Run and step statuses
What each status means on a run and on the individual steps inside it.
A run has a status, and so does every step inside it. They answer different questions: the run tells you whether the execution finished, each step tells you what happened at that point in the path.
Run statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Queued, not started yet |
| In progress | Currently executing, or waiting inside a delay |
| Completed | Reached the end without error |
| Failed | A step returned an error; the run stopped there |
| Cancelled | Stopped before finishing |
Step statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Queued | Waiting to execute |
| Running | Executing now |
| Completed | Finished successfully |
| Failed | Returned an error |
| Sleeping | Waiting — a delay, or a sub-automation call that hasn't returned |
| Skipped | Not executed, because the path didn't reach it |
| Cancelled | Stopped before it could run |
Completed doesn't mean everything ran
This is the one that surprises people.
When a filter doesn't match, that filter step is marked skipped, and the steps after it are skipped too — but the run itself still ends as completed. It executed correctly and correctly decided there was nothing to do.
So a completed run is not proof that your action fired. In a well-filtered automation, most runs complete having deliberately done nothing. To check whether the work actually happened, look at the step statuses, not the run status.
Skipped steps are the normal signal that a filter or branch sent the run down a different path.
Failed stops everything after it
When a step fails, the run is marked failed and no later step executes. Steps that already completed are not undone — see Why an automation failed.
Sleeping means still in progress
A step sits at sleeping in two cases: it's a delay waiting out its duration, or it's a sub-automation call waiting for the child run to finish.
Either way the run is still live, and it can stay that way for days if the delay is long. A sleeping run isn't stuck.
Reading a run quickly
Scan the step statuses in order:
- All completed — everything ran
- Completed, then skipped — a filter or branch ended that path; check its input to see why
- Completed, then failed — the failure is at the boundary; everything before it already happened
- Ends at sleeping — still waiting, come back later
Which statuses count toward my plan
Steps that reach completed or failed count toward your monthly actions. Steps that are skipped do not.
That's the practical argument for filtering early: a run that skips ten steps costs you far less than one that runs them.
