debugging

name

debugging

description

Troubleshoot Clay workflow issues, fix common mistakes, resolve auto-update problems, and stop credit waste. Use when the user reports something not working in Clay, credits being wasted, auto-update issues, wrong enrichment results, empty columns, or workflow errors. Triggers on "not working", "error", "troubleshoot", "debug", "credits wasted", "auto-update issue", "Clay problem", "wrong results", "fix my workflow", "common mistakes", "empty results", "credits burning". Do NOT use for building new workflows from scratch, learning Clay basics, or pricing questions.

Debugging Clay Workflows

You help users diagnose and fix problems in their Clay tables, enrichments, and automations.

References

• Read {SKILL_BASE}/resources/expert-tips-eric-noski.md for the 6 table rules and 8 AI prompting rules.
• Read {SKILL_BASE}/resources/workflow-patterns.md for auto-update behavior and run settings.

Top 10 Common Mistakes

1. No Conditional Runs on Paid Enrichments

Symptom: Credits burning on rows that already have data. Fix: Add conditional run to every paid column: /field is empty. Non-negotiable.

2. Auto-Update Enabled During Testing

Symptom: Credits consumed every time new rows are added. Fix: Set table-level auto-update to OFF while building. Only enable when workflow is finalized.

3. Wrong Input Column Mapped

Symptom: Enrichment returns empty or wrong results. Fix: Verify input mapping. Email waterfall needs domain, not company name. LinkedIn enrichment needs profile URL, not company URL.

4. AI Prompt Doing Too Many Things

Symptom: Claygent/AI returns inconsistent or partial results. Fix: One task per AI column. Split "check site + classify + extract" into 3 separate columns. GPT-4 Mini for each.

5. No Null Handling in Formulas

Symptom: Formula errors, "undefined" in cells. Fix: Add || "" to every variable reference: ({{field}} || ""). Always handle empty cells.

6. Duplicate Rows Consuming Double Credits

Symptom: Same contact enriched multiple times. Fix: Enable auto-dedupe before importing. Key: email or LinkedIn URL. Note: case-sensitive ("Clay" != "clay").

7. Using Expensive AI Models for Simple Tasks

Symptom: 3x credit cost with no quality improvement. Fix: GPT-4 Mini / Claygent Neon for 90% of tasks. Only use GPT-4/Claude Opus for complex reasoning.

8. Not Saving Enriched Data Externally

Symptom: Paying to re-enrich the same records in a new table. Fix: Push all enriched data to CRM or Supabase ($30/month for 11.4M+ records). Query before re-enriching.

9. Running Full Table Before Testing

Symptom: 10,000 credits wasted on a misconfigured column. Fix: Always test with 50 rows first. Verify outputs. Then run full table.

10. Forgetting Column-Level Auto-Update

Symptom: Table auto-update is ON but some columns do not run. Fix: Check both table-level AND column-level auto-update settings. Both must be ON for a column to auto-run.

Diagnostic Checklist

When a user reports a problem, ask these questions:

1. What enrichment/column is failing? (name and type)
2. What input columns are mapped? (check for wrong mapping)
3. Is there a conditional run? (check the formula)
4. What does the cell status show? (completed, error, pending)
5. Is auto-update ON or OFF? (both table and column level)
6. How many rows are affected? (all vs. some)
7. Did it work before? (regression vs. new issue)

Quick Fixes by Symptom

Symptom	Likely Cause	Fix
All cells empty	Wrong input column	Re-map inputs, check domain format
Some cells empty	Provider coverage gaps	Add more providers to waterfall
"Error" in cells	API rate limit or bad input	Wait and retry, or fix input data
Credits burning fast	Missing conditionals + auto-update ON	Add conditionals, disable auto-update
Inconsistent AI results	Prompt too complex	Split into multiple columns, add examples
Duplicates appearing	No auto-dedupe	Enable dedupe on email or LinkedIn URL
Formula showing "undefined"	Null values	Add `

Examples

Example 1: "My email waterfall is returning 0 results on all rows" --> Check input mapping: is domain column mapped (not company name)? Check domain format: should be "acme.com" not "https://www.acme.com/". Check conditional run: is it blocking all rows? Verify: run manually on 1 row to isolate the issue.

Example 2: "My Clay table used 50,000 credits overnight" --> Check auto-update: is it ON at table level? Check which columns have auto-update enabled. Check for expensive enrichments (phone = 2-25 credits each). Add conditional runs to all paid columns. Disable auto-update immediately to stop the bleed.

Example 3: "Claygent keeps returning different formats for the same question" --> Add explicit output format in prompt: "Output exactly 'Yes' or 'No', nothing else." Use "purple" as null keyword. Add 3-4 examples of expected output. Use Claygent Neon, not GPT-4.