Troubleshooting

This page covers common issues users may hit when building Alert Relay flows.

The site or list dropdown is empty

Check:

• the connector connection is valid
• the signed-in user can access the SharePoint site
• the selected site URL is correct
• the list or library exists in that site

If needed, enter the value manually and return to the dropdown later.

Access denied or forbidden

If Alert Relay cannot read the SharePoint item, check:

• the signed-in user has permission to the site
• the user has permission to the target list or library
• the connection is using the expected account
• the connection has not gone stale and needs re-authentication

Connection or authentication issue

If the connector rejects the request or cannot read SharePoint data:

• confirm the connection is signed in with the expected Microsoft 365 account
• recreate the connection if needed
• check whether the connection needs re-authentication

Invalid Compare From value

For the main actions, the safest options are:

• TriggerWindowStartToken
• a valid version label
• a valid ISO date or date-time
• a valid raw SharePoint change token

For Parse Compare From, use only:

• a TriggerWindowStartToken
• or a raw SharePoint change token

The flow ran, but the comparison was not what I expected

Review:

• which value you used for Compare From
• whether there was an earlier baseline version to compare against
• whether the item was newly created
• whether you expected major versions only or also minor versions

If needed, read Compare From Baselines.

Examples:

• the email compared against the first version instead of the latest update because Compare From was left blank
• the change window did not line up with the trigger because TriggerWindowStartToken was not used
• a minor version change was not included because Include Minor Versions was left at its default value

The output looks too wide or includes too many fields

Check the Include Unchanged Fields option.

If you only want changed fields in the response, set it to false.

The output does not include minor or draft changes

Check the Include Minor Versions option.

By default, Alert Relay uses major versions only.

The flow did not trigger immediately

SharePoint triggers are not always instant.

A short delay between the SharePoint change and the Power Automate run can be normal.

The wrong list was used

When entering a list manually:

• use the exact list title, or
• use the list GUID

If the title does not exactly match, resolution can fail.

A new item result looks different from a modified item result

That can be normal.

When an item is newly created, there may not be an earlier version available in the same way there is for a modified item.

This affects both the HTML action and the JSON action because both depend on version history for comparison.

Still stuck?

When reviewing a failed or confusing run, capture:

• the flow run history
• the values passed into Alert Relay
• the action outputs
• the SharePoint item ID
• the SharePoint site and list involved

Then continue with:

• Actions Reference
• Parse Compare From

Related pages

• Getting Started - Creating Your First Alert Email
• Get Detailed Item Alert HTML
• Compare From Baselines
• Actions Reference