Why an automation or workflow did not run

Automations and workflows stop for different reasons, so start by knowing which one you have. An automation is one Tideswell ships, listed on Brain › Automations. A workflow is one somebody in your workspace built, on Brain › Workflows.

For the background, see What are automations? and What are workflows?. The Automations page needs the Manage automations permission, which admins hold by default. If you cannot open it, ask an admin to work through the automation half of this page with you.

Where do you start with an automation?

Start at the health line near the top of Brain › Automations. When all is well it reads Everything is running. Nothing needs a look.

Otherwise it reads One thing to look at. or a count, such as 2 things to look at., and lists each automation that needs attention with an Open button beside it. The automation's name is followed by one of these:

• failed its last run and the reason it gave.
• skipped its last run and didn't say why.
• is overdue. It was due and a date: it should have run by now and has not.

An automation you switched off, or one paused because its module is off, never appears there. It is doing what it was told.

What if several are overdue at once?

Three or more overdue automations fold into one line, for example 3 automations haven't run on time. The scheduler that starts them may have stopped. Overdue means more than three hours past the time it was due.

When scheduled jobs stop running on time, the workspace owner also gets a Work › Inbox item such as 3 scheduled jobs have not run since Oct 20 14:00 UTC. It comes back about once a day until the jobs run again. Contact Tideswell when you see either one, because changing your own settings will not clear it.

Is the alert switched on?

Check the Alerts list on the same page, where each alert has its own switch at the end of its row. A switched-off alert reads Off and when it last ran in the Latest column.

The count above the list reads, for example, 5 on · 4 off. Switching one on is covered in How to turn an automation on, off, or run it now.

What does the Latest column say?

It describes each alert's newest run in words, followed by how long ago it ran. Using Low stock as the example:

• 3 products low, alert sent: it found three and told people.
• 3 products low, nothing new to send: it found three, but no alert went out this time.
• Nothing low: it ran and found nothing to report.
• Never run: it has not come round yet.
• Failed: and a reason: something went wrong, and the line names it.
• A reason in place of a result: the run was skipped, explained below.

Nothing new to send is usually healthy. Each product, order or bill alerts once and stays quiet until it recovers, so a product that went low on Monday is not announced again on Tuesday.

The other cause is Wait between alerts in the alert's panel. After an alert goes out, new ones wait out that gap, then go out together.

What does a skipped run mean?

A skipped run means the automation ran, found it could not do anything useful, and recorded why. Open the row to see the reason under Recent activity. There are three usual ones.

• Nobody to notify. Nobody who would get the alert holds the access it needs. Check Who gets it in the panel, which warns No one is picked, so this reaches no one. when nobody picked can receive it. See How to choose who gets an alert and how often.
• No signal. The data it reads is not connected. See How to connect your Shopify store or How to connect Klaviyo.
• A module is switched off. The panel reads Paused: and names the module that is switched off in Settings. Switch it back on, as in How to switch parts of Tideswell on and off, and the next run carries on.

A skipped run is not a failure. Fix the reason and the next run picks up.

How do you test an automation?

Open its panel and press Run now. Only switched-on automations run, so switch it on first.

1. Click the alert's row, or a job's row under Background jobs, to open its panel.
2. If it is off, switch it on with the switch at the top of the panel.
3. Press Run now at the foot of the panel. Run started. confirms it.
4. Read the newest line under Recent activity.

The full walk-through is in How to check whether an automation worked.

Why did a workflow not run?

Most often it is published but switched off. Work down these checks in order.

Is it published, and separately, is it switched on? These are two separate controls. On Brain › Workflows, a workflow can read published while the switch on its row is off, and it will not run.

Has enough time passed? Workflows are not instant. Changes are picked up every few minutes, and a change made in Shopify waits for Tideswell's next look at the store.

Did the record change in a way the trigger watches? A trigger set to Updated with fields ticked under Only when these change ignores every other edit. See How to choose a trigger.

Is a background job switched off? Ask an admin to open Brain › Automations, press Show all and the number of jobs, such as Show all 17, under Background jobs, and check two rows. Workflow engine runs every workflow, and Shopify change watcher runs every order, product and customer workflow.

Is the Automations module on? With it off, Brain › Automations and Brain › Workflows both leave the menu, and no workflow runs.

What if the workflow ran but did the wrong thing?

Open the workflow's Runs tab and read the run as a story. Each step says what it was set up to do and what it actually did.

Check which handle each line leaves from. A condition has a green Yes dot and a red No dot. A line drawn from the wrong one makes a workflow that works at exactly the wrong moment.

Read what the condition decided. The run says whether it matched and which path it took, which usually shows that the comparison was not what you meant.

Why does a run say cancelled?

Tideswell refused the run because the workflow had already run many times in a short window. The run says so, and ends Check it for a step that changes the record it watches.

That almost always means the workflow is setting itself off: it updates a field on the record that triggered it, and that update triggers it again. Tick only the fields that should cause a run under Only when these change. See How to create tasks and records from a workflow.

A variant ends Check it for a step that sets off its own trigger. That one fits a workflow that creates the kind of record it watches, such as a task that creates a task. Refused runs are not queued, so they will not arrive later in a flood.

What if a step failed but the rest worked?

The run reads partially completed in amber. That happens on a workflow with two branches where one branch hit a problem.

Failures name themselves. Common ones:

• A Notify step aimed at a department with nobody active in it, or at a member who has left the workspace.
• An action the workflow's owner no longer has permission for.
• An owner who is no longer an active member of the workspace, which fails the whole run.

Check the last two after somebody leaves or changes role. Every action a workflow takes uses its owner's access, and the run reads Carried out with and the owner's name. See How to publish, switch on and read a run.

Why did the Agent not answer in chat?

The Agent answers only a chat message that names it with @Agent, in a channel or a direct message. A message that does not name it gets no answer.

Ask an admin to check the Agent card on Brain › Automations, just below the health line:

• If it shows Add the agent, it has not been set up yet. Press it.
• It reads On. If it reads Off, press Switch on.
• When it answers is set to When named. Never keeps it silent.
• It shows Last looked for new work and a time. A message that names it starts straight away, and the check every five minutes picks up anything missed.
• If it reads Its background check is switched off., press Switch the check back on.

The Agent also stays silent while the Brain or Automations module is switched off. Setting it up is covered in How to add the Agent to chat.

Why did the Agent not check in on a late task?

Check-ins are off until an admin switches on Check in on late tasks on the Agent card on Brain › Automations. When the switch is on but check-ins cannot run, a line under it reads Waiting: and the reason. Fix what it names.

The reasons it can give:

• the agent is switched off: press Switch on on the card.
• the agent is set to answer nobody: set When it answers to When named.
• the agent's background work is switched off: press Switch the check back on.
• A module that is off, such as the Brain module is off: switch it back on, per How to switch parts of Tideswell on and off.
• its settings could not be read: reload the page and look again.

If the line is clear, the task probably falls outside the timing rules. The Agent asks only about a task that has someone assigned, is not finished, and fell due within the last 14 days.

The first ask goes on the first working day after the due date, Monday to Friday, between 9am and noon in the assignee's own time zone. In the Agent Inbox each late task is its own card; by direct message, each person gets one message per morning, listing at most 8 tasks.

While check-ins run, they replace the hourly overdue reminder for tasks up to two weeks late. Tasks later than that keep their usual reminders. See How to have the Agent check in on late tasks.

Why has nothing run since a settings change?

Somebody probably switched off a module. Its automations wait rather than run, and each one's panel says Paused: with the module's name.

Under Background jobs, they sit in a Paused group, with a note that nothing is lost while they wait. Switch the module back on in How to switch parts of Tideswell on and off.