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Copilot Studio Workflow heratic behavior

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Posted on by PL-25081330-0

Dear,

I've build a more complex workflow but I'm encountering strange behavior.

The expressionResult of the "If Validation Success" is false.

So, it should never the if part. Now it execute both the if and the else.

When the the expressionResult should be true I get this error :

PartialJoinNotReached

Flow execution ended without reaching a downstream merge node. A branch was taken that has no path to a node that other branches merge into. Reopen this flow in the designer and review the Health Center warning that says this node doesn't run when a dead-end branch is taken (code: CROSS_SCOPE_MERGE). Then update the flow so every branch eventually connects to the merge node, or remove the merge.

When I save I see some warnings but I'm unable to see the detail.

Is this a bug or something I'm doing wrong ?

Thanks

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Autonomous agents

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Valantis 7,545 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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Hi @PL-25081330-0,

This isn't the condition logic misfiring, the first run (expressionResult false) correctly only ran the Else branch, that part is working as expected. The bug is specifically about what happens when the If branch is taken.

Looking at your screenshots: the If side of "If Validation Success" is empty, no action inside it. The Else side leads through Filter Attachments, If Attachments Exist, etc., and both branches appear to reconnect further down at "Create mail body Agent."

Per Microsoft's documentation on joining branches, a merge/join action only runs after all contributing branches complete, and it does this by referencing the specific action IDs it needs to wait on. If your If branch has no action inside it, there's no action ID on that side for the join step to reference. So when the If path is taken and needs to reach that merge point, the runtime has nothing to link back to, and you get PartialJoinNotReached / CROSS_SCOPE_MERGE.

try this Fix:

add at least one action inside the empty If branch, even a simple no-op like a Compose action, so that branch has something to run and something the merge node can reference. Then the merge node's dependency is satisfied on both sides.

This isn't a bug on Microsoft's end, it's a structural requirement: every branch reaching a merge node needs its own executable action, not just an empty branch.

Best regards,

Valantis

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PL-25081330-0 26 on at

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As you can see the if statement is linked to an action. In the Activity panel the contract of the lines is bad.

In case of Else (expressionResult = false) it executes both directions. It should not run the "Filter Attachments for isInline is false".
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Sayali-MSFT Microsoft Employee on at

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Hello @PL-25081330-0,
This looks like a branch/merge configuration issue rather than the condition executing both paths.
The PartialJoinNotReached / CROSS_SCOPE_MERGE error indicates that one possible branch ends before reaching the downstream merge action. Ensure every True/False path connects to the same next action, or remove the merge and place the common action separately in each branch.

Also confirm that expressionResult is a Boolean value, not the text "true" or "false". If the connections still behave incorrectly, delete and recreate the condition branches, save the flow, and test again.

If the issue persists, collect the Workflow ID and Run ID for further investigation, as it may be a designer/connector rendering issue.
Variables overview - Microsoft Copilot Studio | Microsoft Learn
PL-25081330-0 26 on at

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Here is If expression. AgentResult variable is of String type.

Could you please be more precise on what I need to change in the flow ?

Run Id

08584124787051064973118279062CU11

Workflow ID

6134ecba-be87-55c4-56c6-a42e2f5b156b
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Mohsin Ali 1,075 on at

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Hello @PL-25081330-0 - Can you check what type of value the AgentResult variable holds, I mean is it String or Boolean?

If the agent is returning "true" in double quotes, that is a string value, which is not the same as the Boolean value true.

Also, if AgentResult is Boolean, I would review the condition carefully. Checking whether a Boolean variable is empty may not behave as expected, because a Boolean variable normally contains either true or false rather than an empty value.

If the setup still behaves unexpectedly, I would recommend deleting the affected nodes, saving and publishing the workflow, and then recreating them. Since the activity view appears inconsistent with the configured branches, rebuilding that section can help rule out a designer or workflow-definition issue. Clearing the browser cache or testing in a private session is also worth trying.

From the overall design, the merge approach itself looks reasonable to me. I would first validate the variable type and recreate the affected nodes before making major changes to the branch structure.