Through which of the following options can a cloud flow connect to a desktop flow?

A cloud flow connects to a desktop flow primarily through a gateway. The gateway acts as a bridge between the cloud and on-premises environments, enabling secure communication and data transfer. When a cloud flow triggers a desktop flow, it routes the request through the gateway, allowing for the execution of the desktop flow on a local machine or server while still leveraging cloud capabilities. This setup ensures that data can be securely transmitted and that the actions can occur seamlessly between the cloud and local environments.

The other options, while they may play roles in different contexts or components of Power Automate, are not the primary means for a cloud flow to connect to a desktop flow. API interaction does facilitate communication in a broader context, yet it doesn’t specifically address the connection between these two flow types. Predefined input variables serve to pass data between flows but do not inherently establish the connection. A virtual machine, while it might host the desktop flow, does not serve as a direct connector like a gateway does. The gateway is specifically designed for this purpose, making it the correct choice.