Troubleshoot Salesforce Workflow Rules with Debug Logs

Debug Logs capture all Salesforce automation activity triggered during a record save operation in the user interface. To troubleshoot a Workflow Rule, start by creating a Debug Log for the user who is performing the action.

Creating a Debug Log for the Affected User

In Salesforce Classic:

1. Go to Setup | Monitor | Logs | Debug Logs | New.
2. On the lookup field, search for the user performing the action.
3. Reproduce the action (create or edit a record to trigger the workflow).
4. Return to Setup | Monitor | Logs | Debug Logs and click the first log entry.
5. View the details.

In Lightning Experience:

1. Click the Gear icon, then Setup | Platform Tools | Environments | Logs | Debug Logs | New.
2. On the lookup field, search for the user performing the action.
3. Reproduce the action (create or edit a record to trigger the workflow).
4. Return to Setup | Platform Tools | Environments | Logs | Debug Logs and click the first log entry.
5. View the details.

Note: Debug Logs only capture actions performed in the UI after the Save button is clicked.

Understanding the Debug Log Output

When a Workflow Rule is evaluated, the log contains an entry in the following format:
|WF_CRITERIA_BEGIN|[ObjectName Record Name RecordID]|WorkflowRuleName|WorkflowRuleNameID|ON_ALL_CHANGES
|WF_FORMULA|Criteria
|WF_CRITERIA_END|false
WF_ACTION| Field Update: 2

Definitions

• [ObjectName Record Name RecordID] — The object (such as Lead, Contact, or Account), the record name, and the record Id.
• WorkflowRuleName | WorkflowRuleNameID — The name and Id of the Workflow Rule being evaluated.
• WF_CRITERIA_END | true or false — Whether the record meets the rule criteria. True means the criteria are met; False means they are not.
• WF_ACTION — The actions being executed when the record meets the criteria.

How to Use This Information

Use the log to determine:

• Whether the record meets the Workflow Rule criteria.
• The order in which rules are evaluated (by reviewing the sequence of WF_CRITERIA_BEGIN entries).

Example: Field Update Not Applying Expected Value

If you have a Workflow Rule field update that should set the Opportunity Stage to "Closed Won" but the Stage is instead set to "Review", the log may show two separate WF_FIELD_UPDATE entries. This indicates two field updates are being triggered, and the second one is overwriting the first with a different value.