Hi everyone! Wanted to provide some documentation for one of the most common error messages we are contacted about.
When you receive a payload from an API, the payload can include different columns based on the data being transmitted. This means that the columns that you used to build your Flow’s logic may not always be present in future requests, which can cause the entire Flow to fail.
This causes the error message: The column {api.Column} no longer exists or Missing Columns
To resolve this error message, we can use the Insert Text Column step to create a placeholder column with the same name as the column referenced in the error message before the step causing the error. At the top of the step, check the box that reads, “Skip if column exists.” This ensures that the column will only be created if it is not present in the data. For the column value, you can simply set the value to be one space.
Note: The “Insert Text Column” step should go before the step with an error, and ‘placeholder columns’ should be created for any column that is referenced in a downstream step that is not present 100% of the time (ex. you reference the Quantity column in a filter step, but since the Quantity column is not always present for some reason, you create a placeholder just in case).
You may have to add multiple placeholders for multiple columns based on your Flow, but this solution should keep the Flows from failing!
Feel free to comment below with any questions or issues – hope this helps!