Jakarta Faces Flow Scope: Managing Multi-Step UX Without Session State

The useful part

Multi-step flows are common in UX, including onboarding, checkout, account setup, approval processes, configuration wizards, and administrative tasks. These require users to move through multiple screens while continuing a consistent working state. The challenge is to keep this state active for the duration of the interaction, but not beyond.

How it works

• This article uses a customer segmentation application to demonstrate how a flow can guide users through configuration, preview, and confirmation, while maintaining state across each step.
• This approach creates a cleaner model for wizard-style UX: the scope begins when the user enters the flow, persists during navigation, and ends upon exit.
• Request scope is too short, while session scope often extends longer than the business process needs.
• Jakarta Faces handles this with @FlowScoped, which manages state based on the lifecycle of a flow instead of a single page or the entire session.