Troubleshoot common workflow errors

Written by Public API | Jan 1, 1970 12:00:00 AM

From the workflows dashboard, view a list of workflows where enrolled records have encountered errors. From there, you can navigate into the workflow to fix the error.

If you're looking to learn why your record isn't enrolling, learn more about troubleshooting workflow enrollment instead.

Identify workflows with errors

To view workflows with errors:

If any of your workflows have errors, a red indicator will appear on the Workflows with errors tab. To view the workflows, click the Workflows with errors tab.

View the list of workflows with errors. To view the errors in a specific workflow, hover over the name of the workflow, then click Actions > Details.
On the workflow details page, you can view events that have happened within the past 90 days, including Action logs or the workflow's Enrollment history. Learn more about viewing your workflow history from the workflow details page.

Review the common workflow errors below. Errors can either be caused by how the workflow is set up or by issues with the enrolled records:
- To fix errors associated with a workflow, click Edit in the upper right to access the workflow editor.
- To fix errors associated with a record, click the Name of the record to access the object record.

It is not possible to manually remove a workflow from this tab or to dismiss existing errors in a workflow. To remove a workflow from the Workflows with errors tab, you’ll need to resolve all errors in the workflow. If the workflow does not encounter any new errors for the next seven days, it will disappear from the Workflows with errors tab.

Understand workflow alerts and errors in the workflow editor

From the workflow editor, you can check which actions require changes or have encountered errors.

Click the Workflows with errors tab.
Hover over the workflow, then click Edit.
In the top left of the workflow editor, click Alerts. A list of workflow actions with errors or changes required will be displayed.

To view more details on the alert, click the change needed or error associated with the action.
In the right panel, view any changes needed or recent errors for the selected action:
- Changes needed: review any changes required for the action to execute correctly. For example, publishing an automated email in the Send email action.
- Recent errors in history: review any recent errors from the last week, grouped by error type.

It is not possible to dismiss existing errors, all errors for the action will need to be resolved. If the action does not encounter any new errors for the next seven days, it will be cleared from the action's panel and removed from the Alert.

Common workflow errors

The following are some common workflow errors you might encounter and the typical steps for resolution. After updating your workflow or record, you can try manually enrolling the contact into the workflow again.

Error	What the error means	Steps to resolve the error
The property couldn't be set because the contact/company/deal isn't associated with any target records	The Set property value or Copy property value action is trying to execute, but there is no associated record to update. For example, if you're using a contact-based workflow and the copy property value action to copy the industry property to a contact's associated company, but the contact does not have an associated company.	For individual records, you can manually associate the enrolled record to a target record before enrolling again. To avoid this error moving forward, you can add an and criteria to your enrollment trigger to ensure that only records with associated target records enroll. For example, in a contact-based workflow, you can use the criteria Company ID is known.
Contact isn't associated with a company ID	Similar to the above, this error occurs if you're using the Copy company property value action in a contact-based workflow, but the contact does not have an associated company.
The lifecycle stage couldn't be updated because it would have been set backwards	The Set property value action can only set a record's default Lifecycle stage property to a value further down the funnel. This error occurs if the workflow is trying to set a record's Lifecycle stage property backward, such as from lead to subscriber. Learn more about using lifecycle stages.	To set a record's lifecycle stage to a specific value regardless of their current lifecycle stage, use the Clear property value action first.
Email was not sent to contact because this is a non-marketing contact	The Send email action in a workflow can only execute with marketing contacts. Learn more about marketing contacts.	To enroll and email only existing marketing contacts in this workflow, you can add an and criteria to the enrollment trigger to enroll contacts with a Marketing contact status property of Marketing contact only. To send this email to all contacts enrolled in the workflow, you can add a Set marketing contact status action and delay before the Send email action. Do take note that this action increases your marketing contacts count which can affect billing.
Previously unsubscribed from this subscription type	This error can occur for two reasons: The contact previously manually unsubscribed from your emails. This portal has GDPR functionality enabled and the contact is not opted into the email's required subscription.	In this case, the solution depends on the cause of the error: If the contact has manually unsubscribed from your emails, the contact will need to manually resubscribe themselves. If a specific contact was not opted in, you can add the subscription to the individual contact. You can also update contact subscriptions in bulk using the Manage subscription status action.
Email to this recipient has previously bounced	Previous emails to this contact's email address have hard bounced. Learn more about email bounce types.	Confirm that the contact's email address is valid. If so, you can manually remove the hard bounce from the record and try sending the email again. It is not possible to resend an automated email, but you can: clone the automated email to a regular email. from the cloned regular email, use the Send to more action to send this email to previously bounced contacts.
This email wasn't sent because it is being reviewed by HubSpot	HubSpot's automatic security tools have flagged this email for review.	The email will be reviewed by HubSpot's content moderation team. This review can take up to 48 hours. If the email is not in violation of HubSpot's Acceptable Use Policy, it will be automatically sent. If the email is determined to violate HubSpot's Acceptable Use Policy, the email will be stopped.
This email wasn't sent because it is being blocked by HubSpot	Upon review, this email has been determined to violate the policies outlined in HubSpot's Acceptable Use Policy.	Review and update your email to remove any content that may violate HubSpot's Acceptable Use Policy. After updating your automated email, if you want to send your email to specific contacts, you can: clone the automated email to a regular email. from the cloned regular email, use the Send to more action to send this email to your contacts.
Recipient was suppressed due to low engagement	Graymail suppression has been enabled in either: the specific automated email the account's marketing email settings Learn more about graymail and unengaged contacts in HubSpot.	To send the email to unengaged contacts, ensure that graymail suppression has been turned off. First, check that the Don't send to unengaged contacts checkbox is cleared in the Send tab of the workflow's automated email. After, ensure that the Don't send to unengaged contacts switch is toggled off in your account's marketing email subscription settings.
Action was skipped because it would execute in the past	The workflow is a Center on a date or Center on a date property contact-based workflow, and the contact was enrolled after the set date for an action has passed. For example, if the workflow has been set up to send an email on 11th November, but the contact is enrolled after the execution date on 12th November.	For workflows with actions that are meant to be triggered on a specific date, you can ignore this error. The enrolled contact will skip to the next available action. For workflows with a recurring purpose, such as to trigger an email on a customer's birthday or anniversary, you can set the workflow to recur annually. This will enable the customer to enroll in the workflow and execute all workflow actions regardless of when they were enrolled.
Outside time window settings. Action rescheduled for [new date and time]	The What times do you want the actions to execute workflow setting has been set to a specific timeframe, but the enrolled record has reached an action while outside of this timeframe.	To allow your workflow actions to execute at any time, in the workflow editor: Click the settings tab. Under What times do you want the actions to execute, select Any time. Alternatively, if you only want actions to execute in a specific timeframe, you can ignore the error and the action will execute in the next eligible date and time.

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