SHOPIFY FLOW

Shopify Flow workflow not running: what to check

Short answer: open the failed run and read the error message. Shopify says a run that hits an error is marked as failed and the message shows in the run details. That message tells you which of two families you are in: a temporary (transient) error that Flow keeps retrying, or a permanent error that will fail every time until you change the workflow. If there are no runs at all, the trigger is not firing, so check that the workflow is activated and that your test matches the trigger.

Step 1: Test the workflow with test data

Shopify's own troubleshooting page suggests testing a workflow with test event data before you activate it, to confirm it does what you expect. Do that first. It saves you from guessing on live orders. After you activate it, make a real change that should trigger it, such as placing a test order, and watch for a new run.

Step 2: Match the trigger exactly

Each workflow starts with one trigger, for example "Order created". If your test is a different event, nothing runs. An order edited later is not the same event as an order created. Read the trigger name literally and make the test match it. Then look at the conditions right after the trigger: a condition that is never true means the actions never run, and the run may look empty.

Step 3: Read the run details

Open the workflow's runs and click a failed one. Shopify lists the common errors and what they mean.

Transient errors are temporary. Flow retries them until they succeed or hit a time limit, with longer pauses between attempts. A workflow with transient errors often sits in the running state for a long time. Shopify says every section of a workflow has a combined upper limit of 36 hours, and if a step with transient errors has not succeeded by then, the workflow fails. A wait step starts a new section. Occasional transient errors are normal. If the same one shows up across many runs, Shopify says the workflow may need to be reconfigured.

Common transient messages from the page:

• Step timed out: usually a task is trying to query too much data in one section. It often happens in workflows that loop through lists, especially nested lists. While it happens, the trigger or wait step shows as retrying. Shopify's advice is to review conditions that read lists and check that they are set up correctly. Its example: a condition that checks all the products in the shop instead of only the products in the order.
• 5XX status: an HTTP call failed with an error between 500 and 599. One occurrence is not a problem. Repeated ones may point to the server on the other end, not your setup.
• GraphQL throttled: the work a workflow does is limited by API rate limits, which depend partly on your plan. Shopify says you normally only hit them when a workflow is very complex or has a design error, such as looping over a huge list or an infinite loop. Its example of a loop: a workflow that starts on "Customer tags added" and includes the "Add customer tags" action keeps creating new runs. Shopify warns this can affect other workflows, so fix it quickly.

Permanent errors cannot be retried. Shopify's example is an email action with an invalid address. Others on the page:

• A required resource is missing, for example an order created without a customer, followed by an action that needs a customer. Shopify suggests a condition before the action that checks the customer exists, or putting actions in parallel branches.
• "Missing resource": the customer or order was deleted before the workflow could read it, most often after a wait step.
• Google Sheets permission: if Flow lost access to your Google account or the sheet, reconnect the account and make sure it has edit access to the sheet.

Step 4: Look at runs that never finish

Shopify describes two warnings. "Running for too long" usually means the workflow fetches a large amount of data, such as all metafields for all products in all collections. Selecting a single metafield, or using a "Get data" action with a query filter, often fixes it. "Processing too much data" usually means a condition checks many fields across several layers of lists. Both are about making the workflow ask for less.

Step 5: Count workflows on the same trigger

When you activate a workflow, Flow can warn that more than 10 active workflows use the same trigger. Shopify says each event then has to be processed by all of them, which can slow things down. Its suggestions: combine them into one workflow with branches and conditions, deactivate the ones you no longer need, or use a more specific trigger.

Step 6: Fix it, then retry the old runs

Once the workflow is fixed, Shopify says past failed runs can be retried manually to correct earlier results. That is useful when orders passed through while it was broken. Check the current Flow page on retrying runs for the exact buttons.

Step 7: Get told when it breaks next time

Shopify describes a "Workflow error occurred" trigger. You can build a small workflow on it that emails you or posts to Slack, and Shopify provides templates for both. It sends one notice per workflow version, which keeps the noise down.

When to hire help

Bring someone in when the workflow touches money, inventory or customer emails and the failures are intermittent, when you keep hitting throttling on a big catalogue, or when you need a design that survives the limits. Tidewell reads the workflow and its run history, tells you what is broken and agrees the price before changing anything. Send the workflow's purpose and the error text from a failed run: tell us what is happening. We never ask for your password.

Questions

Is Shopify Flow free?

Shopify's Flow page calls it a free app available on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans. Some features depend on the plan, for example the Send HTTP Request action needs Grow, Advanced or Plus.

Why did it work yesterday?

Something changed: an app connection, a deleted record, a bigger catalogue or a new workflow looping on the same trigger. The dates on the failed runs show when it started.

Can one bad workflow hurt the others?

Per Shopify, yes. A throttled workflow can affect other workflows when they try to run, and Flow can deliberately limit runs on a store whose workflows use too many resources.