automatically

Step 1: Create a Prompt Template

Template Setup

  • Type: Flex Prompt Template
  • Add a required input:
    • Name: File
    • Source Type: Object
    • Object: File

Prompt Instructions

Define a clear instruction:

You are an AI agent that extracts contact details from a business card photo.
Extract the following fields: First Name, Last Name, Title, Company Name, Email, and Mobile Phone.
Return the response in JSON format.

Expected Output

{
  "FirstName": "Yumi",
  "LastName": "Ibrahimzade",
  "Title": "Salesforce Solution Architect",
  "CompanyName": "Salesforce Time",
  "Email": "info@salesforcetime.com",
  "MobilePhone": "0549000000"
}

Key Configuration

  • Insert the File input into the prompt
  • Select a model (e.g., Google Gemini 2.5 Pro)
  • Set response format to JSON

Test It

Preview the template with a real image:

  • The file is processed
  • Data is extracted
  • JSON is returned

Step 2: Build an Autolaunched Flow

This flow acts as the processor behind the scenes.

Flow Logic

    • InputContent Document Id
    • Get FileRetrieve Content Document record
    • Call Prompt TemplatePass the file as input
  • Extract JSON ValuesMap fields:
      • FirstName
      • LastName
      • Title
      • Email
      • MobilePhone
    • CompanyName
    • Assign OutputsStore values in Flow variables

Step 3: Build the Screen Flow

This is what the user interacts with.

Screen 1: Upload or Capture Image

  • Allow file upload or mobile photo capture
  • Pass the file to the autolaunched flow

Auto Processing

Once the file is uploaded:

  • The screen action calls the autolaunched flow
  • The autolaunched flow calls the Prompt Template
  • Data is returned and mapped automatically

Pre-Filled Fields

All fields (First Name, Last Name, etc.):

  • Are automatically populated
  • Use default values from the processed results

Improve User Experience

Since processing takes a few seconds:

  • Disable input fields while processing
  • Use the “In Progress” flag from the screen action
  • Prevent users from editing incomplete data

Step 4: Create or Update Records

After extracting the data, the Flow continues with logic such as:

Record Handling

  • Check if Lead already exists
  • Check if Contact already exists

Based on Results

  • If exists → create Campaign Member only
  • If not → create Lead + Campaign Member

Example Flow Behavior

  1. User uploads business card
  2. Data is extracted automatically
  3. System checks for duplicates
  4. Creates only what is needed
  5. Assigns final record IDs

End-to-End Flow Summary

  • Capture file
  • Process with AI
  • Extract structured data
  • Validate existing records
  • Create CRM records automatically

Where This Becomes Useful

This is not limited to business cards.

You can use the same approach for:

  • Resume parsing (extract candidate data)
  • Processing invoices or documents
  • Reading screenshots or customer submissions
  • Creating cases from uploaded files

Benefits

  • Eliminates manual data entry
  • Converts unstructured data into usable fields
  • Speeds up operations
  • Reduces errors
  • Improves user experience

Final Thoughts

Prompt Templates unlock a new layer of automation in Salesforce.

Instead of relying only on structured inputs, you can now:

  • Read files
  • Understand content
  • Extract data
  • Act on it instantly

This shifts Flow from simple automation to intelligent data processing—and that’s where things get interesting.