The deployment succeeded, every test passed, and the first real case did nothing. On a Service Cloud go-live, the whole stack of case Flows arrived in production as inactive versions, although each one was active in the sandbox.
Why it happens
This is default behaviour. Active Flows and processes deployed to a production org through change sets or the Metadata API are deployed inactive unless the org has opted in. Sandboxes deploy them active, which is why it never shows up in testing.
Two ways to handle it
- Opt in. In Process Automation Settings, enable “Deploy processes and flows as active” and set a flow test coverage percentage. From then on a deployment fails if Apex tests do not cover enough of your active autolaunched Flows. Screen Flows are outside that requirement.
- Leave the default and activate deliberately. Deploy, then activate the intended version of each Flow as a scripted step, so the moment automation switches on is one you chose.
Assert it, do not assume it
Whichever route you take, finish every production deploy by checking that each Flow has the active version you expect, and run one smoke test on a real record. A green deployment tells you the metadata arrived. It does not tell you anything is running.