Help · Automation and workflows
Dry-run a workflow before turning it on
See what a workflow would do without it doing anything. The dry run is the cheapest way to find out that your condition matches four thousand records instead of four.
Updated August 2026
Automation is code you did not write in a language you did not learn, running against live customer data. A dry run is how you find out what it would do before it does it.
Who this is for
Anyone about to turn on a workflow, especially one that sends email or changes records in bulk.
Before you start
- A workflow built but not yet active.
- A realistic idea of how many records should match — that expectation is what makes the result meaningful.
The number is the finding
The most valuable output of a dry run is how many records the trigger and conditions match. If you expected a handful and it reports thousands, your condition is wrong — and you have just avoided sending thousands of emails or changing thousands of records. Compare against expectation every time.
Dry-run it
- Finish the flow first
Trigger, conditions and actions all in place. A dry run of a half-built flow tells you very little. - Write down what you expect
Guess the number before you run it. Without a prediction, any result looks plausible. - Run it
The simulator shows what would happen without performing the actions. - Compare against your prediction
A large gap means the condition is wrong, not that the system is. This is the whole point. - Fix and run again
Tighten the condition and re-run until the result matches what you meant. - Then turn it on
Activate only once the dry run matches expectation. For anything that emails customers, also do one real test send to yourself.
What you get
- Confidence about scope before anything happens.
- Conditions caught while they are still cheap to fix.
- No mass email or mass update sent by accident.
- A habit that makes automation safe to iterate on.
Frequently asked questions
Does a dry run send anything or change any records?
No. It shows what would happen without performing the actions, which is what makes it safe to run repeatedly.
What should I look at in the result?
The count first. Compare it against what you predicted before running — the gap is where the bug is.
Do I still need a real test after a dry run?
For anything that emails customers, yes. A dry run verifies scope; a real send to yourself verifies content, merge tokens and the From address.
Should I dry-run every workflow?
Any workflow that emails customers or changes records in bulk, always. For a small internal notification the risk is lower, but it costs almost nothing.
Related articles
Build your first workflow
Pick a trigger, add a condition, drop in an action, dry-run it, and turn on a live, no-code workflow — the full path from a blank flow to automation that runs on its own.
Read articleSend an email from a workflow
Automated email that still reads as if a person sent it — choosing the template, getting merge tokens right, and the checks worth doing before you turn it on.
Read articleWhy my workflow did not run
The handful of reasons an automation stays quiet — inactive, a trigger that never fired, a condition that excluded everything, or an action that failed — and how to tell which.
Read articleHave an account issue this guide doesn't cover?
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