FAQ about automatic record creation

Article
11/23/2023

FAQ about automatic record creation and activity monitor

The following section provides answers to questions about automatic record creation and activity monitor.

What are the scenarios in which the rule skips creating records automatically?

The automatic record creation rule doesn't create records in the following scenarios:

Reason 1

Email is from an unknown sender.

Resolution: On the Advanced tab of the Record creation and update rule page, select Yes for Allow emails from unknown senders, and choose an option in Manage unknown senders by according to your business needs. More information: Configure advanced settings for rules.

Reason 2

A resolved case is already connected with this record.

Resolution: On the Advanced tab of the Record creation and update rule page, select Yes for Wait for a specific amount of time after the connected case has been resolved, and specify the time in the Select the amount of time option. More information: Configure advanced settings for rules.

Reason 3

No valid entitlement for this email sender.

Resolution: On the Advanced tab of the Record creation and update rule page, select No for Require a valid entitlement on the connect case.

Reason 4

No applicable reason can be specified.

Resolution: If the reason is empty and the state says Ready for workflow/Power automate, and the case doesn't get created, then check system jobs if it's a legacy rule, or check flow runs if it's a modern rule.

Why do multiple cases get created from a single email?

Multiple cases can get created from a single email because of various reasons. Perform the following steps to check if multiple cases were created for an email.

Enable the activity monitor options: Ready for Power Automate / Workflow and Skipped. More information: Manage activity monitor to review and track rules
Send a new email to reproduce the issue.
You should see new activity monitor records in the grid for the new test email. Multiple activity monitor records for the email indicates that there are multiple queue items created for the same email that have triggered the ARC rule. You can also view which rule got triggered on each activity monitor row. The activity monitor records with the Ready for Power Automate state indicate that they have reached the flow and are likely to create a case in each of them. If you see the described behavior, perform the next step.
Perform the following steps to identify where the duplicate queue items are from:
1. Rule item flow definition, to verify if the child flow adds the email to queue. Duplicate queue items can be created because of various reasons, such as a flow step calling AddToQueue bound action, queue item creation, another custom flow which the ARC flow calls from within, or a post operation plugin of an action performed within ARC flow, such as case creation.
2. Email background processes, to verify if there are any custom workflows. You can do this during live debugging, where successful background processes get cleaned up. If you don't see any background processes for an email received, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there are no custom runs.
3. Multiple queues with active ARC rule set up in the email's recipient or CC list. By default, an email gets added to all the queues which are listed as recipient and CC.

FAQ about modern automatic record creation

The following section provides answers to questions about migrated rule or flows in modern automatic record creation.

Why do I see two flows in Power Automate when I have an active modern or migrated ARC rule with only one rule item?

If you have an active rule with rule items, you'll see two flows, one with the name ARC | rule name, and another with the name ARC: rule item name. These flows are automatically turned on whenever you activate a rule. The ARC rule works only when these two flows are turned on.

For any inactive ARC rule, you'll see only one flow with the name ARC: rule item name. You won't see ARC | rule name, as this flow is created during rule activation. Even if you do see duplicate flows with the name ARC | rule name for the same rule, it won't cause any rule item issues. Even though they have the same name, only one of these flows is associated with the ARC rule, and only that flow will be invoked during run time.

What does the flow ARC | rule name do, and can I customize it?

The purpose of this flow is to evaluate all the rule item conditions to select the first match and invoke its associated flow. This flow shouldn't be customized.

I see that the ARC flow trigger is on the email update filtering on importsequencenumber attribute. Is it the reason that cases aren't being created for some emails?

No, all ARC flow triggers need to be on the update action with the importsequencenumber filtering attribute. This configuration isn't the reason if sometimes cases aren't being created for some emails.

Can I change the flow trigger to email create or remove the filtering attribute?

No, changing the flow trigger to the create action or removing the filtering attribute will lead the ARC flow to run during unexpected scenarios. This scenario will lead to infinite flow run issues.

When I export an ARC rule from an organization, what other required components do I need to include in the same solution?

You must include the rule item’s associated flows with the ARC rules in the exported solution. You can include them by selecting the rule and then selecting Add required components. The rule item’s associated flows need to be named as ARC: rule item name. Don't include flows with the name ARC | rule name in the solutions.

I imported a modern ARC rule with its associated flows. After I activate the imported rule, I see duplicated flows with name ARC | rule name in the Power Automate portal. Will this affect run-time issues like creating duplicate cases?

No, runtime or create duplicate cases won't be affected. The flow with name ARC | rule name is created during rule activation. The reason you'll see duplicates is because those duplicated flows were included in a managed solution and imported to the organization. See the previous question for what must be included while exporting or importing an ARC rule through solution.

Can I turn off or on ARC flows directly in the Power Automate portal?

No, don't turn off or on any ARC flows directly in the Power Automate portal. Only enable or disable ARC flows from Microsoft Dataverse.

FAQ about automatic record creation