How to Avoid Duplicate Workflow Runs When a Trigger Fires Twice

An automation can receive the same trigger more than once when a sender retries, a polling window overlaps, or a user submits a form twice. Duplicate runs may create repeated records, send multiple notifications, or process a request after its status has changed.

Make the trigger idempotent

Use a stable event or request identifier and store which workflow run handled it. Before creating a record or sending a message, check whether the action already completed. Define how long deduplication state must be retained based on the source's retry window.

• Make duplicate events return the original result.
• Use a lock or unique constraint for concurrent runs where supported.
• Alert when a request is received with conflicting payloads.
• Test simultaneous and delayed duplicate triggers.

Informatix Systems lists workflow automation services. A design review can assess trigger handling, retries, and duplicate protection. Contact Informatix Systems if automated tasks run more than once.