Monitor and Debug Workflow

The Novu Activity Feed tracks the full execution lifecycle after a workflow is triggered. It provides real-time visibility into how workflows run, helping you understand what happened and why. From the Activity Feed, you can inspect each workflow run and API request to see how each subscriber notification was processed.

Each environment has its own Activity Feed, ensuring execution data is isolated and easy to reason about.

Inspect workflow runs

The Workflow Runs tab shows the details of every workflow triggered to each subscriber. Each run represents a single execution instance and reflects how the workflow behaved for that subscriber. You can filter workflow runs using parameters such as time period, workflow identifier, and channel. Selecting a workflow run opens the run details view, which gives you access to execution outcomes of each step in the workflow and investigate delivery issues.

The workflow run details include:

Field	Description
Workflow identifier	The unique identifier of the workflow that was executed.
Transaction ID	A unique ID associated with the trigger event. Use this to correlate workflow runs with trigger requests and logs.
Topic key	The topic key used to trigger the workflow, if the workflow was triggered to a topic.
Subscriber ID	The identifier of the subscriber for whom this workflow run was executed.
Triggered at	The timestamp indicating when the workflow execution started.
Status	The current state of the workflow run. Possible statuses include Completed, Pending, and Failed.
Severity	The severity level associated with the workflow execution, if defined.
Critical	Indicates whether the workflow was marked as critical.
Context data	Context values passed when triggering the workflow.
Trigger payload	The payload data sent with the trigger event and used to personalize notification content.

Each workflow run also includes execution details that show how Novu processed each step for a single subscriber. The timeline is ordered chronologically and reflects the internal state transitions of each step as the workflow runs. Execution details are step-specific and vary depending on:

The type of step
Whether the step succeeded, was skipped, or failed
Provider behavior and delivery outcomes

Inspect trigger requests

The Requests tab in the Activity Feed shows detailed information about every request made to the Event API. Selecting a request opens a detailed view of how Novu processed it, the API response, and execution traces.

You can filter requests using parameters such as time period, transaction ID, statuses or API endpoint. When you open a request, Novu displays details about the API call:

Field	Description
Endpoint	The API endpoint that received the request, for example, `POST /v1/events/trigger` and a unique identifier for the API request.
Received at	Timestamp indicating when Novu received the request.
Transaction ID	The transaction associated with the trigger. Use this to correlate the request with workflow runs.
Source	Indicates where the request originated, either the Dashboard or the API.
Request body	The payload sent in the API call, including the workflow identifier, subscriber or topic targeting, and any additional data.
Response body	Novu’s response to the request, confirming whether it was acknowledged and processed successfully.

Each request also includes API trace events that show how Novu handled the trigger internally. Common trace entries include:

Workflow execution started
Request subscriber processing completed

Why a notification was not delivered

Open the Activity Feed, select the workflow run, and read the step that did not send. The step status and execution detail name the cause.

Skipped: a step condition did not match, or a throttle limit was exceeded.
Error: the provider rejected the message or no active integration matched. See Common errors.
Canceled: required subscriber contact data may be missing, such as an email address or a phone number. Open the step details to check the cause.
Subscriber preferences: the subscriber turned that channel off for the workflow, or globally, and the workflow is not marked critical. See Preferences.
Wrong environment: the trigger used a secret key for an environment where the workflow is not published, or the Inbox is using a different application identifier than the environment you triggered.
Demo email: the demo email integration only delivers to the email address on your Novu account.
Inbox context: the notification was sent, but the Inbox was initialized with a different context than the trigger, so it does not appear in that session.

The run’s transaction ID matches the trigger response and the Requests tab, which shows whether Novu accepted the API call.

Debug a failed workflow run

In the Activity Feed, filter by workflow, subscriber ID, channel, or transaction ID.
Open the run. The status is Completed, Pending, or Failed.
Open the failed step. The timeline lists each state change and the provider response.
Compare the trigger payload on the run with the variables the template uses.
On the Requests tab, open the same transaction ID to see the API body Novu received and the response it returned.

Each environment has its own Activity Feed. A Development trigger does not appear in the Production feed.

Activity statuses

The Status field on a workflow run is Completed, Pending, or Failed. Each step inside that run has its own badge:

Status	Meaning
Success	The step finished. For a channel step, Novu handed the message to the provider or stored the in-app notification.
Error	The step failed. Open it for the provider response.
Skipped	The step did not run. A step condition did not match, or a throttle limit was exceeded. After a condition skip, Novu continues with the next step. A throttle skip also skips the steps that follow that throttle step.
Delayed	A Delay step is waiting. The following steps have not started.
Merged	A Digest step folded this event into an existing digest window.
Canceled	The step was canceled before it finished. A missing subscriber email address or phone number is recorded as Canceled. Open the step details to check the cause.
Pending, Queued, Running	The step has been accepted and has not finished yet.

Provider delivery events such as delivered, bounced, opened, or clicked are separate from the step status. They appear on the message when activity tracking is configured for that provider. Success means Novu sent the message, not that the recipient opened it.

Getting Started

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Additional Resources

Monitor and Debug Workflow

Inspect workflow runs

Inspect trigger requests

Why a notification was not delivered

Debug a failed workflow run

Activity statuses

​Inspect workflow runs

​Inspect trigger requests

​Why a notification was not delivered

​Debug a failed workflow run

​Activity statuses

Inspect workflow runs

Inspect trigger requests

Why a notification was not delivered

Debug a failed workflow run

Activity statuses