# A scheduled workflow didn't run — or ran on everything

Find out why a scheduled workflow rule never fires (or fires on far too much), fix the date logic and reprocess window, and prove a successful run in the log.

Product: content-central · Versions: 7.x · Audience: catalog-administrator · Time: 20 minutes · Last verified: 2026-08-30

Canonical: https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/scheduled-workflow-didnt-run

**By the end of this guide you'll know why your scheduled rule fired on nothing (or on everything), have it matching only the documents you intend, and have proof of a successful run.**

## How a scheduled rule decides what to act on

A scheduled workflow rule is two separate decisions, and either one can be the problem:

| Decision | Controlled by | Failure looks like |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **When** the rule runs | **Process Interval:** (`Every Minute` through `Every Year`, plus **on Day** / **on Hour** / **on Minute** for longer intervals) | Rule runs, but not when you expected |
| **What** matches at that moment | The trigger's field conditions | Rule runs on time but finds nothing — or finds everything |

"It didn't run" almost always means the rule *did* run — and matched zero documents.

> **IMPORTANT:** Date conditions compare against the current date **on the server running the workflow service**, not your PC's clock. If the server's date or time zone differs from yours, "today" is the server's today.

> **NOTE:** **Process Start:** controls one extra behavior — `On Workflow-Service Start` also runs the trigger when the workflow service starts, while `On First Interval` waits for the first scheduled interval.

## Step 1: Confirm the rule is enabled and the trigger logic

1. Open the rule where it's defined — global rules under **Admin > Workflow**, catalog rules under that catalog's Workflow area, document-type rules under the document type's Workflow area.

2. Confirm the **Enabled** checkbox is checked.

3. If **Use Multiple Triggers** is checked, look at **Combine Method:** — with `AND`, **every** trigger must pass for the rule to fire; with `OR`, any single trigger firing is enough.
   
   > note: One impossible condition in `AND` mode silently blocks the whole rule, even when every other trigger matches.

## Step 2: Check the date logic — the number one cause

For date fields, the **Field-Match Type:** dropdown offers: `Equals` (a literal date entered as `YYYY-MM-DD` in **Field Value:**), `Equal to Current Date`, `Less Than or Equal to Current Date`, `Greater Than or Equal to Current Date`, and two offset forms — `Less Than or Equal to (Current Date Plus Offset Days)` and `Greater Than or Equal to (Current Date Plus Offset Days)`, each with an **Offset Days (negative values allowed):** input.

The trap: a relative-date condition only matches documents whose date lands **exactly in that window on the day the run happens**.

1. Work out, for the server's date today, which document dates your condition actually matches. A "remind me 14 days before the end date" rule matches only documents whose end date is 14 days out **today** — not "any document within 14 days," and never a document whose date is already past.

2. Check the documents you expected it to catch. If their dates don't fall in today's window, the rule ran correctly and matched nothing.

> **IMPORTANT:** A test document with a date in the past can never fire a forward-looking rule — no matter how many intervals pass. This is the single most common "workflow is broken" report, and nothing is broken.

## Step 3: Size the reprocess window — the "ran on everything" cause

**Reprocess Matching Records After:** (a number `0`–`999` plus a unit, default `1` `Days`) controls when a record that already matched becomes eligible to be evaluated — and actioned — again.

The engine evaluates candidates in batches of 100, finishing each batch before loading the next. So if your trigger's conditions match a huge historical set and the reprocess window keeps making those records eligible again, every run must chew through the entire backlog first. A five-minute rule can spend far longer than five minutes re-reading history and never reach the documents you actually care about — the run appears to do nothing.

1. Tighten the trigger's conditions so they only match the **working window** — the documents that could genuinely need the action now — instead of your whole archive.

2. Set the reprocess value so already-handled records don't keep re-entering that set every run.

**What you should see:** after narrowing, each run completes quickly and acts only on current documents.

## Step 4: Test with one document that can actually match

1. Note the rule's **Process Interval:** so you know when the next run is due. For a faster test, temporarily set it to `Every 5 Minutes` — and set it back afterward.

2. Create **one new test document** of the right type, with its date field engineered to match the next run — today's server date for `Equal to Current Date`, or exactly the offset (for example, 14 days from today) for an offset condition.

3. Wait out the interval, then open the test document.
   
   **What you should see:** the rule's action has happened — the field changed, the notification arrived, the document moved.

## Success check: find the run in the log

Scheduled rule executions are logged to the **Windows Event Log** on the Content Central server — log `ContentCentral`, source `AdmCCWorkflowSvc`. If you don't have server access, ask whoever manages the server to check it; entries around the expected run time are the proof the rule executed.

While they're there, have them confirm the service **Ademero Content Central Workflow Service** is running in Windows Services — if it's stopped, no scheduled rule runs at all.

> **NOTE:** **Admin > Workflow > Export History** lists completed *integration exports* only. An empty Export History does not mean your rule didn't run.

## Still stuck?

Contact support with this compact evidence bundle:

- [ ] The rule name and where it's defined (global, catalog, or document type)
- [ ] A screenshot of the trigger: **Process Interval:**, **Field-Match Type:**, any **Offset Days**, and **Reprocess Matching Records After:**
- [ ] The **Combine Method:** (`AND`/`OR`) if the rule uses multiple triggers
- [ ] Your test document's date field value and when you created it
- [ ] Windows Event Log entries from log `ContentCentral`, source `AdmCCWorkflowSvc`, around the expected run time
- [ ] Whether **Ademero Content Central Workflow Service** shows as Running

## What's next

- [A document is stuck in approval](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/document-stuck-in-approval)