1️⃣ Failure Summary Expected behavior: Every new Google Form submission should: Create a contact in HubSpot Send a confirmation email via Gmail Actual behavior: HubSpot contact is created successfully Gmail email step fails for some submissions Occurrence pattern: Happens intermittently, not on every submission No fixed time pattern; depends on specific form responses 2️⃣ Failure Classification Primary classification: 👉 Data formatting or mapping issue Why: The trigger fires correctly, and earlier steps succeed. The failure occurs because required data is missing or malformed when passed to the email step. 3️⃣ Step-Level Diagnosis Failed step: Gmail: “Send Email” action in Zapier Inputs at this step: To: Email field from Google Forms Subject: Static text Body: Static + dynamic fields Observed issue: In failed runs, the Email field resolves to empty In successful runs, the field contains a valid email address Upstream effect: Google Form allows submission without mandatory email validation Downstream effect: No confirmation email → user unsure if registration worked 4️⃣ Root Cause Analysis Most likely root cause: 👉 The Google Form email field is not set as “Required”, allowing blank submissions. Contributing factors: Zapier does not stop execution when optional fields are empty No conditional check before the Gmail step Error handling relies only on task failure logs Why it wasn’t caught earlier: Testing was done with complete, ideal form submissions Edge cases (blank email) were never simulated 5️⃣ Safe Fix Recommendations ✅ Immediate Fix (Lowest Risk) Set the Email field in Google Forms as “Required” Retest with empty-field attempts (should block submission) 🔁 Alternative Fix Add a Filter step in Zapier: Continue only if Email exists and contains “@” ❌ What NOT to Change Yet Do NOT modify HubSpot field mappings Do NOT add complex regex validation inside Zapier yet 6️⃣ Testing & Validation Plan Safe testing steps: Submit form without email → form should block submission Submit form with valid email → email should send Submit 5–10 test entries with different devices/browsers Success criteria: Zero Gmail step failures 100% confirmation email delivery for valid entries Avoid false positives: Test with real Gmail inbox (not only Zapier test mode) 7️⃣ Failure Prevention Measures Add a Zapier Filter step before email actions Enable Zapier task failure notifications Log failed submissions into a Google Sheet for review Keep trigger forms strict, not flexible 8️⃣ Rollback & Recovery Notes If fix causes issues: Revert Google Form “Required” setting Temporarily disable Gmail step only Handling affected data: Export failed Zap runs Manually resend confirmation emails to affected registrants 9️⃣ Long-Term Stability Advice Always validate critical fields at the source (forms) Design automations assuming bad or missing data Refactor when: More than 2 conditional fixes are added Error rate exceeds 5% consistently 🔟 Debug Summary Root Cause: Missing required email data passed to Gmail step Fix Confidence Level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (High) Next Improvement to Add: 👉 Add a centralized “Data Validation” step before all outbound actions