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Test an automation with a dry run

A dry run walks through every step of an automation without changing anything. Use it to check an automation before it touches real records or real customers.

Run a dry run

1. Open Tools in the sidebar, choose Automations and open the automation.
2. Click the arrow next to Run now.
3. Choose Dry run (test).

When it finishes you see "Dry run complete" and each step on the flow map is marked: a green check for a step that passed, a red X for a step that failed, and a dash for a step that was skipped. A skipped step is normal, for example the branch of a condition that was not taken.

What a dry run does and does not do

A dry run reads your real data, so lookups return what they would in a live run. Everything that would change something is simulated instead:

• Records are not created, updated or deleted.
• Emails are not sent.
• Text messages and in-app notifications are not sent.
• Requests to outside services are not made.
• Actions in connected apps are not run.

For an automation triggered by a record, the dry run uses a sample record built from the table's fields, because no real record started it.

A dry run does not use a run credit, so test as often as you like.

Preview emails

If a step would send email, that step in the run history shows a link such as "1 email · Preview". Click it to see exactly what would have been sent and to whom. You can adjust the email template from the same preview.

Read the result

The Run History panel beside the flow map lists the dry run with each step's message. A failed step shows its error under the step name.

Hover a failed step and click Fix. The assistant opens with the automation, the step and the error already filled in, and proposes a correction. Then run the dry run again.

Then run it for real

• Click Run now to run it once with real effects.
• Click Activate so it runs on its trigger from now on.

Run a dry run after every change, including small ones. It takes a few seconds and it is the only way to see what an automation would do without doing it.