Automations
Runs, errors and retries
Read the run log, check an automation with preflight, retry a failing step, catch failures with an On error path, and fix the common causes.
On this page
Every time an automation runs, Unobits records it. The run log is where you find out what an automation did, what it was given, and why a step failed.
Read the runs#
Open an automation and choose View runs, or open Execution Logs. Each run shows when it ran, its result, the steps it took and any warnings. The Overview’s Needs attention lists automations whose recent runs failed, and Last result on each automation shows how its latest run went.
Runs are kept for 30 days by default; see Settings.
Before it runs: preflight#
Validation & preflight checks an automation before you save or turn it on: a missing trigger, an action without required fields, a step your plan does not include (Donna steps need Pro or Enterprise), or a flow with unreachable steps or loops. An automation that fails preflight can be saved as a draft but will not run.
When a step fails#
Each action step in a flow has a Reliability section:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Retries on failure | Try the step again, up to 5 times |
| Retry delay (ms) | Wait before each retry; the wait grows with each attempt, up to 5 seconds |
When retries are used up, the flow stops at that step — unless you draw an On error connection from it. An On error path runs instead, so you can, for example, send yourself a notification that the step failed.
Common reasons a run fails#
| Symptom | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Never runs | The automation is off, fails preflight, or its trigger is alpha or planned — see Triggers |
| Runs too often | A condition is too loose, or a website trigger fires every check instead of once per outage |
| Send email fails | The mailbox is disconnected — reconnect it in Email |
| Google Sheets or Calendar step fails | The Google connection has expired — reconnect it |
| Donna step fails | Your plan does not include Donna steps, or the workspace is out of AI credits — see Credits and usage |
| Nothing runs anywhere | The Owner has paused all automations — a banner says “Automations are currently PAUSED organization-wide” |