Troubleshoot Email Delivery in Bullhorn Automation

This article covers cases where an email or notification step completed in Bullhorn Automation but the recipient never received the message. The diagnostic path splits based on whether the record entered the step at all.

What You Need Before You Start

  • The automation name or ID
  • The record that did not receive the message (ATS ID or name)
  • The specific email or notification step involved (helpful but not required)

Step 1: Confirm Whether the Record Entered the Step

Open the automation and check the step history for the email or notification step in question. The step history shows which records entered the step and when.

If the record entered the step, continue to the relevant section below. If the record did not enter the step, the issue is actually an enrollment or step progression issue. Check the Sending Window first, then see Troubleshoot Automation Record Entry Issues.

If the Step Is a Send Email or Send Engagement Step

Check Whether the Record Is Mailable

A record must be mailable to receive an email through Bullhorn Automation. Open the record in Bullhorn Automation and check the Activity Feed. If the email was sent and bounced, the bounce appears in the Activity Feed. A failed validation also appears as a bounce. For more information on mailable status, see Understand Opt-Out and Mailable Status Behavior Between Bullhorn ATS and Bullhorn Automation.

Check the Sending Window

If the record entered the step but the email has not sent, check whether the Sending Window has been reached. A record waits inside the step until the Sending Window opens. To see when the record is scheduled to send, click the gray waiting indicator on the step — it shows the scheduled date and time.

A Sending Window shorter than 4 hours causes unreliable sending behavior. If your window is under 4 hours, the record may appear to meet the window but still not send. Expand the Sending Window to at least 4 hours.

Check the Step Configuration

Open the email or engagement step and confirm all To/From fields are populated. Check every merge tag in the email by clicking Test Email. A merge tag that fails to resolve can cause the step to fail silently. If a merge tag shows as blank or unresolved in the test preview, the step will not send reliably.

Send a Test Email

Send a test email to yourself from within the step. Allow up to 5 minutes for delivery. If the test email does not arrive, check your spam folder before concluding there is a sending issue.

If the test email arrives but the record did not receive it, send another test while selecting the specific problem record in the test interface. If you still receive the test, pause and restart the automation. A step can become stuck when an automation is edited while records are actively processing through it.

If the Step Is a Send Notification Step

Notification steps (yellow steps) are not affected by the Sending Window by default. Internal Notifications can be configured to respect the Sending Window. If this option is enabled and the Sending Window has not been reached, the notification waits to send.

If a notification was not delivered, check the following:

  • Confirm the sending user (the From in the notification configuration) is an active Bullhorn Automation user with a valid email address.
  • Confirm the receiving user (the To in the notification configuration) is an active Bullhorn Automation user with a valid email address.
  • Check whether the notification arrived in the recipient's spam folder or was caught by an email security filter.