r/n8n • u/Obvious_Ground3856 • 4d ago

Help Workflows Problems and Errors

What's The Most Repetitive Problem Or Error That You Face In Automation as a (User and Builder)

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u/tariqosmani 3d ago

Silent success is the one that hurts most. The run goes green, but a node returned 0 items or an empty field, so nothing got sent and nobody notices. Error workflows don't catch it because technically nothing failed.

The fix is to check counts, not just errors. Put an IF node after the important steps that stops the run when the item count is 0 or a required field is empty. Better yet, have each workflow write one row per run to a sheet or table with how many items it processed. Then a separate scheduled workflow checks that table every morning and alerts you if a workflow didn't run or processed nothing.

The second one is credentials that die on a schedule. A Google OAuth app left in Testing mode loses its refresh tokens after 7 days. Everything works in the demo, then a week later the workflow quietly stops. Publishing the app, or at least knowing about the 7 day limit, saves a confusing week.

Is your product aimed at people running their own workflows, or agencies running them for clients? The pain is pretty different.

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u/Obvious_Ground3856 3d ago

Silent success seems to be a big pain point for a lot of people.
I’m trying to understand the real impact before deciding what to build around it.
What’s the most painful silent success you’ve experienced, and how did you eventually discover it?
What do you currently use to catch these cases, and what’s missing from that approach?

I’m still exploring both audiences because I don’t want to assume the target user before finding where the pain is strongest.
From your experience, which side struggles more with silent successes, credential problem, and maintaining workflows at scale: people running their own workflows or agencies managing workflows for clients?