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The **Flow Layer** is an effective way of visualizing origin-destination movement patterns. Flows are a great choice for analyzing traffic flows, commute patterns, and migrations.

An example of the Flow Layer.

# Settings

The following sections detail every setting available for the Flow Layer.

## Basic

Core settings for the Flow Layer.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Layer Type | Must be **Flow** to display the Flow Layer. |
| Dataset | The dataset to use for the Flow Layer. |
| Columns | Columns to use for the Flow Layer. Must fill the required fields of Lat/Lng or H3 Hexagons. |
| Lat/Lng | Specify a pair of source/target latitude and longitude columns. Optionally, include a count (used for weighting points), as well as a Source Name and Target Name. |
| H3 Hexagons | Specify a pair of source/target H3 columns. Optionally, include a Source Name and Target Name. |

## Color

Color settings for the Flow Layer.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Color Palette | The [color scale and palette](https://docs.foursquare.com/analytics-products/docs/layers-color-scale-and-palettes) for the Flow color. |
| Dark Base Map | Enable to increase visibility on a dark base map. |
| Opacity | The opacity of the flows. 100 = fully opaque, 0 = fully transparent. |

## Fade

Fade setting for the Flow Layers.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Fade Toggle | Enable to fade smaller flows. |
| Fade | Slide to fade smaller flows. |

Left: Fade = 0; Right: Fade = 30.

## Display

Additional display settings for the Flow Layer.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Animation | Animates the Flow Layer. |
| Flowing | Groups nearby source/target points. Increases visibility and adapts as you zoom in and out. |
| Location Totals | Create a new location totals circle at each flow Flow, its size based on the number of flows in and out of the location. |
| Adaptive Scaling | Adjusts flow thickness based on flows inside the current viewport. When disabled, flow thickness is based on all flows on the map. |
| Max Top Flows to Show Slider | Slide to increase/decrease the max number of flows displayed. |

# Charts

The Flow Layer supports [Tooltip Charts](https://docs.foursquare.com/analytics-products/docs/charts-tooltip). Using the Tooltip Chart with the Flow Layer, you can display chart metrics in the mouse-over tooltip. This allows users to interactively explore the top origins and destinations for any given point on the map.

Follow these steps to create a Flow Layer chart:

1. Create a Flow Layer, then click **Show Charts**.
2. Click **Add Chart**, then select **Tooltip Chart**.
3. A chart of the flows will automatically generate. Click **Chart Settings** to configure the Tooltip Chart.

A Flow Chart showing Chicago rideshare data.

The charts will update to the viewport when zooming to show the Flowed locations for the current zoom level.

## Chart Settings

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| **Title** | Title of the Tooltip Chart. |
| **Layer** | Layer to represent in the chart. |
| **Field and Aggregation** | The type of information to display (based on the layer selected). |
| **Show in Tooltip** | If enabled, displays chart metrics in the mouse-over tooltip. |
| **Include Internal Flows** | If enabled, includes internal flow data in the chart metrics. |

# JSON Schema

For details on how to programmatically specify layer properties, refer to the [Layer Configuration](https://docs.foursquare.com/developer/docs/studio-layer-reference#flow) specification.