Help Centre › Building Processes
Many automations read from a spreadsheet or data file – and break in confusing ways when someone renames a column or removes a sheet. Input file validation guards against this: you record what a good input file looks like, and the bot checks every run against that baseline before any step runs, so a structural change is caught up front with a clear message instead of a mid-run error.
1. Baseline the structure
For an input file attached to a process, baseline its structure – the sheets, columns and tables it should contain. This becomes the contract the bot checks against on each run.
2. What the check does
At the start of every run, the bot compares the actual file to the baseline:
- Breaking changes stop the run before it starts – for example a missing sheet, a missing column or a missing table. The run is rejected with the reason, so no steps run against a broken file.
- Smaller differences are flagged as warnings – for example extra columns the process doesn't use. The run continues, but the difference is noted so you can review it.
3. The drift codes you'll see
When the file has changed, the check reports a specific code so you know exactly what to fix, such as:
- Sheet missing – an expected worksheet is gone.
- Column missing – an expected column is gone.
- Column renamed – a column appears to have been renamed.
Each difference carries a severity – breaking (stops the run), warn (noted, run continues), info, or ignore – so you can decide how strict the check should be for each part of the file.