Why did my workflow not run?
Short answer
A workflow that does not run almost always has a trigger condition that was not actually met, is paused, or has a filter silently excluding the contact. Check the workflow's execution history before touching any settings, since it shows exactly where the contact stopped or never entered.
Before you start
- Access to the specific workflow in question.
- A contact who should have entered the workflow.
- Knowledge of the intended trigger event.
- Access to the workflow's execution or enrollment history.
Step by step
- 1
Confirm the workflow is published and active
Check that it is not sitting in draft or paused status.
A draft workflow looks complete but will never actually run.
- 2
Check the contact's execution history
Search for the contact inside the workflow's history to see if they entered at all.
This shows immediately whether the trigger fired or the contact never qualified.
- 3
Re-check the trigger condition exactly
Confirm the event that was supposed to fire the workflow actually happened as configured, not just approximately.
Workflows are literal. A near match on a tag or field does not count as a match.
- 4
Look for a filter step blocking entry
Review any filter conditions right after the trigger for a rule the contact does not meet.
A filter can silently exclude a contact without any visible error.
- 5
Check for a conflicting workflow
See if another workflow already moved the contact out of eligibility, such as removing a tag this one requires.
Workflows can quietly interfere with each other's trigger conditions.
- 6
Verify the contact was not already enrolled
Some workflows are set to allow only one enrollment per contact ever.
A repeat trigger does nothing if re-entry is disabled.
- 7
Test with a fresh contact
Run the exact trigger event on a brand new test contact to confirm the workflow itself works.
This isolates whether the problem is the workflow or that specific contact's history.
What good looks like
- The exact point of failure is identified instead of rebuilding blindly.
- Filters and trigger conditions match what was actually intended.
- Conflicts between workflows get surfaced and resolved.
- Future workflow issues get diagnosed using history first.
Common mistakes
The ways this goes wrong in support, and what to do instead.
Rebuilding the workflow from scratch›
Time gets spent recreating something that had one small misconfigured filter.
Do this instead: Check the execution history and trigger conditions before rebuilding anything.
Assuming the trigger is close enough›
A tag named slightly differently than the trigger condition never matches.
Do this instead: Compare the trigger configuration character for character against the actual event.
Not checking re-enrollment settings›
A contact who should trigger the workflow again gets silently skipped.
Do this instead: Check the workflow's re-enrollment setting if a contact needs to go through it more than once.
Frequently asked
5 questions about fix a workflow that did not runRelated guides
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