agent's field fill passed validation but broke the salesforce flow: config error
Fixes field fills that pass validation yet break flows: the flow's entry criteria or logic depends on the old value. Coordinate field updates with flow logic. Use when flows misbehave after agent updates. Not for validation errors.
TL;DR
The agent's update was schema-valid, but a flow keyed on that field's value (or its change) misfired. Read the flow's entry criteria and decision elements for the updated field, then shape the update to satisfy both the validation rules and the flow's expectations. Valid data can still be wrong data for the automation.
Error
(No error; the symptom is a flow sending wrong notifications or updating wrong records after the agent's field fill.)Steps
- Identify the misbehaving flow and read its entry criteria and decisions involving the filled field. Expected: you see the assumption the update violated.
- Compare the agent's filled value against what the flow expects. Expected: the mismatch, often a picklist value the flow did not anticipate.
- Fix the value or the flow: usually the flow needs the new legitimate value added to its logic. Expected: an explicit decision, not a hack.
- Re-run the affected records through the corrected flow. Expected: correct behavior.
- Add the flow's expectations to the agent's pre-write checks for that field. Expected: future fills respect the automation.
When to use
- Flows misbehave after agent field updates.
- An agent fills fields that flows depend on.
- After adding new picklist values, flows act strangely.
When not to use
- Validation rule rejections (different error).
- Flow faults (the flow crashed, different fix).
Tool compatibility
- Salesforce flows; field update jobs.
- Flow debug and versioning.
Variant phrasings
valid update broke the flow
Coordinate the value with flow logic.
flow misfired after field fill
Read the flow's expectations for that field.
Why it happens
Flows encode assumptions about field values that predate the agent. The agent introduces legitimate new values the flow's author never imagined, and the flow's logic goes off the rails.
Edge cases
- Multiple flows can depend on the same field; check all of them.
- Flow versions: the misbehavior may be in an older active version.
- Test field-fill changes against flows in a sandbox first.
Provenance
Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst95s1ZGTFSTJvvhlOTjjMg