A step marked Needs setup (the amber triangle on its card) would fail the moment it ran. Hover over the badge to read what is missing; Publish lists every such step with the same words. Clear them all and the workflow can be published.

Who can do this

Workspace Admins and Editors.

Steps

  1. Open the workflow in the designer.
  2. Hover over the step's amber badge to read what it needs — or select Publish to see every step that needs something, each with Go to step.
  3. Open the step and fix what the message says. The table below has each message.
  4. The badge clears as soon as nothing is missing. Select Publish again.

What each message means

Messages name the step first — Send the summary: choose a connection. On the card the step's name is left off.

Message What to do
choose a connection. Choose one in Connection, or add one with Add a connection.
its connection no longer works. Reconnect it or choose another. Reconnect it on Connections, or choose another.
its connection no longer works. Reconnect it, choose another, or set Authentication to None. HTTP Request: as above, or set Authentication to None — the request goes as it is.
needs permission to read and send mail. Reconnect its connection to allow it. (or another permission) Select Reconnect at the top of the step's settings. The service asks for the permission on top of what is already allowed.
fill in subject. (any setting) Fill in that setting.
… is not a variable in this workspace. Add the variable, or change the step.
… has no Production value. / … has no Development value. Give the variable a value in that environment.
… has no Production connection. Choose a connection for that environment on the Connection variable.
… is not a connection this step can use. Choose another. The Connection variable is for another service. Choose a different one.
this step no longer exists — replace it. See Replace a step that no longer exists.
add at least one field. / “…” is set twice. / “…” cannot be a field name. Use letters, numbers and _, starting with a letter. Set / Edit Fields: fix the field names.
add a condition. With none it keeps every item, the same as not having the step. Filter: add a condition.
add a path. / path 2 has no rule. / two paths are called Sales. Switch: give every path a rule and its own name.
choose an object. / choose an action. / mark one field as Match — … / give Email, the Match field, a value. HubSpot: finish the object, action and fields.
choose a list. / the list is gone — … / a column it uses is gone from … / … is required — give it a value. / set at least one column. / tick that you understand it deletes every matching row. List steps: see the list step articles.
give the form a title. / add a field — a form with none asks nothing. / a field has no label. Give it one, or remove it. / give “…” at least two choices. Form trigger: finish the form.
it uses …, which is no longer on the form. Choose a new value. A step reads a form answer that was removed. Choose a new value.
a Wait cannot run inside Loop Over Items. Move it after the loop. Move the Wait after the loop.
it is set to answer with a Respond to Webhook step, and there is none. Add one, or change Respond. Add a Respond to Webhook step, or change the Webhook's Respond.
the Webhook is not set to answer with this step. … / only a workflow started by a Webhook has a caller to answer. Remove it. Remove the Respond to Webhook step, or set the Webhook's Respond to use it.
the Authorization header has no value. / api_key in the address has no value. HTTP Request: an export left out a key. Put it back — better, move it into a connection.
That cron runs more often than every 5 minutes, which is the most a schedule may. (and other cron messages) Schedule: correct the cron.

Good to know

  • The badge and Publish read the same checks. Clearing the badge clears the Publish line.
  • Publish checks Production values; the badge checks the environment you test in. A step can look fine while testing in Development and still be listed at Publish.
  • Not tested is not Needs setup. A grey dash means set up but never run; it does not block publishing.

If something goes wrong

What you see Why What to do
The badge stays after you fixed the setting The field has not saved yet. Leave the field (select elsewhere) so it saves.
Publish lists a step the canvas does not mark It reads a variable with no Production value while you test in Development. Give the variable a Production value.