Troubleshooting
Rule not firing — a checklist
Twelve checks that explain a rule which never runs, runs but does nothing, or stops running. This page of the AdOps documentation sits in the Troubleshooting section, last updated 20 August 2026. AdOps runs rules — conditions plus actions — against your Meta Ads campaigns on the schedule you set.
Key facts
- First thing to check
- the rule's status only ACTIVE rules are selected by the dispatcher
- Second thing to check
- the Meta connection a rule whose owner has no connected Meta token is abandoned before it runs
- Where the answer usually is
- Rule Logs the Skipped badge and Condition Evaluations explain most quiet rules
- Cooldown skip reason
- next_execute_not_reached
- Log horizon
- 3 days results older than that are removed by the nightly cleanup
When an AdOps rule does not fire, the cause is almost always one of twelve things: the rule is not ACTIVE, its schedule window is closed, Meta is disconnected, no ad account is active, the filters match nothing, an action-frequency cooldown is still running, or a condition simply failed. Work down this list in order — the first four checks take under a minute.
Checks before the rule ever runs
1. Is the rule ACTIVE? Only ACTIVE rules are selected by the dispatcher. A rule saved with Save as Draft is stored as DRAFT and is never picked up. The Rule List toggle and the Set live bulk action both flip this.
2. Has the next execution time passed? Open the rule; a saved rule shows a Next Scheduled Execution info alert with the exact timestamp. If it is in the future, the rule is waiting, not broken.
3. Is the date range open? If Run within a date range is ticked, a rule outside its start and end dates is skipped. Untick it or move the end date.
4. Is the timetable empty? In Run on spesific days and time mode, a grid with no active cells gives the dispatcher no slot to schedule. Activate at least one hour, or switch back to a fixed interval.
5. Is Meta still connected? Open Integrations. If the Meta Ads card reads Not Connected, every rule stops: a run whose owner has no Meta access token is abandoned before it starts, and that path does not advance the rule’s next execution time — which is exactly why a stuck timestamp so often means a disconnected account. Reconnect, then set the rule live again.
6. Are the ad accounts active? Ad accounts arrive from a sync as Inactive and stay that way until you switch them on. On Ad Accounts, use the Active filter pill and confirm the accounts on the rule are in that list.
7. Is the account suspended? A suspended account renders Rules, Custom Metrics, Ad Accounts, Activity and Integrations behind the Feature Locked overlay, with the restricted features listed and a Pay Now to Unlock button.
Checks on scope
8. Do the filters match anything? Open the rule and read the Estimated match: N Campaigns readout in Filter Configuration. If it says 0, nothing is in scope and no amount of waiting will change that. The usual culprits are a Campaign Name contains filter with a typo, and a Campaign Status filter set to is ACTIVE on campaigns you paused yesterday.
9. Is the level right? The level controls the level of the Insights read. If you switched a rule to Ad sets, the numbers being evaluated changed even though the filters did not.
Checks after a run
Open the rule’s Logs. If there are batches, the rule is running and the question becomes what it did.
10. Is the badge Skipped? Skipped means an action frequency cooldown blocked the task. The result records the reason next_execute_not_reached and the time it becomes eligible again. A task set to Once in a lifetime will never fire again on that campaign — its next execution is set to the year 2100.
11. Is the badge Not Executed? Read Condition Evaluations. Each condition shows Actual <value> <operator> Expected <value> with a Pass or Fail badge, so the failing threshold is named for you. Three recurring causes:
- A ratio with no volume floor. Purchase ROAS is 0 on a campaign with no purchases, so
ROAS < 2passes on campaigns you never meant to touch — and conversely, a spend condition you set too high excludes everything. - The wrong period.
Todayon a campaign that started this morning has almost no data in it. - A time condition. Time greater than and Time less than also carry a weekday list; if today is not in that list the condition fails no matter what the clock says. Remember the boundary hour itself passes, because the comparison is inclusive.
12. Is a custom metric returning nothing? A custom metric matches the sheet row whose lookup column equals the campaign id. A campaign missing from the sheet has no row to match. Re-open the metric and re-save it to re-run validation, which reports a sheet AdOps cannot open or a column name that does not match the header.
Still nothing?
Check the Benchmark page. Queue Progress shows batches in flight with a “Progress: executed/total” bar, which tells you whether work is queued but slow rather than absent. Slow Rule lists executions above a Minimum Time in seconds, with the per-step timing breakdown for each.
And check the horizon: execution results older than 3 days are removed by the nightly cleanup, so a rule that ran last week with nothing since will look like a rule that never ran.
Sample data Questions about this page
My rule has no logs at all. What does that mean?
Either it has never been dispatched — check that the status is ACTIVE, the date range is open and the next execution time has passed — or its results have aged out, since the nightly cleanup removes execution results older than 3 days.
The rule ran but nothing happened. Where do I look?
Open the batch and read the Condition Evaluations column. Every condition shows Pass or Fail with the exact value the engine saw, written as "Actual <value> <operator> Expected <value>", so you can see which threshold was missed.
Why is my rule stuck on the same next execution time?
A run that is abandoned before it starts does not advance the schedule. The usual cause is a missing Meta connection or a rule whose status is not ACTIVE. Reconnect Meta on the Integrations page, then set the rule live again.
Could a suspended account be the reason?
Yes. A suspended account renders Rules, Custom Metrics, Ad Accounts, Activity and Integrations behind the Feature Lock overlay. Settle the invoice from the Invoices page to restore access.
