> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.shortcutco.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.shortcutco.com/readme/automations/troubleshooting-an-automation-didnt-fire.md).
# Troubleshooting: an automation didn't fire
Find out exactly why a campaign or built-in automation didn't message a customer, using health, Activity, run details, and receipts.
If a customer didn't get a message you expected, work through these checks in order. For campaigns, Shortcut records the reason for nearly everything, so you rarely have to guess.
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Find the automation on the list
Open [Automations](https://shortcutco.com/settings/automations) and search for it. Check the badge:
* **No badge**: a campaign. Keep going with these steps.
* **Library** or **Legacy**: a built-in or older automation. Skip to [Library and legacy automations](#library-and-legacy-automations).
* **Built-in**: Review requests. See [Review requests](/readme/automations/review-requests.md).
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Check its status and health
* **Status** needs to be **Live**. A **Draft** has never been started. A **Stopped** or **Archived** campaign isn't taking anyone new.
* **Health** tells you if something went wrong. **N needs attention** means a run failed, or a message failed, bounced, was blocked, or has an unknown outcome.
The **Needs attention** tab lists every campaign that has at least one of these.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Did the start happen after it went live?
Campaigns only react to what happens **after** they go live. For example, a campaign that starts on **Visit scheduled** won't remind anyone about visits that were already on the calendar when you published it.
If the campaign starts **When customers meet conditions**, customers who already matched when you published are left out, unless you ticked **Include existing matches from audience starts** on the first publish.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Look for the customer in Activity
Open the campaign → **Activity**.
* **Event starts** shows every time a matching event happened and what Shortcut decided:
* **Started**: a run began.
* **Did not match**: the conditions weren't met, or the customer already met one of the campaign's exits.
* **Repeat limit**: they already went through, or are inside the cooldown. Check **Run settings**.
* **Already running**: they're partway through a run for the same record, so a second one didn't start.
* **Before activation**: it happened before the campaign went live.
* **Needs attention**: Shortcut didn't have the information to decide. See **Start checks** on **Overview**.
* **Runs**: open **Advanced filters**, type the **Customer name**, and click **Apply filters**. Click **›** on their run to open it.
Some reasons show as short codes, like `stale_date`. Look them up under [Common reason codes](#common-reason-codes) at the end of this page.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Read the run
The run drawer shows **Started**, **Ended**, **Reason**, the **Version** it ran on, and **Steps so far**.
* **Still active?** The last row under **Steps so far** shows **Waiting** and what it's waiting for: a **Delay**, a **Date wait**, a **Sending window**, a **Wait for event**, or a text held until 8:00 AM. It carries on when that's done.
* **Stopped?** Check the **Reason**: the campaign was stopped or archived, someone stopped this run, an exit matched (for example, the invoice was paid), or the date it was waiting for passed or moved.
* **Running an older version?** Runs finish on the version they started with. A fix you published later only applies to new runs.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Open the receipt
Click **Receipt** on the message (or **›** on it in **Messages**). The status tells you where it stopped:
* **Skipped**: it didn't apply. The reason is shown; see [Common reason codes](#common-reason-codes) if it's a short code.
* **Accepted by provider** / **Awaiting confirmation**: it was handed off. The provider hasn't confirmed delivery yet.
* **Delivered**: the provider confirmed it reached the customer's email or phone. Ask them to check spam, or their messages from your number.
* **Bounced** or **Failed**: it didn't get there. Check the address, fix it on the customer's record, and **Retry** if the button is there.
* **Outcome unknown**: Shortcut can't tell if it went. It won't retry on its own, so check with the customer before sending anything else.
The receipt shows **exactly** what was sent and where, so you can confirm the address and wording.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Check the customer's contact details and opt-outs
* No email or mobile number on file means nothing to send. That shows as **Skipped**.
* A customer who replied **STOP** isn't texted by any automation. Neither is a number your team has blocked. Only the customer can undo it, by texting **START**. Email is unaffected.
* An email address that bounced or marked you as spam shows a badge on the customer's record, and emails are held until the address is fixed. A customer can also turn off billing, marketing, or service emails from you. That shows no badge, so check their profile under **⋯ → Email preferences**. Which kind a campaign email counts as depends on what started the run. For example, an overdue-invoice campaign sends billing emails and a seasonal offer sends marketing emails. See [Which kind a campaign email is](/readme/finances-invoices-and-payments/customer-email-preferences.md#which-kind-a-campaign-email-is).
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Check the timing
* Campaign texts to customers only go out between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM in the campaign's timezone. A text that reaches its step overnight shows **Waiting**, then goes at 8:00 AM.
* Emails, and texts to your team, go out as soon as their step is reached. A **Sending window** is the only thing that holds them.
* A **Date wait** on a visit or due date counts from the start of that day. "1 day before" means just after midnight the day before, then any sending window after it.
* A reminder set **before** a date is dropped once that date arrives. A visit booked for tomorrow still gets its reminder if there's sending-window time left today; one booked for today doesn't. A Monday–Friday window after a "before" wait drops reminders for Sunday and Monday visits.
* Everything uses the timezone in the campaign's **Run settings**.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### If a customer got a message they shouldn't have
* **Two messages for the same thing?** A campaign and a Library automation may be doing the same job, for example **Overdue invoice recovery** and **Invoice Overdue**. **Deactivate** one.
* **A customer you'd deactivated?** Campaigns don't check that on their own. Add **Customer account status** **is** **active** to the start's conditions.
* **Paid by cash or check but still reminded?** [Mark the invoice as paid](/readme/finances-invoices-and-payments/mark-an-invoice-as-paid-manual.md) so the invoice exit and balance checks see it.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## Library and legacy automations
Built-in and older automations don't have receipts or run drawers. Check these instead:
* **Is it on?** The row should show **Live** and **Healthy**. If it shows **Stopped**, open **⋮ → Activate**.
* **Is it the right one?** **Proposal Reminder** only follows a proposal that was already sent. **Job Rescheduled** only runs when a scheduled visit moves. **Invoice Overdue** only runs once an invoice is past due by the set number of days.
* **Did the trigger still apply when it was due?** **Proposal Reminder** skips proposals that have been accepted. **Payment Failed** won't send if a newer payment on that invoice is going through or has already succeeded.
* **Delays and send windows.** Open it and check any **After...** or **Wait until...** steps.
* **Day-Before Reminder stopped sending?** If your company published a campaign that starts on **Day before service (grouped per customer)**, that campaign replaced it for good. The Library row may still say **Live**. Check the campaign instead.
## Common reason codes
What the short codes on Activity rows and receipts mean
| Code | Meaning |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `sms_opted_out` | The customer replied STOP. |
| `sms_blocked` | Your team blocked this number. |
| `billing_email_disabled` / `service_email_disabled` / `marketing_email_disabled` | The customer turned off that kind of email from you. Check **⋯ → Email preferences** on their profile. |
| `complaint` / `hard_bounce` | The customer marked an earlier email as spam, or the address bounced. Fix the address on the customer's record. |
| `tenant_suppressed` / `policy_paused` | Shortcut has paused email for your company. Email us. |
| `email_complaint_suppressed` | Shown on older messages. Shortcut held the email for one of the reasons above. Check **⋯ → Email preferences** on their profile. |
| `recipient_unavailable` | No usable email or mobile number for this recipient. |
| `visit_group_no_eligible_visits` / `visit_group_stale` | The visits for the day-before reminder were canceled, moved, or completed before it sent. |
| `invoice_payment_pending` / `invoice_payment_failure_superseded` | A payment is going through, so the failure or overdue message was held back. |
| `stale_date` | The message was out of date by the time it could go: the date it was waiting for had arrived, passed, or moved. |
| `provider_rejected` | The email or text provider refused it. **Retry** may be offered. |
| `provider_outcome_unknown` | Shortcut couldn't confirm whether it went. It won't retry automatically. |
| `automation_stopped` / `automation_archived` | The campaign was stopped or archived while this run was in progress. |
| `run_stopped_by_admin` | Someone clicked **Stop this run**. |
| `quiet_hours_hold` | A text to the customer reached its step outside 8:00 AM–8:00 PM. It's waiting until 8:00 AM. |
| `quiet_hours_released` | A held text was released at 8:00 AM. Its delivery shows on the text's own row. |
| `subject_deleted` | The visit this run was about was deleted, for example when a series was rescheduled or the job was edited, so the run ended. |
| `occurrence_closed_as_handled` | Someone used **Mark handled** on the visit in Dispatch. Campaign steps about a visit closed that way are skipped: nothing messages the customer, tags them, or notifies your team. |
| `delay_pending` / `window_pending` / `date_wait_pending` / `condition_pending` | The run is waiting on a Delay, Sending window, Date wait, or Wait for event step. |
{% hint style="info" %}
Still stuck?
Email **** with:
* the campaign or automation name
* the customer name
* what you expected to happen and when
* a screenshot of the run drawer or receipt (or, for a Library automation, of its settings)
{% endhint %}