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Posted on by fnanfne

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Hi all

I have a pretty complex and lengthy flow which throws an error as per subject. I found a few posts on this forum, including this one, regarding this issue but none of the suggested workarounds/fixes works for me.

My flow splits into 5 parallel branches, sending a Teams message to 5 respective recipients, with actions depending on what the recipient responds with. The flow works in that some actions, like getting and creating SharePoint List item(s) succeed, but other actions like sending email notifications and subsequent Teams messages fail.

I've been thinking of trying to add the closing/joining "Compose" action just before the conditions, but not sure if this will work.

Any ideas?

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Building flows

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creativeopinion 10,502 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Have you looked into the switch function? It seems like an awful lot of variables and actions. I'm curious if there is a way to simplify your flow.

Are you able to provide further insights on the conditions?

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fnanfne 260 on at

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Hey creativeopinion,

Yeah a lot of variables going on there. I have not looked at the Switch Function, will look into that, thanks for sharing!

Here are some high-level steps in the flow....

The flow is triggered from PowerApps when a user requests a new item be added to a SharePoint List. A group of Admins receives this request via Teams with a "Yes" and "No" button. Pressing "Yes" will add the requested item to the list. Multiple Admins can approve the request, so to avoid duplicates from being on the list, checks are done to see if the requested item already exists in the list.

Thanks for the reply, let me know if you need me to elaborate further!

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creativeopinion 10,502 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Can you further explain the need for the parallel branches? Is this because you have a different group as the recipient for each of the Teams Post actions?

What determines which group receives the request? Is it a single value that get's pulled from PowerApps?

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fnanfne 260 on at

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The parallel branches are so that the request can go to more than one person. The request goes to individual recipients, not a group. I have tried using a Teams group for this, but the staff member who runs the flow needs unfettered access to this group, so not going to work at all.

The request comes in, ALL admins in the parallel branch gets the request, whomever addresses the request first, gets to add the requested item to the list. There cannot be any duplicates on the list, so I added checks to prevent that.

Also, I have statically configured all the admin email addresses and display names as variables.

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fnanfne 260 on at

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I moved around some of the Actions, and preliminary tests prove successful, however, duplicates were found on the list, meaning the checks did not work. I will try to add some delays in between the Conditions, to see if this helps.

I am looking at the Switch function to see if I can use it somewhere to shorten the code.

Here is a pic of the current flow.

EDIT:
Oh, to ensure the flow continues to run if for example someone never responds, I also added a "Timeout" on each of the Teams messages of 5 minutes. Used the ISO phrase of "PT5M". This means that after 5 minutes, the flow can continue to run, otherwise the flow will be stuck at that branch indefinitely. And just for posterity, this is what is going on in that "Compose" action

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creativeopinion 10,502 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Can you expand and upload a screenshot:
2-3 of those Post a choice of options actions
One of the conditions below it
I'm just trying to wrap my head around this. Seeing that would help me.

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fnanfne 260 on at

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Thanks for trying to help! Pics to ponder below

Post a choice of options actions

Condition - High Level

Condition - Broken down 1/3

Condition - Broken down 2/3

Condition - Broken down 3/3

I have found an issue with my attempted bodge. For some reason, the conditions have no effect, and a duplicate item is created on the list! I have added delays in between all the conditions and it keeps disregarding the boolean checks in place. Last test I did, each delay was 10 minutes, 10 minutes! I don't know how this is even possible! I will have to rethink again, back to the drawing board.

Thanks for trying to help @creativeopinion appreciated.

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fnanfne 260 on at

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I managed to chip down the bottom bit to only include one single check, instead of 5 individual ones separated with a 10+min timer as below...

Still wondering if I can use a Switch condition somewhere to further optomise the flow, OR if there is a better way to scratch this cat 🙂 I don't really like having an "expiration" on the Teams messages

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creativeopinion 10,502 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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You need to look at using approvals for your scenario.

Create a new flow (so you can test this out). Take it step by step so you can grasp the concepts. Once you sort out the structure of the flow you can adjust the flow trigger.

Create an Instant Cloud Flow with a Manual Trigger.
Add a Start and wait for an approval action. There are a few options to choose from. From what I gather, you are waiting for a single admin to respond (correct?) if that's the case select the Approve/Reject - First to respond. However, if you prefer to list your own options, select the Custom Responses - Wait for one response.

Select the option that suits your particular needs.

In the Assigned to field, insert your email address. You can replace this with a list of your admin email addresses (separated by a semi-colon)

Run a test to see the outputs of this action which you'll user for later.
I believe by default it will send an Email as well as via Teams through the Approvals app.
Insert a Condition action where the Outcome is equal to whatever your desired outcome is. In my case it's Approve.

In the Yes branch insert your Send an Email action. You should be able to grab all dynamic content you need from the approvals action.
Hope this helps!

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fnanfne 260 on at

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Hey creativeopinion sorry I should've mentioned that I don't really prefer the built-in "Approval" action in Power Automate. Every time I look at Approvals, I eventually remember just how yucky it is. Although it works perfectly, it's fugly, just like model-driven power apps. I prefer more freedom by creating my own solution, like with canvas apps. Albeit a solid framework, I find the Approvals action is rather limited.

With Approvals, approvers click on the "Approve" button in the email, and then they're sent to the Power Automate website to complete the approval? Lol, nah, yucky. Even the Approvals app in Teams, is just not, aesthetically pleasing to the eye. If only I can use Approvals in such a way to simply send a Teams message to each approver, like in my hacky solution, I'd use it in a blink of an eye.

It's a fun endeavour. I've spent quite some time creating custom adaptive cards in Teams. It was such a beautiful solution but ultimately useless, as the requesters need to have unfettered access to said Teams groups, where the "approvals" take place.

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