Runs and history
Each time an automation is started it makes a run. This page explains what a run goes through and what every status means.
What happens when a trigger fires
- Something happens in the business: a record changes, a daily check finds something, a schedule comes due, or a webhook is called.
- Cashfin finds every automation that is switched on and listens for that trigger. Up to 20 automations can run for one event, oldest first.
- Each of those automations gets its own run. One automation failing does not stop the others.
- The run walks the chart step by step and records what each step did.
- The run ends as succeeded, failed or skipped, and stays in the automation's Runs list.
Runs start within a couple of seconds when the system is not busy. The work happens in the background, so the person who made the change does not wait for it.
Three ways to run an automation
| Way | Sends and changes things? | Recorded in Runs? | Needs the automation switched on? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A real trigger | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Run now | Yes | Yes, marked as run by hand | No |
| Test | No. Each step shows what it would do. | No | No |
Test needs sample values for the trigger. The builder fills in examples, and you can edit them to try a different case.
Run statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Running | The run is being worked on now. |
| Waiting | Paused at a Wait step, an Approval, an action awaiting approval, or between batches of a long Repeat. |
| Succeeded | At least one action ran, and none failed. |
| Failed | A step failed, or the run was stopped by a limit. The run shows which step and why. |
| Skipped | No action ran: a Filter stopped it, or a limit stopped it before it began. |
Step statuses
| Status | Applies to | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Passed | Trigger, Filter | The run got through. |
| Stopped | Filter | The conditions failed, so this path ended. |
| Branched | If / else, Switch | The step shows which connection it took. |
| Succeeded | Action | The action was done. |
| Skipped | Action | The action did nothing, and says why (for example, the contact has opted out). |
| Failed | Action | The action could not be done. The reason is shown. |
| Waiting | Wait, Approval, AI agent | Not due yet, or awaiting a decision. |
| Looped | Repeat | The repeat finished; it shows how many times it went round. |
| Preview | Any action, in a Test | What the action would do. Nothing was sent or changed. |
Retries
Steps fail in two ways, and they are treated differently.
| Kind of failure | Examples | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Temporary | A network error, a timeout, another system being briefly down | The run is tried again, up to 5 times in all. Steps that already succeeded are not repeated. |
| Permanent | A missing phone number, an invalid setting, a limit reached, no AI credits | The step fails at once. Trying again would not help. |
If the fifth attempt still fails, the step is recorded as failed.
A retry never repeats an action that already happened: each action in a run is done at most once, even if the run is delivered twice.
History
- A run that did something is kept for 90 days.
- A run that did nothing (skipped) is kept for 7 days.
- A waiting run is kept until it finishes, then for 90 days.