How To Troubleshoot Flows And Automation Errors

This guide provides a step-by-step process to help you diagnose and resolve common issues you may encounter when running Flows.

Reviewing logs for insights

The first step in troubleshooting any Flow issue is to review the logs. Since Flows consist of multiple worker agents, it’s important to check both the main Flow logs and individual worker agent logs.

How to access logs

  1. Go to the Dashboard and click on the Flow you want to troubleshoot.
  2. In the URL, replace the word “dashboard” with “console” and press Enter. This will take you to the Flow’s console page.
  3. Click on the Activity tab.
  4. Hover over the specific launch you're interested in and click View log for detailed information:

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5. In the log, look for the Output box to check for any error messages or issues.

 

What to look for in a log

  • Error messages: Look for any error codes or descriptions that indicate what went wrong.
  • Incomplete actions: Check if the Flow stopped before fully completing the task. For example, this might happen if your PhantomBuster account runs out of execution time during the process.
  • Timing and delays: Review the timing of launches to identify any unexpected delays in the execution of worker agents.

 

Reviewing individual worker agent logs

💡 If a particular step in the Flow isn’t working as expected, checking individual worker agent logs can help you pinpoint the issue.

Flows consist of 2 or more worker agents, so it's essential to review the logs of individual agents if a specific part of the Flow isn’t functioning as expected.

  1. On the Flow's console page, go to the Activity tab.
  2. On the right side, you will see a list of worker agents.
  3. Click on any worker agent to open its console page.
  4. Hover over the specific launch and click View log to see the detailed information.
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  5. Check the Output box for any errors or issues related to that specific agent.

💡 For example, if the invitation step fails, click on the LinkedIn Auto Connect worker agent to investigate any issues with sending invitations.

 

Common issues with Flows and solutions

Below are some common problems you may encounter when running Flows and how to resolve them:

Reprocessing profiles with errors

⚠️ Once a profile has been processed by the Flow, it won't be reprocessed.

To manage profiles that returned errors, follow these steps:

  1. Download the CSV results file from the Flow’s Dashboard.
  2. Copy the errored profiles into a Google Sheet, and ensure sharing access is set to Anyone with the link.
  3. Create a new Flow and use the URL of the Google Sheet as the input file to reprocess the errored profiles.

 

Flow launched, but no immediate activity

💡There's usually a delay between launched the Flow and seeing immediate activity, as tasks are executed sequentially.

When a Flow is launched, tasks are executed in a sequence to ensure safe automation. This means you should expect a delay before actions (e.g., invitations or messages) are visible.

Wait for the Flow to complete the initial steps, such as gathering profiles. As the Flow progresses, you'll start to see actions (like invitations or messages) being sent.

 

Changing input after the Flow begins

⚠️ Once a Flow has been launched and is active, changing the input file is not recommended, as it can disrupt the Flow.

If you need to update the input:

  1. For a single URL as input: Launch a new Flow in your Dashboard to process the new URL.
  2. For a spreadsheet URL as input: You can add new entries to the last row of the spreadsheet, provided they are the same type of input. The Flow will automatically pick them up (e.g., if the input is LinkedIn search URLs, the new entries must also be LinkedIn search URLs).

 

Related guides

How To Set Up Your Phantoms and Flows

Troubleshooting “Your Sales Navigator URL Is Too Long” Error

Troubleshooting “Search Monthly Limit Reached” Error


You can contact Support at any time for additional details on your PhantomBuster workspace.

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