How to find out why an automation did the wrong thing
Open a run in History, read each step, read the badges and find the cause. Check armed sequences, removed rules and skipped actions.
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How to do it
Open Automations, then open History.
The Run History card lists runs. It shows the Automation, Status, Started and Duration. Open the run that did the wrong thing.
If your rule is not a canvas automation, use Engine Decisions.
Run History lists canvas automations only. On the Automations page, find the Engine Decisions card and open the row for your rule. The badges in the steps below are on that row's page.
Read what went in and what came out.
The run page shows the Trigger payload. That is what started it. Node results lists each step. It shows the Node, the Type and the Output / error. Find the step with the wrong result. Compare what came in from the step before with what went out.
Name the cause.
Did the trigger match too much? Tighten the trigger. Did a step fill a field from the wrong place? Fix that field. Did an outside service send back something the step did not expect? Check that service. Fix it in the rule, then run the check again.
Read the badges.
The badge at the top says how the run is doing. In progress means it still runs or waits. Never finished means it stopped partway. Check which steps it did and finish the rest by hand. A rule that waits shows one badge per step. Advanced means it moved to its next step. Completed means every step ran. Each action has a badge too. Done means it ran and worked. Needs a check means we cannot tell. It was not tried again, so check it by hand.
Look at In-flight sequences.
A multi-step automation that matched its first step is armed while it waits for the rest. The list shows only while at least one is armed. Each line shows the rule, what it follows, the client and how far it got. Hover the progress to see each step and its time. The last two columns say when the next step is due and when it falls off if it never finishes. One-step automations never show here.
Read a Removed rule.
A rule may be deleted or retired after it ran. History then shows Removed rule where its name was. You see it in the list, on a run's page and under Matched rules. The run and what it did stay as they were.
Understand a skipped lock or sign-out.
A lock, sign-out or offboard can show as skipped. Skipped: another run took over means a second run picked up the same event first. This run stopped so the account actions are not done twice. Skipped: this run did not own the event means this run was not allowed to act on the account. In both cases people were still told about the alert.
Tell what applied a tag.
Where tags show on a record, a tag added by the portal has a why on its chip. Hover it to see the rule, sync or assistant that put it there. A tag you add by hand has no note. The person who added it is the record.
What you will have
- Open a run and read what went in and out of each step.
- Read the run and action badges.
- Name the usual causes of a wrong result.
- See sequences that are waiting.
- Read Removed rule and skipped lock or sign-out.
- Tell what applied a tag.
Why it works this way: How to find out why an automation did the wrong thing
History keeps the record. A run shows each step with what came in and what went out. You can see where it went wrong.
The cause is almost always one of three. The trigger matched too much. A step filled a field from the wrong place. Or an outside service sent back something the step did not expect.
If it did not work: How to find out why an automation did the wrong thing
- The run list has no row for your rule: only canvas automations list there. Look in Engine Decisions on the Automations page.
- You see no In-flight sequences: nothing is armed right now.
- A rule's name reads Removed rule: it was deleted or retired. The run stays as it was.
- A lock did not happen: look for Skipped on the action in History.
- You want the full story of one change: read the guide How to see why the system changed something in Operational Guides.
Questions this page answers
My automation fired but did the wrong thing. What now?
Open the run in History and find the step with the wrong result. Each step shows what came in and what went out.
What does Never finished mean on a run?
The run stopped partway. Check which steps it did and finish the rest by hand.
Why was a lock or sign-out skipped in History?
Another run took over the same event, or this run did not own the event. People were still told about the alert.
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