Troubleshooting · LessonReviewed by Neelima, SailPoint Architect · Updated · Published · IdentityIQ 8.4 · all levels
SailPoint Workflow stuck
A workflow is not progressing past a step.
Quick answer
Stuck workflows usually wait on an approval, hit a rule error, or stall on a failed provisioning step. Inspect the workflow case.
Key takeaways
- Symptom: A workflow is not progressing past a step.
- Most likely causes
- Step-by-step fixes
- How to prevent recurrence
A workflow is not progressing, an access request or lifecycle process sits mid-flight and never completes. The work is not necessarily failed; it is usually waiting on something or has hit an error in a step.
Start here: read the evidence
Open the workflow case to see the current step and any open work items. This shows immediately whether the process is waiting on a human, errored in a step, or blocked downstream.
Likely causes, in order
- Waiting on an unactioned approval, the most common cause.
- Error thrown in a step or rule, halting progress.
- Downstream provisioning failed, so the workflow cannot advance.
- Missing transition or a bad condition leaving no valid next step.
How to fix it
- Open the workflow case and identify the current step.
- Check for pending approval work items and chase or reassign them.
- Review the current step or its rule for errors.
- Resolve any failed downstream provisioning.
- Fix and resume, or restart the case if it cannot recover.
Preventing recurrence
Add escalation to every approval step so inaction cannot stall a process, keep step logic simple and null-safe, and monitor for workflow cases that have been open longer than expected.
Common pitfalls
- Guessing instead of reading the task/transaction result, which usually names the cause.
- Fixing the symptom, not the root cause, so it returns.
- Changing several things at once, so you cannot tell what worked.
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