A workflow will not save: validation errors

The workflow builder checks your flow as you edit it. When something is missing or inconsistent, it blocks the save and shows you where the problem is. This page explains every issue the builder reports and how to clear it.

The builder is an admin-only surface and is not available in the production workspace, so you will only see these messages while building or editing a workflow as an administrator.

Symptom

You press Update (when editing) or Create (when adding a new workflow) and the workflow does not save. Instead you see one or both of these:

An orange issue count chip in the header next to the workflow name, reading 1 issue, 2 issues, and so on, with a warning icon. Hover over it to read the full list of problems in a tooltip.
One or more step cards on the canvas with an orange border and a warning icon in the top-right corner of the card. Hover the warning icon to see what is wrong with that specific step.

The header chip lists workflow-wide problems. The warning icon on a card lists problems with that one step. A workflow saves only when every issue in both places is cleared.

Why this happens

The builder runs a set of checks every time you change the flow. Each failing check produces one message. The messages fall into two groups.

Workflow-wide issues (shown in the header chip)

Name is required - the workflow has no name. The name field is at the top-left of the header.
No steps provided - the canvas is empty. A workflow needs at least one step.
Starting step is not selected - you have steps on the canvas but none of them is marked as the start. The starting step carries a blue Start tag.
“<step name>” is unreachable - no step connects to it - a step exists on the canvas but nothing routes into it and it is not the starting step. Every step except the start must be reached from another step’s next path or from a condition branch.
“<step name>” configuration is incomplete - a step is missing one or more required settings. The same step also shows its own warning icon on the canvas with the specific detail. Open that step to fix it.

Per-step issues (shown on the step card’s warning icon)

The exact message depends on the agent in that step:

Account Qualification Agent - Select at least one vertical (unless Auto-include all is turned on for the step).
Account Research Agent - Select at least one agent (unless Auto-include all is on).
Account Plans Agent - Select at least one plan (unless Auto-include all is on).
Contact Research Agent - Select at least one agent (unless Auto-include all is on).
Play Agent - Select at least one play (unless Auto-include all is on).
Contact Finder - one of: You need to enable at least one (you must turn on Search for email, Search for phone number, or both); Contacts per account should be between 1 and 100; Select at least one persona to find; or Persona cannot be more than 50.
Email/Phone Finder - At least one needs to be enabled (turn on Search for email, Search for phone number, or both).
A Condition step branch with no destination shows No next step provided for that branch. On the card itself an unset branch reads missing configuration.
Missing agent configuration - the step references an agent the builder does not recognize. Replace it with a current agent step.

How to fix it

Read the header chip first. Hover the orange issue chip to see the full list of workflow-wide problems.
If you see Name is required, click the workflow name at the top-left of the header and type a name.
If you see No steps provided, add at least one step. The Possible steps panel on the left lists every agent and the Condition routing step; click one to drop it on the canvas.
If you see Starting step is not selected, open the step that should run first and mark it as the start. The starting step is the only one allowed to have nothing routing into it, and it shows the blue Start tag.
If you see an “unreachable” message, find the named step on the canvas and connect a preceding step to it. Open the earlier step and point its outgoing path (or a condition branch) at the unreachable step. See Build a workflow and Branch a workflow.
If you see a “configuration is incomplete” message, look for the step on the canvas with the orange border and warning icon. Click it to open its settings panel and supply the missing values listed above (for example, select a vertical, an agent, a plan, a play, or a persona, or turn on Search for email or Search for phone number).
For a Condition step, open each branch and set its destination step. A branch whose then step is empty reports No next step provided until you choose one. A filtered branch can also set an else step for records that do not match; leaving it unset is allowed and routes those records nowhere (shown as no action).
Once the header chip and every card warning are gone, press Update or Create again. The workflow saves.

For the full builder walkthrough, see Build a workflow and Run a workflow.