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The Run History

Every time a workflow runs, the platform records the run and each step it took: what the step was, the way it left (approved, rejected, yes, no), how long it took and why it failed if it did. Workflow Run History brings every run of every workflow into one screen, where you can find what is stuck or failed and put it right.

Where to find it

Architect Panel → Automation:

  • Workflow Run History — every run, its step timeline, and Cancel, Retry and Skip; the badge counts runs that failed in the last 7 days
  • Workflow Builder — More, then Run history, the Runs button on a row, and the Recent runs tab of one workflow

The summary tiles

  • Running, Waiting (with how many have waited over 7 days), Failed (last 7 days) and Finished (last 24 hours). Click a tile to filter the list to those runs.
  • Average run: how long finished runs took over the last 7 days. All runs: the total, and how many started in the last 24 hours.

A banner appears when the Workflow Resume task is off or in preview mode, when waiting runs are past their time, or when running runs have made no progress for over 30 minutes.

Finding a run

  1. Filter by Search, Workflow, Status (Running, Waiting, Failed, Done, Cancelled, or In progress), Started from and Started to, Record in and Record number, and Test runs (Included, Left out, Only test runs).
  2. Tick Hide runs that stopped at their first check to leave out runs whose only step after the start was a Condition that came out No.
  3. Click a run to open the inspector beside the list.

Reading a run

  • Workflow and version, Record (by its name), with Processes on this record and All runs on this record. A scheduled run may have no record.
  • Status and the step it is at, Started, Finished, and Took (or Running for) with the number of steps.
  • Started by names the parent run when a Sub-workflow step started this one; Child runs lists the runs it started.
  • Why it failed, in words, on a failed run. A waiting run says what it waits on and until when.
  • Steps taken: a numbered timeline with each step's name, type, status, the way it left, its time and duration, and any detail. Steps the run never reached are listed underneath.

A run started on an earlier version carries on with that version's steps; the inspector says so. Show the path in the builder opens the workflow with this run's route drawn on the canvas.

Cancel, retry and skip

  • Cancel run…: stops a running or waiting run where it is and withdraws whatever it was waiting for (an approval, a signature, a sub-workflow). A reason is required. It cannot be undone.
  • Retry failed step…: runs the failed step again, for real, and carries on from there if it succeeds. An e-mail is sent again and a webhook called again.
  • Retry on version N…: moves the run onto the newest published version and retries there, for a step that failed because of how it was set up and has since been fixed and published.
  • Skip…: on a waiting step marked "A person may skip this step while it is waiting". The run carries on as though the step had completed (an approval as approved, a signature as signed). A reason is required.

These actions are for architects. Someone with a role on a workflow sees its runs read-only. People who can edit a record can also act on its runs from the record's Processes pane; see The Processes Pane.

Statuses

  • Running: being walked now. Waiting: parked at a Wait, an approval, a verification, a signature or a sub-workflow.
  • Done, Failed or Cancelled: finished. Steps can also be Skipped or Not reached.

What goes wrong

  • Many runs waiting, none overdue moving. The Workflow Resume task is off; the banner says so.
  • A run Running for hours. Its process was killed. The resume task marks it Failed after 30 minutes without progress, and it can then be retried.
  • "Step budget exhausted" or "Stopped after 200 steps in a single pass". The workflow loops. A run may take 1,000 steps, plus 50 for each row a For each step works through, and never more than 100,000; 200 steps in one pass without reaching a Wait or the end also stops it.
  • A failed run still has open requests. Parallel branches may still be parked; cancel the run to withdraw them if nobody will retry it.

Worked example

A customer asks why their order was never confirmed. The operations lead opens Workflow Run History, enters the order number under Record number and finds a failed run. Why it failed says the E-mail step had no account to send from. They choose an account on the step, publish version 3, return to the run and use Retry on version 3. The e-mail goes out and the run finishes as Done.

Recommendations

  • Check the Failed tile daily for any workflow that matters.
  • Read a real run before changing the canvas.
  • Give a reason worth reading when you cancel or skip; it stays in the history.
  • Turn on failure alerts so owners hear about failures; see Who Can Use a Workflow.
  • Leave test runs out when you are reviewing real activity.