# Why isn't my automation running?

**Category:** [Project Manager](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/project-manager)
**Updated:** 2026-08-19

## Check the switch first

A paused rule stays in the list. The switch on the left is the state, not a label for it.
## Has it ever run?

Each rule shows its run count and when it last ran. "Has not run yet" means the trigger has not happened since you created it.
## The condition may be too narrow

Conditions compare text. "Done" and "Complete" are different columns; a condition on *the new value* matches the column name exactly as it appears on your board.
## Date rules are once, at the moment

If you created a rule on overdue tasks and nothing happened, that is expected: it fires on the first day a task *becomes* late, so tasks that were already late do not fire. Wait for the next task to pass its due date. They also fire from 08:00 in the assignee's morning, not at midnight.
## The action may be failing

An action that cannot do its job fails the run rather than silently skipping — a column name that does not exist, an email address that is not in your workspace. Open the rule in Orchestration to see the run history and the reason.
## It ran, but on the wrong project

It should not: every rule is scoped to the project it was built on. If you edited the rule in Orchestration and removed the project filter, it stops appearing on the project's Automations page — because it is no longer a rule about that project.
## Two rules chasing each other

Changes made by a rule fire events like any other change, so a rule that sets a status can trigger a rule watching for that status. If a task seems to be moving on its own, look for a pair of rules that each undo the other.

They cannot run away: a chain stops after three automations, and no rule runs twice in one chain. If you find runs in the history saying *Stopped: this rule was already run by this chain*, that is the guard — and it is telling you two of your rules are reacting to each other.

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## Related Articles

- [Subscribing to project events with webhooks](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/project-automation-webhooks)
- [Project Manager overview](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/project-manager-overview)
- [Working with Tasks](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/working-with-tasks)
- [Conditions: reacting to one value](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/project-automation-conditions)
- [Every trigger, and what it carries](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/project-automation-triggers)

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