HELP: Automated notification changed from Message w/Attachment to "Changes to Sheet" summary email

Question

Hello all,

I'm having an urgent issue with a notification workflow.  It worked at first, but didn't trigger on all the rows that it should have — and now, instead of the message it should be sending, I'm only getting a weird batched summary email that shows the changes that were made to the sheet. (See screenshot)

The workflow is set up as follows:

Trigger - When rows are changed > When an attachment is added
Conditions - Where "Decision letter required" column is Checked
Action - Alert someone > Send to specific people (my email address) > Customized message with a body of text that includes some of the fields using {{brackets}}.
Message includes:  Links to sheet and specific fields > Attachment

Here's what I'm trying to do:

I am using the Smartsheet Merge for Google Docs extension to merge data from selected rows and create individual PDFs that are then uploaded to the corresponding row in the sheet. The attachment upload triggers the workflow, and the customized alert messages get sent individually to my email address, with the new PDF attached.

This did work correctly for a seemingly random batch of the rows that received the trigger (approx 25 out of 120 rows/documents — not consecutive), and all 120-ish documents were created and did attach to their rows, but the rest of the emails never came through.

Troubleshooting:

* I tried the document merge again with a smaller batch (just 25) and again, it created and attached the documents, but the automation still just sent the batched summary of "changes to the sheet" emails (with 7-10 rows at a time). 
* I duplicated the workflow and deactivated the original one and tried again with a small batch, and the same thing happened.
* On the second attempt of these smaller re-dos, the last 2 of the 25 selected rows did work correctly and I received the customized email with attachment. This is weird.
* But it really only works correctly if I trigger one row at a time — which is not going to work for me, because I still have close to 100 left to do.

??? What's happening?

It seems like the issue is with the workflow, not the Google Docs extension, since the documents are getting created and attached correctly each time. I just don't understand why it's suddenly sending a completely different type of notification than what the workflow is set up to do.

Thank you in advance for your help; this is pretty time-sensitive and I'm at a loss.

Terri-Lynn Morrison · Answer

I had to add a usually unique field to one alert to stop it from grouping. (There is a new request in the APPRAISAL LOG FINAL SHEET {{ADDRESS}}) I am not auto-attaching documents, etc., just being notified that a new request for work has come in through a form, with minimal control over what data it contains, but knowing it is unlikely that the same address will appear within minutes of each other. On another alert/sheet, I had to add a unique identifier, {{TASK-ID}}, to the alert's subject line to prevent it from grouping.

TVang · Answer

The behavior you observed is correct and Smartsheet is working as designed.

Your workflow action is configured as an alert ("Alert someone"). When multiple rows are triggered within a short time of each other AND the alerts are being sent to the same email address, Smartsheet will batch them into one email EVEN though you might have used Smartsheet placeholders in the message. Your screenshot shows this.

Sometimes there is a delay (or throttle) in the API you use (in this case the Google Docs extension). In essence, the row creations may not “hit” Smartsheet all at once. When this happens, the workflow is triggered for each row and you’ll see one email at a time.

One workaround is to use the “Request an update” action instead of “Alert someone”.

In our environment and Smartsheet solutions, we've experienced throttling in Smartsheet and the various 3rd party tools like Power Automate, SharePoint, etc.

Ankesh · Answer

Smartsheet Webhook + Power Automate HTTP Trigger(Power automate premium) + Outlook Email