Common errors

Most error messages you see in a failed run come from the tool being called, not from Nodest — so the wording varies between services. What follows groups them by what they usually mean.

Before working through these, open the failed run and check the input the failing step received. That answers a surprising number of them on its own.

Unauthorised · Invalid token · 401 · 403

Means: the credentials aren't being accepted.

Usually because: an API key was regenerated, someone revoked Nodest's access at the provider, the account lost permission, or an application password was deleted.

Fix: reconnect the tool. Your automations pick it up with no editing needed.

Tell-tale sign: several unrelated automations failing at once. If they share a connection, that's the cause. See Reconnecting and revoking access.

A subtler version: the connection works, but the account it authenticates as lacks rights for this particular operation — reading is fine, writing fails. Check the account's permissions in the tool itself.

Field is required · Invalid value · Validation failed

Means: the tool rejected the data you sent.

Usually because: a mapped value was empty on this particular run. An optional field the customer left blank, an address that wasn't collected.

Fix: look at the step's recorded input to see which value arrived empty. Then either put a filter ahead of the step so it only runs when the data is there, or set a fixed fallback value.

Tell-tale sign: it works most of the time and fails occasionally. That intermittency is the signature of a data-dependent failure, not a configuration one.

Not found · 404 · No such record

Means: the thing you're pointing at doesn't exist.

Usually because: the resource was deleted or renamed after you configured the step — a database removed, a list archived, a channel deleted. The field still holds an identifier; it just points at nothing now.

Fix: open the step and re-select the destination. Where the field offers a dropdown, reselecting refreshes it against what currently exists.

Timeout · 502 · 503 · Service unavailable

Means: the other service was down or too slow to respond.

Usually because: a temporary outage on their side.

Fix: usually nothing — trigger the event again and it works. If it recurs at particular times, check the tool's own status page.

Rate limit · Too many requests · 429

Means: you sent more requests than the tool allows in a window.

Usually because: a burst of events — a bulk import, a sale, a migration — firing many runs at once. Steady traffic rarely hits this.

Fix: in the moment, nothing; the events after the burst succeed. To reduce it, filter earlier so fewer runs reach the step at all, or add a delay so work spreads out instead of arriving together.

Sub-automation is not active

Means: the automation being called is switched off.

Fix: activate the target automation. A sub-automation has to be active to be callable, exactly like any other automation.

Sub-automation has no start node

Means: the target isn't set up to be called.

Fix: add a sub-automation start node to it. That node is what marks an automation as an entry point; without one it can't be a target.

The run failed but the work was done

Not an error message, but a common and confusing situation.

Means: a step failed after earlier steps succeeded. Nothing is rolled back, so the record from step 2 exists even though step 3 failed.

Fix: check what completed before re-running anything, or you'll create duplicates. See Why an automation failed.

There's no run at all

Means: the automation never started — the trigger didn't fire or didn't reach Nodest.

Check: that the automation is active, and for WordPress that the plugin is active and outbound requests aren't blocked. See WordPress troubleshooting.

The run completed but nothing happened

Means: a filter didn't match, so the steps after it were skipped. The run is marked completed because it executed correctly and decided there was nothing to do.

Check: the filter's recorded input. It's often a near-miss — a status of processing where you filtered for completed.