Workflow runs, retries and errors

Every workflow run, test or production, is recorded with each step’s input, output and outcome. This page covers how to follow runs, what their statuses mean, and how retries and failures work.

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Follow a run

Select Past runs in the dock under the canvas. Filter by Test or Production (or hide reruns), by date or by status, then select a run to open its detail:

• the trigger input and the run’s final output;
• one row per step, in order, with its status, detail, input and output — inside a loop, one row per item, and inside a parallel step, one row per agent;
• what the run’s model and connected-app calls cost, in GBP.

When a run from Fill in form or a schedule is waiting, Hive tells you where, for example “…is waiting at Draft the reply — follow it in Past runs”.

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Run statuses

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Step statuses

A failed step also names the kind of failure: the model provider, a permission refusal, an internal error, no runner available, or a connected app that is unavailable.

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Why an action was not sent

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Cancel a run

Select Cancel run on a run that is still going. You can give a reason (up to 500 characters). Actions already taken are not undone; check the audit log to reverse the reversible ones.

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On error: retries and continuing

Each step except the trigger has an On error choice: Only these steps retry: Hive agent, Parallel agents (each agent on its own), Action, Web search, Generate image and AI Condition. Between attempts Hive waits 0.5 s, then 1 s, 2 s and so on, never more than 30 s. A step can allow up to 10 attempts when its policy is set in an exported workflow. Continue with empty output has rules:

• A later step cannot read a step that may continue; Hive refuses to deploy if it does.
• Conditions and outputs cannot continue — a failed condition decides nothing.
• A refusal always stops the run, whatever the policy: an action above the role, a run that is not funded, a step your workspace cannot run, or an app that needs connecting first.

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The 500-step run budget

A run records at most 500 step executions. Hive counts the worst case when you deploy and refuses a workflow that could exceed it:

• a retrying step counts once per possible attempt (3 by default);
• a Parallel agents step counts 1, plus each agent’s attempts;
• a loop counts 1, plus Max iterations times everything inside it, plus 2 more for each wait inside it on every iteration.

For example, a loop of 50 items around one agent step (3 attempts) costs 1 + 50 × 3 = 151. Lower Max iterations, or the retries inside the loop, to fit. When the workflow assistant drafts a workflow, it lowers a loop’s limit to fit on its own and tells you.

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Timeouts

A Wait until a value appears fails after its timeout (24 hours by default, up to 30 days). Hive has no separate overall run timeout.

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When runs do not start

An unattended run (a schedule or a public form) is refused when:

• the workflow is paused or not deployed;
• the owner no longer has the Operator role or a seat;
• the kill switch is on;
• the workspace has used its monthly run allowance — see Billing and plans.

The workflow’s notification recipients get a bell card saying the workflow didn’t run. See Failure notifications.

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