SAP Automation Pilot Debugging & Troubleshooting

Debug failed Executions, check recent execution health, and investigate error patterns. Use this skill when things go wrong — not for normal operations.

Quick Diagnostics

Check Recent Executions Summary

# Last 10 executions summary
curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" \
  "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions?limit=10"

# Last 5 failed executions
curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" \
  "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions?status=FAILED&limit=5"

# Last 5 successful executions
curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" \
  "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions?status=FINISHED&limit=5"

Investigate a Specific Execution

EXEC_ID="your-execution-id"

curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" \
  "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions/$EXEC_ID"

curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" \
  "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions/$EXEC_ID/logs"

Error Pattern Reference

"Parameter 'X' is required but not provided"

Error: API returns 400 with message like "Parameter 'smtpHost' is required but not provided" even when the parameter IS provided in the JSON payload.

Root Cause: Known issue (possibly canary environment specific or permission-related) where the execution API fails to recognize required input parameters passed at trigger time.

Workaround:

1. Avoid required input parameters - make all inputs optional with default values, OR
2. Hardcode values in command definition - put the values directly in the executor input mappings instead of using $(.execution.input.paramName)
3. Commands with NO required inputs (empty inputKeys: {} or all required: false) work correctly

Example - Before (fails):

"inputKeys": {
  "smtpHost": { "type": "string", "required": true }
},
"executors": [{
  "input": { "host": "$(.execution.input.smtpHost)" }
}]

Example - After (works):

"inputKeys": {},
"executors": [{
  "input": { "host": "mail.example.com" }
}]

"Missing valid combination of input values for authentication"

Full Error: "Missing valid combination of input values for authentication. Please select a valid option: 1) 'clientCert' for X509 2) 'user' & 'password' for Basic authentication"

Context: Typically occurs with email-sapcp:SendEmail:1 command.

Root Cause: The SMTP server requires authentication. Internal mail relays like mail.sap.corp that work from on-premise networks require authentication when accessed from cloud services (Automation Pilot runs in the cloud).

Fix Options:

1. Provide user and password for SMTP authentication
2. Provide clientCert for X509 certificate authentication
3. Use a different SMTP server that allows unauthenticated relay
4. Use SAP Alert Notification Service (ANS) instead of direct SMTP

"The following input keys can only have default values from input, because they are marked as sensitive"

Context: Occurs when deploying a command.

Root Cause: Sensitive input keys (like passwords) cannot have hardcoded defaultValue. This is a security feature.

Fix: Remove defaultValue from sensitive fields. Use defaultValueFromInput to reference an Input object instead, or leave no default.

Wrong:

"password": {
  "type": "string",
  "sensitive": true,
  "defaultValue": "<your-password>"
}

Correct:

"password": {
  "type": "string",
  "sensitive": true
}

"Command not found" or 404 on execution trigger

Root Cause Options:

1. Command ID is wrong (check catalog, name, version)
2. Command exists but is not released (still in draft state)
3. Command was deleted

Fix:

# Check if command exists
curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" \
  "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/commands/catalog:CommandName:1"

⚠️ If the command is in draft state, release it only after verifying it works correctly and only if the user explicitly requests it:

curl -s -X PUT -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" \
  "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/commands/catalog:CommandName:1/release"

Execution stuck in RUNNING

Possible Causes:

1. Delay:1 step is waiting (check progressMessage for "Waiting X minutes")
2. External HTTP call is timing out
3. Polling loop (repeat) hasn't met exit condition
4. Execution is paused or waiting for user input

curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions/$EXEC_ID"

Fix Options:

1. Wait for delay/polling to complete
2. Abort if stuck:

curl -s -X POST -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"type": "ABORT", "reason": "Aborting stuck execution"}' \
  "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions/$EXEC_ID/actions"

HTTP executor returns unexpected status

Common Issues:

• 401/403: Authentication failed - check credentials, token expiry
• 404: Resource not found - verify URL and resource exists
• 429: Rate limited - add retry logic with backoff
• 500/502/503: Server error - retry with autoRetry configuration
• -1 or 0: No response / timeout - check connectivity, increase timeout

Expression evaluation errors

Symptoms: Error mentions jq, expression, or shows $(.something.output) in error.

Common Causes:

1. Previous step failed, so output doesn't exist
2. JSON parsing failed (toObject on non-JSON string)
3. Null value in expression chain
4. Array index out of bounds

Fix: Add null checks with // "default" operator:

$(.step.output.body | toObject.field // "default")

Debugging Workflow

Step 1: Get Execution Status and Error Details

curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions/$EXEC_ID"

Step 2: Check Execution Logs

curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions/$EXEC_ID/logs?maxPageSize=20"

Step 3: Check Input That Was Used

curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/executions/$EXEC_ID/input"

Step 4: Match Error to Pattern

Look up the error message in the Error Pattern Reference above.

Step 5: Verify Command Definition

curl -s -u "$AUTOPI_USERNAME:$AUTOPI_PASSWORD" "https://$AUTOPI_HOSTNAME/api/v1/commands/$COMMAND_ID"