How to read workflow error messages
Learn how to find error messages in Conduitly, understand what they're telling you, and identify which step in your workflow failed.
What you might be experiencing
A workflow run has failed. You can see a red status icon in Workflows → Activities, or a workflow card on the Home page is showing a "Failed" badge. You want to understand what went wrong and where.
Step 1: Find the failed run in Activities
Go to Workflows → Activities in the sidebar. This page shows every run across all your workflows.
To find the failed run:
- Use the Status dropdown to filter to "Failed" runs.
- Use the Search field to filter by workflow name.
- Use the Filter by date field to narrow to a specific time range.
Failed runs are marked with a red circle with × in the status icon column and show "Failed" in the Status column. The Task Consumed column for a failed run will show 0. Note that failed runs don't count against your monthly task allowance.
Once you've found the run, click the magnifying glass icon on that row to open the execution log.
Step 2: Read the execution log
The execution log opens inline, replacing the Activities list. It shows you exactly what happened during that run, step by step.
The header shows run-level information: the workflow name, run status, start date, tasks consumed, duration, and how the run was triggered. For failed runs, a pink error banner appears directly below the header row with an error message.
This is the top-level error for the run, i.e., the message the system recorded when the run stopped. Note it down; you'll need it if you contact support.
The step cards appear below the header, one card for each trigger and action step in your workflow. Each card shows the app icon, step name, and a status indicator: a green checkmark for steps that completed successfully, and a red × for steps that failed.
Step 3: Identify which step failed
Scan the step cards from top to bottom. The first card showing a red × is where the workflow broke down. Steps after a failed step typically don't execute at all.
Click the failed step card to expand it, then click the Status tab. Three fields appear:
- Status: shows "Error" or "Exception" for a failed step (compared to "Completed" for a successful one)
- User: the user account whose credentials were used to run this step
- Result: the specific error message for this step
The Result field contains the most useful diagnostic information. Read it carefully. It often tells you directly what went wrong (for example, a field that couldn't be found, a permission error, a connection problem, or a value that was in the wrong format).
Step 4: Use Data In and Data Out to understand what the step received
Even when a step fails, the Data In and Data Out tabs show you what data was involved. This helps you confirm whether the problem was with the data itself or with the action the step was trying to perform.
- Data In (n)*: the data this step received as input. The number in parentheses is the record count. If it's 0, the step received nothing to work with.
- Data Out (n)*: the data this step successfully sent or wrote. For a failed step, this is typically 0.
A few patterns to look for:
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Trigger Data Out = 0 | The trigger ran but found no records. The workflow completed without error, but there was nothing to process. |
| Trigger Data Out > 0, action Data In = 0 | Data left the trigger but didn't reach the action. A filter may be blocking it, or a step between them failed silently. |
| Action Data In > 0, Data Out = 0, status = Exception | Data reached the action but the action couldn't write it. The Result field on the Status tab will have the specific error. |
| Action Data Out = 1 or more | The action wrote records successfully. Even if the run shows as "Failed," at least one record was created in the destination app. |
Step 5: Act on what you found
Once you know which step failed and have the error message from the Result field, you have enough information to take action.
Common next steps based on what you found:
- Connection or authentication error: the app connection may have expired. See A connection is broken — how to re-authenticate.
- Field or mapping error: a source field may be missing or mapped to the wrong destination. See Map fields between your apps.
- No data processed (trigger Data Out = 0): this is usually expected behavior, not an error. The trigger ran but found no new records matching the trigger event at that time.
- Workflow stopped after this failure: if Auto Retry is disabled and the workflow was paused after the failed run, open the workflow in the builder, check the settings icon in the toolbar for the Workflow Status toggle, and reactivate it if needed.
Still not working?
If you can see the error message but aren't sure what it means or how to resolve it, contact our support team via the Help button in the bottom-right corner of any page. Include:
- Your workflow name
- A screenshot of the execution log header (showing the error message banner)
- A screenshot of the Status tab on the failed step (showing the Result field)
This gives the support team everything they need to diagnose the problem quickly.