SharePoint triggered flow runs twice on same item version

(1) Share

Report

Posted on by mittwochskerl

Hi,

today, I have encountered a strange and problematic behavior with one of my flows. It uses the SharePoint trigger "When an item is created or modified". Someone has made a lot of changes on different items that triggered the flow yesterday. This shouldn't be an issue. But for a lot (if not all) of those items, the flow ran twice, producing unwanted results during the second runs.

To clarify: yes, the flow does update the item that triggered it, but I am using trigger conditions to prevent it from triggering itself. The issue isn't that the flow runs again after the changes are made, it's that it is running twice on the excact same version number of the item.

I have been using Power Automate for years and have never encountered this behavior. Does anyone have any idea why this could be happening?

Categories:

Using flows

I have the same question (0)

All responses (3)

Answers (0)

Sort by

MtryDoc 55 on at

Like (1)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Here is What ChatGPT says:

Trigger Conditions: Check if you have set any trigger conditions that might cause the flow to execute more than once. For example, if the condition is not specific enough, it could trigger on unintended changes.

SharePoint Versioning: If your list/library has versioning enabled, the flow might trigger on every version update. Ensure that your flow logic accounts for this if you only want it to trigger on certain changes.

Concurrent Updates: If multiple users or processes are updating the same item concurrently, it can lead to multiple flow instances. Consider implementing a check at the beginning of your flow to see if it’s already running for that item.

Flow Settings: Review the flow settings to ensure that there's no option enabled that would cause it to retry or run multiple instances.

Flow History: Check the flow run history to see the details of each run. This can provide insight into why it triggered twice (e.g., what specific change triggered it).

Delay Actions: If you have actions that introduce delays, it might lead to unexpected triggers if changes are made in quick succession.

Solutions:

Refine Triggers: Modify the trigger to be more specific or use a combination of triggers with conditions that ensure it only runs under the desired circumstances.

Use a Flag: Implement a flag in your flow that prevents it from running multiple times on the same item until processing is complete.

Error Handling: Ensure you have error handling and logging in place to capture instances where the flow may not behave as expected.

By diagnosing the issue with these considerations, you should be able to prevent your flow from running twice on the same item version.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Suggested answer

Michael E. Gernaey 53,976 Moderator on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi

Without seeing the actual details etc its a total guess. You are just "telling us" but not showing us.

I got lots of guesses, but hate guessing.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
mittwochskerl 6 on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Ok, so which details would help you here? I can share screenshots but I don't really know exactly what to take a screenshot of because this is not a behaviour I expected to be possible.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No