Troubleshooting
Start here: the four checks
Most automation problems come down to one of four things. Check them in order before digging deeper.
| # | Check | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The automation's status is Running | Automations list |
| 2 | Automation Status is on | Application Settings → Triggers |
| 3 | Queue driver is Database, with a worker running | Application Settings |
| 4 | The scheduler is firing automation:waiting_pool | Cron Settings |
Checks 3 and 4 account for the large majority of "my automation isn't working" reports.
Nothing is enrolled at all
No contact ever enters the workflow — the first action shows zero sends.
Likely causes
- The automation is Paused. Only a Running automation enrols contacts.
- Automation Status is off globally, which disables every automation.
- The trigger doesn't match. A Contact is added to a list trigger pointed at a different list than the one receiving contacts is a classic.
- Subscribers Custom Criteria is narrower than you think, and no contact satisfies it.
- Skip Un-confirmed is on and your contacts never confirmed.
What to do
Add a test contact directly to the target list and watch the statistics. If the count stays at zero, the problem is the trigger or the status, not sending.
Contacts enrol, then freeze
The first email goes out, then nothing — contacts stack up at a Wait or a condition.
This is the scheduler, almost every time.
Contacts inside a Wait or a pending condition sit in the waiting pool until
automation:waiting_pool releases them. No scheduler, no release, and they wait
indefinitely.
What to do
- Confirm Mumara's cron entry is installed and firing.
- Open Cron Settings and check
automation_waitingpoolhas a sensible interval and a recent run time. - Use Run Now to run it manually. If contacts advance immediately, your scheduler isn't firing.
- If a previous run is stuck and blocking, use Force Run.
The interval is in minutes. 60 or less runs every n minutes; above 60 is converted to whole hours. Zero or a non-numeric value disables the job entirely — an easy way to accidentally stop every automation on the system.
Triggers-tab settings won't save
You switch Automation Status on, save, reload, and your settings are gone.
Cause: the queue driver is not database.
Mumara requires the Database driver: "First, you need to set the queue driver from 'Sync' to 'Database' in the application settings."
In versions before Automations 3.1, turning Automation Status on and saving silently discarded the whole block — including the waiting pool driver and list selection options — on any installation not running the database queue. No error was shown. Turning it off saved correctly, which made it look inconsistent rather than broken. Updating to 3.1 fixes it; see the changelog.
Emails aren't being sent
Contacts advance through the workflow but no email arrives.
Likely causes
- The sending node failed. Mumara pauses the automation and shows "Your SMTP failed. For more details visit the Issues page." Check Issues for the reason.
- The automation was system-paused after that failure and nobody resumed it. Enable Automatically resume system-paused Automations to have this handled for you.
- Skip Un-confirmed is excluding the contacts.
- A specific execution time is set and the contacts are waiting for it. Check the If time passed on same day setting — Next Day holds them until tomorrow.
A condition always takes the No branch
Everyone is treated as unengaged, even people you know opened the email.
Likely causes
- Tracking was off on the referenced email. A condition reads tracking data; without it there's nothing to evaluate. Mumara warns "First, open the tracking with linked email" — open the Send an Email action and switch on Track Opens (or Track Clicks).
- The delay is too short. A condition that waits an hour classifies almost everyone as unengaged. Give opens a couple of days.
- The wrong email is referenced. Check Select Workflow Email points at the step you meant.
Enabling tracking now doesn't recover data for contacts who already passed through. They were evaluated with no tracking data and took the No branch.
Open or click triggers never fire
An automation triggered by When a contact opens an email or clicks on a link enrols nobody.
Likely causes
- The source broadcast had tracking off. No opens or clicks were recorded, so there is nothing to trigger on.
- The expiry window elapsed. The trigger's duration has passed and it no longer accepts enrolments.
- The automation was set Running after the campaign started. It won't pick up engagement that already happened: "If the campaign has started and the status of automation is changed into running later, then automation will not proceed." Set the automation Running before sending the campaign.
- For click triggers set to Custom, the contact clicked a link that isn't in your nominated list.
Automations stop part-way through the month
Everything works, then stops, then starts again next month.
Cause: a Monthly Actions Limit was reached. The Automations page warns "You have already used N actions this month."
What to do
- Raise the limit on the package (-1 for unlimited).
- Decide what happens at reset with Reset Automation Limit — Resume restarts paused automations automatically, Skip leaves them paused.
- Check the per-user override on the user's profile Automation tab, which governs that user.
"You've reached the maximum number of actions"
You can't add another step to a workflow.
Cause: the Maximum Actions in a single Automation limit, which defaults to 30. Raise it on the package, or split the journey across two automations — have the first end with an Operation that copies contacts to a list whose own automation continues the story.
The List-Unsubscribe header is missing
You enabled it, but the header isn't in the received message.
Check, in order
- You're on Automations 3.1 or later. Earlier versions never sent the header from an automation at all.
- The master switch is on — Add List-Unsubscribe header in the Send an Email action's Setup step.
- At least one sub-option is on. With both Unsubscribe Link and Unsubscribe Email off, there's nothing to put in the header.
- The address is filled in if you're using Unsubscribe Email.
- You're looking at a real send. Test previews don't resolve system variables.
Remember this is separate from Unsubscribe-Link, which controls the link in the email body.
"There is no birthday field selected!"
A date-based automation warns that no date field is available.
Cause: the contact list has no date custom field to read.
Create a date custom field on the list, populate it for your contacts, then set the trigger. For a birthday that should recur annually, switch Exclude Year on — see Triggers.
Contacts get the same email twice
Usually a copy loop between automations.
An Operation that copies a contact into another list fires that list's Contact is added to a list automation. If that automation copies them back, the two feed each other.
What to do
- Map your hand-offs before building.
- Use Move rather than Copy where the contact shouldn't stay on both.
- Set If Duplicates Found to Skip duplicate.
- Check whether the destination list has its own automation before pointing an Operation at it.
Edits are refused
You can't change a node.
Cause: the automation is Running. Pause it, edit, then resume.
Bear in mind the pause is a genuine coverage gap — contacts who trigger during it aren't enrolled. Keep the window short on busy automations.
Still stuck?
Gather this before asking for help:
- The automation's status and trigger type.
- Whether the first action shows any sends in statistics.
- Your queue driver, and whether a worker is running.
- The last run time of
automation:waiting_poolfrom Cron Settings. - Anything on the Issues page for the sending node.
- Your Automations version, from Setup → Add-ons.