What is your goal?
I need to prevent duplicate posts on Facebook. My scenario is triggered by an Airtable search every hour (or when scheduled). Even with a filter to only pick records where the scheduled time is in the past, some posts are being published twice, even though the Make history shows only one successful execution per hour.
What is the problem & what have you tried?
The problem is double-posting on Facebook.
What I’ve already tried:
Time-buffer formula: I’m using an Airtable formula to only fetch records where {Scheduled Time} <= DATEADD(NOW(), -2, ‘minutes’) to avoid race conditions.
Sequential Processing: I tried enabling it, but switched back to “No” to avoid scenario blocking, as I’m handling dozens of pages.
Error Handling: I have Error Handlers (blue dotted lines) with “Commit” modules to ensure failed runs don’t stay incomplete.
History check: The Make history shows only ONE successful run at the time of the duplicate posts.
I suspect there might be a delay between Airtable updating the status and the next run, or some Facebook API ghost-retrying.
Error messages or input/output bundles
No error messages in the history logs. The logs show “Success” with 1 bundle processed, but 2 posts appear on the Facebook Page at the exact same time.
Screenshots (scenario flow, module settings, errors)
Hello,
That’s an interesting one.
Your scenario log clearly shows only one post was created.
Are you sure there isn’t a second scenario or an Airtable Webhook that could be triggering a duplicate?
The most common cause would be Search records returning more than one bundle – each bundle would then create a separate post. But your screenshot and operations log show only 3 credits used, so that’s not the case here.
If you have the Make DevTool extension installed, it might give you more debug info.
Have a nice day,
Michal
We’d love to help, however, we require more information that demonstrates the problem to help us reproduce the scenario and any issues and errors. To allow others to assist you, please provide the following:
A. All Relevant Screenshots
We need to see what you’re working with to give you the best advice. Screenshots are important because Make is a visual editor — a picture provides us with more context.
It would help us identify the issue by having screenshots of:
- relevant module fields (showing how you’ve used any built-in functions, and how you’ve mapped the variables),
- relevant filters between modules (showing which operators and any built-in functions you’ve used, and how you’ve mapped the variables),
- relevant module input/output bubbles,
- if applicable, any error messages,
- and if applicable, any external services (spreadsheet headers/ sample data/ regex101.com/ etc. to show the item/ record exists, and is set up correctly).
Expand Instructions ◀
Please directly upload screenshots into the post editor. Using the forum’s image hosting allows for zooming in when clicked, and avoids third-party cookies or tracking.
Taking Screenshots
- Microsoft Windows: Take screenshots using the “Windows Snipping Tool”, by pressing either PrtSc or WinShiftS keys on your keyboard.
- MacOS: Take screenshots by pressing CommandShift4 keys on your keyboard.
Uploading Images
- Drag image files directly into the rich-text editor, or
- Click on the upload button in the editor toolbar to select files:
B. Scenario Blueprint
Providing your scenario will allow others to quickly recreate and see how you have set up the mappings in each module, and also allows us take screenshots or provide module exports of any solutions we have for you in return. This would benefit you in implementing our suggestions as you can view screenshots of the changes or paste corrected modules back into your scenario.
Expand Instructions ◀
A. Export Blueprint
In the scenario editor, click the three dots at the top-right, then select “Export blueprint”.
B. Create Public Share Link
In the scenario editor, click on the Share button:
Read more about the scenario sharing feature in the Help Centre.
C. Properly-formatted Output Bundles from a Scenario Run
Please provide the Output bundle of each of the relevant modules from the Scenario History, or by re-running the scenario.
Expand Instructions ◀
Click on the white speech bubbles on the top-right of each module and select “Download output (or input) bundles”.
A. Upload a Text File
Save each bundle contents in a plain text editor as a moduleNumber-output.txt file. Open the file to check if it has not added additional formatting or encoded the plain text.
-
You can upload files and images to this forum by clicking on the upload button:
Uploading an attachment here will look like this:
module1-input.txt (1.2 KB), module1-output.txt (3.4 KB)
B. Insert a Formatted Code Block
If you are unable to upload files on this forum, alternatively you can paste the bundles AND format them correctly with the “Preformatted Text” (code) button in the rich-text editor. Otherwise the forum software will change the content, making them invalid!
Formatting IS Important!
Here are some ways to provide text content in a way that it won’t be modified by the forum.
-
Method 1: Type code fence manually —
Manually type three backticks ``` in a separate line before and after the content, like this,
```
text goes here
```
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Method 2: Highlight the pasted content, then click the preformatted text/code button —
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Method 3: Upload your file elsewhere and share the public link —
This method is only advised for large files exceeding the forum upload limit.
Providing the Output bundle will allow others to replicate what is going on, especially if there are complex data structures (like nested arrays and collections) and data from external services. This helps us with answering your question with valid examples, like mapping raw variable names (instead of the label/display name).
Sharing these details will make it easier for others to assist you, so that you can get better answers, faster.
— @samliew
