Initial advice: Check the activity log
Checking the activity log for your automation can tell you how far the automation is getting before it is experiencing issues. You can find this by clicking on your active automation, pressing the three dots at the top right and selecting Activity log.
You will then see previous runs of the automation, including ones that have failed. Clicking on them, a side bar will then appear with more precise information about where the automation broke down, along with any issues found.
This is very useful for pinpointing the problem and, while not providing explicit answers, can tell us where the problem lies – allowing us to do more focussed troubleshooting.
To streamline the process, you can also click Status at the top of the activity log menu, which allows you to filter your view to find automation runs faster. This not only allows you to find failed automations quickly, but also automations that were completed without action.
This is useful for identifying automations that were triggered successfully but finished without executing any action nodes. In these cases, the automation didn’t technically fail, but it also didn’t achieve the intended outcome. As a result, these issues can subtle and therefore easy to miss.
Important to note: This type of issue often occurs when filters aren’t configured correctly to check for the intended conditions. It’s therefore always a good idea to review your filters. You can learn more about using filters correctly here.
Changed or Duplicated Automation – Wrong Trigger
Problem:
When you edit or duplicate an automation, Superchat does not automatically adjust the trigger to match your new use case. You might end up with the old trigger still active.
Fix:
Open the automation and check the Trigger at the start of the flow (e.g. New or Reopened Conversation, Message Received, Manual Trigger).
Make sure it matches what you actually want this automation to react to. Check our Triggers & Filters page to learn more.
Publish the automation again if you have made changes.
Using “New Incoming Message” Without a Filter
Problem:
Using the “New Incoming Message” trigger without a message filter causes the automation to fire for every single incoming message in the channel or workspace. This can quickly make the automation chaotic and hard to control, as a new incoming message can trigger the same automation again while the first run is still in progress, leading to duplicate runs, unexpected behavior, or loops.
Fix:
Add a Filter directly after the trigger. You can find filters by searching for Filter in the search bar when adding a new node. Once selected, you can choose from different filter options, the most commonly used being:
Message filter (for specific keywords)
Label filter
If in doubt, switch to “New or Reopened Conversation” instead - it’s usually the safer and more predictable option.
Wrong Filter Type or Input
Problem:
Filters are powerful but strict. If you pick the wrong filter type, your automation will never run. A very common mistake is using “Equals” - when the message much match the given value exactly - instead of “Contains” - when a message need only have the given value somewhere within it. Another common issue is using the wrong input (e.g. label name, channel name), which also means the automation will never run.
Fix:
Check:
Are you using the correct filter type? You can click here for our filter table to understand each one’s property and how they should be used.
Is the value correct? (Spelling, label name, channel selection)
If you're still facing problems, test your automation with a very simple filter first, then make it more specific.
Saving a Contact Attribute in the Wrong Format
Problem:
If you save an email into a contact attribute but choose the wrong type/format (e.g. “text” instead of “email”), it can cause validation issues or make the data hard to use later.
Fix:
Go to Settings → Contacts → Contact Attributes.
Check the attribute type (e.g. Email, Text, Number) and make sure the attribute used in your automation is set to the right Data Type, e.g. Date when storing a birthday.
If wrong, create a new Contact Attribute with the correct Data Type and replace it in the automation, then test the automation again.
Note: If an attribute is set in a contact already, the data type cannot be changed. It is therefore normally then just easier to create a new Contact Attribute altogether when trying to change data type. You can find out more about Contact Attributes here.
Attributes Not Updating via Webhook
Problem:
In Superchat, contact attributes that already contain a value cannot be overwritten by a webhook. If an attribute (for example, Telephone Number or Lead source) is already filled, Superchat will ignore any new value sent via webhook for that same attribute.
This means the webhook is received successfully, but the existing attribute value remains unchanged. Because no error is shown, this can look like the webhook is not working, even though it is.
Fix:
Either:
Add a step in your external system to clear the attribute first, or
Add in an Update Contact node in Superchat to reset the attribute before the webhook to ensure the value is empty.
Publish the automation and then send the new value via webhook again.
Cannot Publish Automation
Problem:
Sometimes Superchat refuses to publish an automation because something is missing or misconfigured (e.g. empty nodes, invalid filters, missing action details). Usually, error messages will tell you what is causing the issue and you should be able to pinpoint the problem and solve it.
Fix:
Check each node from top to bottom for:
Red warning icons or error messages
Incomplete actions (e.g. “Send message” without content)
Filters with no conditions
Fix or remove any incomplete steps, then try publishing again.
AI Agent Not Triggering
Problem:
Your AI Agent doesn’t seem to respond, even though you expect it to.
Fix:
Check the Activity Log
Go to the Activity log and find the failed conversation automation. Check if the AI Agent node was executed at all or if another automation is still running.
If it hasn’t fired and the error message doesn't mention any specific issues found, look into the automation prior and check that all conditions it was expected to meet have been set up successfully.
Check the Trigger & Filters
Is the automation actually firing for that channel/label/message?
Check that the correct AI Agent has been selected for that channel.
Has a different AI Agent been selected with different parameters and prompts?
Automation Not Running Because It’s Not Published
Problem:
Sounds obvious, but it happens: you’ve built or changed an automation and forgotten to publish it. In that case, nothing will ever run.
Fix:
Open the automation and check the status at the top.
If you see the option to Publish, the automation is still just a draft and isn't live.
If you see the option to Update, the automation is live but has changes that are not live.If it's not published, you can go ahead and click Publish. If you have made changes, you can press Update.
Test the automation again with a new conversation or message
Note: Automations always use the published version that was active at the moment it was triggered. This means that publishing a new version of an automation does not affect conversations that started prior to the update.
Message Content Filter Issues
Problem:
You’re using a message content filter (e.g. “Message contains…”) but it doesn’t seem to match, so the automation never runs. For an overview of filters and how to use them, click here.
Fix:
Check if the filter is applied to the correct message type (incoming vs. outgoing).
Verify the text you’re checking for extra spaces or emojis.
Try a broader condition first:
Start with “contains” and a single keyword instead of a long phrase
Test with a simple message that clearly matches the filter (e.g. send exactly that keyword).
If it works with a simple case, then refine your filter step by step.
Automations Running Outside of 23-hour Window
Problem:
Meta limits WhatsApp replies to the 24 hours after a customer’s last message. Once this window closes, free-form messages and AI Agent replies are blocked, so any automation trying to send a normal message will fail unless it uses an approved template.
Fix:
Set your automations to check the conversation age and switch to a WhatsApp template if the 23-hour window has expired. Using faster triggers and shorter delays also helps ensure replies are sent while the window is still open.