outreach 'sequence step not found' after someone renamed the sequence the agent targets

TL;DR

Someone renamed the sequence and the agent's cached sequence id or step map no longer matches. Resolve the sequence by name at runtime, rebuild the step list from the live sequence, and fail loudly with the new name when the lookup misses so a human can confirm the rename.

outreach 'sequence step not found' after someone renamed the sequence the agent targets

Steps

1. List sequences through the Outreach API and search for the sequence by its current name. Confirm whether it still exists under a new name. Expected: you find the sequence and its current id.

2. Pull the live step list for that sequence id and compare it against the agent's cached steps. Expected: you can see which step names or ids changed.

3. Update the agent to resolve the sequence by name on every run instead of using a hardcoded id, and to fetch the step list fresh each time. Expected: the next rename no longer breaks the agent.

4. Re-run the failed operation against the live step list. Expected: the step resolves and the operation succeeds.

5. Add a guard: if the sequence name no longer resolves, stop and alert the operator with the last-known name instead of guessing at a different sequence. Expected: renames page a human instead of silently targeting the wrong sequence.

Use this when

• 'sequence step not found' appears after a human edited sequence names.
• The agent stores sequence ids or step ids in config or memory.
• The sequence exists in the UI but the agent cannot find it.

Not for this skill when

• The sequence was deleted, not renamed.
• The error is a permission problem on sequences.
• The API itself is down or returning 500s.

Variant phrasings

• "outreach sequence renamed agent can't find steps"
• "sequence step not found after rename outreach"
• "outreach cached sequence id stale"

Why it happens

Outreach sequences are renamed freely in the UI, but agents cache the id-to-step mapping from an earlier run. Renames can also reshuffle step positions. The agent keeps addressing a step map that no longer describes the live sequence, so the lookup misses.

Edge cases

• Two sequences can share similar names after a rename. Match on the exact name and confirm the owner before switching ids.
• Archived sequences still resolve by id in some endpoints but have no active steps. Check the sequence state, not just its existence.
• If steps were reordered as well as renamed, position-based logic breaks too. Address steps by id from the fresh fetch.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_fa5MZNLLi2TTLVBYdhn4wQ