Warning "Implicated in chain reaction" displays when configuring a custom process

Issue

A potential chain reaction of executions has been detected when setting up an Event Trigger process or when using Execute Process steps.

When this occurs, the following warnings may display, and the process cannot be tested or set to active:

• "Process Chain Reaction. If run, this process may recursively trigger itself and other processes in exponentially increasing volumes."
• "Implicated in chain reaction" is displayed in the associated Action step of the process.

Cause

The warning displays when the process may trigger other processes in a way that causes a looping scneario, creating automation volumes to grow rapidly.

For example, this can occur when more than one Event automation uses the same event, for example, New Job, and each process includes a step that creates another job or executes another process. When a new job is created, it may trigger multiple automations. If those automations then create more jobs or run more processes, the number of automations can keep multiplying.

To prevent large volumes of duplicate jobs, documents, tasks or pending automations from being created, the system blocks this type of chain reaction before it runs. This is why the process cannot be tested or set to active until the chain reaction is resolved.

Solution

To resolve the issue, review the process that displays the warning and any related automations that use the same event, field or process step:

1. Review and identify automations that use the same event or field. For example, review any processes using the New Job event, or any Client Update processes using the same On Update To field.
    
2. Remove or update any duplicate or conflicting filters and steps so that the process does not trigger itself or trigger other processes in increasing volumes.

Once the chain reaction has been removed, the warning will no longer display and the process can be tested or set to active.