Checks to work through when a tag is not added, a field is not written, a chat is not assigned or a comment is not hidden, plus the skip reasons in the logs.
The flow is running and the messages are going out — but the action step's job is not getting done: the tag is not added, the field stays empty or the chat is assigned to nobody. Actions are never skipped silently; the reason for every skip is written to the session log. This guide helps you find that reason.
You may have run into one of these:
The action step is never reached
A tag or field does not change
The assignment or handover does not happen
The person does not enter the sequence
The comment is not hidden or deleted
First, read the action line in the logs
Open the automation and switch to the Logs tab.
Open the session of the person affected.
Find the Action line in the step-by-step log. The line lists the action kinds the step applied.
Comment actions write their own lines: Comment hidden, Comment unhidden, Comment deleted or Not delivered.
If something was skipped, read the reason on the Skipped line.
If there is no Action line at all, the flow never reached that step: the problem is not the action but the path leading to it.
The action step is never reached
There are three causes, and all of them show in the log.
An earlier condition went down the other branch. Read the Condition line in the log; the details are in My condition takes the wrong branch.
A plan lock. If the log holds a Plan lock line, the session stopped at that step. Every action kind is a separate plan feature; Add to a sequence and Remove from a sequence share one key.
There is a Hand over to a person in an earlier step. The handover ends the flow's session; the steps attached to the Then output are never reached.
A tag or field does not change
Open the person on the Contacts screen and look at their tags and fields. If the value really is not there, carry on.
If the tag is already there it is not added a second time; that is not a fault. The comparison ignores accents and case — "VIP" and "vip" are the same tag.
If the person has reached the 50-tag limit, no new tag is added and the flow continues without stopping. Add an action that removes the tags you no longer need.
If Increase/decrease field is not giving the number you expect, look at the value in the field: a value that cannot be read as a number counts as 0. "750 USD" is not a number.
If Write to field is writing an empty value, check the placeholder in the value box. An unrecognised key is left empty and the pre-publish check raises an "Unknown placeholder" warning.
If you wrote a placeholder into a tag name, that text becomes the tag verbatim. Placeholders are only filled in the value box of the Write to field action.
The assignment or handover does not happen
Is there a conversation?Assign conversation, Conversation status and Hand over to a person need one. In a flow running purely from a comment context they are skipped.
Does the member you picked have access? If they have left the team or lost access to that account, the assignment is not made and the flow continues. Check the member's status in the Settings › Team list.
If you are expecting a message after the handover, it will not go out: the handover ends the session. Move the message steps before the handover.
If Notify the team appears to work but nobody sees it: the notification only goes to members who can see the inbox, and it never reaches the customer under any circumstances.
The person does not enter the sequence
Is the sequence on? Check the Automations › Sequences list. Nobody is added to a sequence that is off, and no error is raised. This is the most common cause.
Does the sequence have a step? No record is opened for a sequence with no steps.
Is the person already running in it? If so the programme does not restart; that is not a fault.
Is the person in the sequence but no message arrives? Sequence steps are subject to the 24-hour messaging window: if the person has not written in the last 24 hours, the message is not sent. This is a restriction on Meta's side.
If the sequence was switched off, live records stop and the reason is written as "Sequence switched off".
The comment is not hidden or deleted
The skip reason in the log tells you the cause directly.
No comment context — The flow did not start from a comment. Comment actions only work in Instagram flows that start from one.
The limit was reached — At most two comment operations happen in one session.
An unconfirmed deletion — If the confirmation box on the Delete comment action is unticked, the action is not applied and publishing is blocked too.
Not delivered — Instagram rejected the operation: the comment may have been deleted, the post removed or the permission insufficient.
If a comment was deleted in the same session, a second comment action does nothing; the comment no longer exists.
If the problem persists
Did you publish? Changes in the editor are saved to the draft; the live flow is the last published version.
Which version ran the session? Each session in the Logs list carries a version number next to it.
Open the pre-publish check. The "Add an action" and "An action is incomplete" errors are the clearest reason an action never runs.
Walk the step through with the simulation on the Test tab.
Other known limits
An action step holds at most 20 actions.
In global rules (Automations › Rules), Hide comment and Delete comment are never listed: a rule has no comment context.
In global rules, Hand over to a person only opens the conversation; there is no flow session to pause.
The Name, Email and Phone fields are not numbers; keep counters in a custom field.
Comment actions are listed only on accounts with Instagram connected.
If you have worked through all of the steps and the problem persists, contact our Support team.