Troubleshooting Syncs
Last updated
Last updated
Unfortunately, it can happen that an activation does not work properly. Don't worry, it's not a fatality: DinMo will always notify you when this is the case and give you all the keys you need to solve your problem.
This guide explains how to troubleshoot issues during sync processes by analyzing message errors. Follow these steps to identify and resolve common problems.
Alerts can be set up in your workspace to notify you of any problems with your syncs. They can be sent by e-mail or by Slack.
You can check the status of an activation directly on the application. To do so, go to the platform's Activation tab.
By filtering on the “Failed” status, you'll get details of activations for which the last run didn't work.
If you click on a specific activation, you'll see the associated error message. If you go to the Run History tab, you'll also be able to see whether it's a recent error or one that's been around for several runs.
Again, don't panic, DinMo will always tell you why your activation is not working, so that you can correct the problem yourself.
In that section, we list all the errors that can affect your sync and help you understand the message so you can quickly correct the problem.
There are different error categories on the activation level:
Connection Error: Issues with source
Bad Credentials/Insufficient permissions: invalid credentials for the destination
Rate Limit: Exceeding API rate limits (If you have limits with your license for a destination, for example)
Configuration Errors: Invalid or incomplete settings
Timeouts: Operations exceeding allowed duration.
Resource Not Found: Missing entities like accounts, campaigns, or tokens.
In the run history, you can have detailed logs of the error:
The rest of the document details the most common errors in these areas.
An error on the source can affect the operation of your activations. If DinMo no longer has access to your source, segments cannot be computed and therefore cannot be sent to a destination.
To avoid any source-related problems, DinMo validates this connection on a daily basis, paying attention to several things:
Connection testing.
Access verification.
Schema existence checks.
Grant validations for databases, schemas, and views.
Data lineage validation
If DinMo encounters an error at any of these stages, the source is no longer connected to DinMo and cannot be used by associated objects, including activations.
In this case, DinMo alerts of a source error for this activation and pauses it automatically, until you have fixed the problem.
An error on the model can also affect the operation of your activations. For instance, if the fields used in a model no longer exist, the associated segments and activations are bound to be affected.
Here again, DinMo will carry out various checks on a daily basis to ensure that no problems are detected in the model that could impact activations:
Source validation Issues: This error occurs when a model no longer exists in the source. In this case, DinMo can no longer retrieve the associated data, so segments and activations are affected.
Duplicate Primary Keys: To ensure that the system operates smoothly and that all downstream tasks produce accurate results, it is essential to ensure the uniqueness of the primary key of each model. Check out the Detect Primary Key page for more info.
Schema Validation Issues: These alerts occur when the model schema has been modified. This is particularly the case when a column in the source has changed type or been deleted, while it was used in a segment. In that case, DinMo will display warnings:
On model tables
On schema columns on the model schema page.
NB: Schema issues arise when there are breaking changes during schema validation. Types of schema issues include:
Missing: A required entity or field is not found.
Altered: An entity has been modified (e.g., column renamed or dropped).
Wrong Type: A field or column has an unexpected data type.
Schema issues can be identified during:
Manual schema validation (triggered by users).
Daily automated validation tasks (run between 00:00 and 02:00 UTC).
An activation is the sending of a segment to a destination. If DinMo no longer has access to the destination, the activation cannot be functional! This is particularly the case when credentials have expired.
In that specific case:
Go to the Settings tab
Then to the Platforms tab
Click on the destination (which should be flagged as broken), then on re-authorize.
And that's it!
Other destination errors may occur and will be specified in the platform.
When syncing data to a destination, it's essential that the data aligns with the required types expected by the underlying APIs. For instance, a Name field might need to be in a string format, while a timestamp field could require a specific datetime format. If the data type is incorrect—such as sending a numeric value for an identifier field that expects a string—the APIs will reject the request.
To avoid activation failure, DinMo will not send records which have a format issue (for instance, an empty or invalid email address). These issues are displayed under the Sources issues column, in the details of an activation.
Still, the destination might reject some records sent by DinMo. For instance, Google Ads will not be able to adjust a conversion value if the order id of the record does not correspond to an existing conversion.
To avoid this type of error as much as possible, please refer to our technical documentation for each destination, which describes which parameters are mandatory for each type of activation.
Activations may be paused or resumed automatically if schema validation detects issues affecting dependencies.
