Runs
Every time a rule ran: what started it, which record it worked on, how each action went, and the panel from which an errored run is retried.
Runs
This is the log of every time a rule ran. Use it to see what an automation did to a record, why a run failed, and to retry a run once you have fixed the cause.
Where to find it
Account menu > Settings > Workflows > Runs. You also land here from Run history on a rule (the list is then filtered to that rule), from a Last run badge on the Rules tab, from a run link in an outbox event's panel, from Open in run history after starting a manual rule on a record page, and from a count on the Health tab (filtered to that status).
You need the View permission on Workflow Runs. Without it the page shows "No access" and "You do not have permission to view workflow runs. Ask your administrator."
What you see
The page header reads "Every execution of a rule: what started it, which record it worked on and how each action fared. Errored runs can be retried from their panel." with a Refresh button.
Above the grid you have:
- Rule filter ("Any rule"): shown only if you may view rules; lists the first 200 rules by name.
- Status filter ("Any status"): Pending, Running, Waiting, Success, Blocked, Errored or Skipped.
- Entity filter ("Any entity").
- From date and To date.
- A removable blue chip such as "Booking · 1a2b3c4d" when the list was opened for one record.
The grid columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Started | When the run started and how long ago; a run that hasn't started yet shows "queued … ago". |
| Rule | The rule's name (a link), its trigger badge and the version that ran ("v2"); "deleted rule" if the rule no longer exists. |
| Record | The record the rule worked on, as a link when you may open that kind of record. |
| Status | The status badge, with the first line of the error underneath for a failed run. |
| Trigger event | The event code that started the run, or "manual", "scheduled", "record created" or "record updated". |
| Duration | How long the run took. |
| (icon) | Open (the eye icon) opens the run's panel. |
The list shows the newest runs first. When nothing matches, the grid reads "No runs match".
The run panel
Opens with the title "Run <id>" and the status badge; while a run is still going it adds "following…" and refreshes every two seconds until the run settles.
It shows Rule (with the trigger badge), Record, Status, Trigger event, Rule version, Trace depth (0 for a run started directly, higher for one started by a chained event), Queued, Started, Finished, Duration, Outbox event (a link to the event that started the run, see Outbox) and Run id.
An Errored or Blocked run shows its error in a red box. A Manual rule's run shows Manual run input: what the person typed on the form.
Under Actions, one row per action: its number, the action, its status, "N attempts" when it was tried more than once, when it started and how long it took (or "not started"), the error text if it failed, and a collapsible Result with what the action produced (a task id, a run number…). With no actions recorded the panel reads "Waiting to be picked up." (Pending) or "No actions were recorded for this run."
What you can do
Refresh
Reloads the list.
Open
Opens the run's panel (described above). Clicking a Last run badge on the Rules tab does the same.
Retry
Queues the run again, with the message "Retry queued; the run resumes at the first action that did not finish." Steps that already succeeded are not repeated.
- Who: anyone with the Edit permission on Workflow Runs (only the Administrator in the default roles). Without it the button isn't shown.
- Shown only on Errored runs. If the run has changed in the meantime you see "Only errored runs can be retried."; if the rule has been switched off, "This rule is inactive." Switch the rule on first.
Close
Closes the panel.
Statuses
- Pending: queued by an event, a schedule, a manual start or a retry, waiting for the engine to pick it up.
- Running: the engine is working on it.
- Success: every active action finished. If an action failed but had Continue on error ticked, the run still ends Success with a note such as "1 action(s) failed and were skipped: …".
- Errored: an action failed (and Continue on error wasn't ticked), the record no longer exists ("The entity no longer exists"), an action was interrupted ("<ACTION> was interrupted"), or the rule's owner no longer holds a permission the actions need ("permission_revoked: the acting user no longer holds …"). Retry is offered.
- Blocked: a chained event would have gone too deep: "Blocked: <CODE> from rule "<name>" would run at trace depth N (maximum M)". Final; shorten the chain.
- Waiting and Skipped appear in the filter and on the Health tab, but runs don't currently end up in them: when a record doesn't meet a rule's conditions, no run is created at all. A single action is marked Skipped when its own Only when… conditions don't hold.
Runs move Pending → Running → Success or Errored; Retry puts an Errored run back to Pending.
Things to know
- No run means the rule didn't match. A rule only produces a run when its trigger fired and its conditions held for that record. To find out why nothing happened, open the rule and use Test on the record.
- A run acts as the rule's owner. Runs started by an event or a schedule act as the person who last saved or switched the rule; manual runs act as the person who pressed the button. Permissions are checked again at run time, so a run can fail after the owner lost a permission or was deactivated. Fix the cause (restore the permission, or have someone with the right permissions switch the rule off and on), then Retry.
- Common action errors and what they mean.
- "no_recipients: No valid email address after rendering the recipients": the contact has no email.
- "no_assignee: Role '<name>' has no active members": the role the action assigns to is empty.
- "reason_required: The cancellation reason rendered empty": the reason text came out blank.
- "webhook_failed: Webhook answered <status>: …" or "webhook_address_not_allowed: <host> resolves to a non-public address": the other system refused or is not reachable from the internet.
- "permission_revoked: the acting user no longer holds …": the rule's owner (or, for a manual run, the person who pressed the button) lost a permission the action needs.
- An email action can succeed without sending. When your server has no mail server set up, a Send email or Generate document action still ends Success; its Result carries the note "MAIL_SERVER is not configured; the message was logged" and nothing goes out. Ask whoever looks after your server to configure mail.
- Everyone with the View permission on Workflow Runs sees every run, but the Record link only works when you may open that kind of record.
- Date filters count days in UTC, five and a half hours behind India: a run at 02:00 India time belongs to the previous day in the filter.
- Runs stay Pending while the engine is down. The engine warning at the top of the Workflows area (for people with the Edit permission on Workflow Rules) and the Health tab show why. The work is not lost.
Related
Related
- WorkflowsScreen
The Workflows area of Settings, where you manage automation rules, event types and message templates, and check the runs, the outbox and the engine's health.
- OutboxScreen
The events recorded when records change, on their way to the rules that listen to them, with the runs each event produced and the panel from which a failed event is requeued.
- HealthScreen
Whether the automation engine can process what the rules produce: the engine flag, its message queue, its worker, the outbox and run counts, and the scheduler's heartbeat.
- RulesScreen
Every automation rule in your organization, system and custom, with filters, the switch that turns each rule on or off, and shortcuts to edit, test, clone, see the run history of or delete a rule.
- RuleScreen
One automation rule's page: read or change its basics, trigger, conditions and actions, test it against a record, clone or delete it, and switch a system rule on or off.
- Sidebar, top bar and notifications bellScreen
The frame around every page once you are signed in: the sidebar with its groups, the top bar with the notifications bell, the light and dark switch and your account menu, and the banners that ask you to act.
- Workflow runs and the outboxConcept
How a change becomes automation: the outbox event written with the change, the pick-up that hands it to the engine, one run per listening rule with a recorded result per action, the statuses each passes through, and how Errored runs are retried and Failed events requeued.
- Workflow rules, conditions, actions and the rule ownerConcept
What a workflow rule is made of (one kind of record, one trigger, conditions, ordered actions, an optional chained event), how conditions and action settings are evaluated, how versions, tests and clones work, and why every rule has an owner whose permissions its runs use.
- Investigate a failed automationHow-to
When a reminder, task or automatic run didn't happen, check that the workflow engine is working, find the run that failed and read its error, fix the cause, then retry the run or requeue the event.
- Workflow runs stay Pending: automation is off, its queue is down or processing has stoppedTroubleshooting
Rules keep saving and events keep being recorded, but nothing runs while automation is switched off on the server, the queue that carries changes to it is missing or down, or processing has stopped; the Health tab shows which, the NirmaanOne team fixes it, and the waiting work is then processed.
- Run errored or blocked with "permission_revoked": the rule's owner no longer holds a permission its actions needTroubleshooting
A rule's automatic runs act as the person who last saved or switched the rule, and manual runs as the person who pressed the button; each action is checked against that person's permissions when it runs, so a role change or a deactivated user makes the run fail until the permission is restored or someone who holds it takes the rule over.
- Email action or document email did not go out: no valid recipient, or the message is incompleteTroubleshooting
A Send email action fails when its To line renders no valid address (usually because the contact has no email), a rule with Send email cannot be saved without a message template or a subject and body, a document email needs at least one valid address and is refused for a void document, and an Email message template needs a subject.