Scenario not respecting scheduled date from Google Sheets

How To
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Hi Make Community :waving_hand:

I’m trying to automate Facebook posts using Make, where the post should only be published when the scheduled date and time arrives, based on data stored in Google Sheets.

:white_check_mark: What I have:

In my Google Sheet:

  • Column D: contains a real datetime value.
  • Column E: contains the formatted text version of that date using the formula:
=TEXT(D2,"yyyy-mm-dd HH:mm:ss")

(I also tried without seconds)

:gear: What the scenario does:

  1. Google Sheets > Search Rows: pulls the first row where Status = Programado.
  2. Set variable: I create a variable called Scheduling date with:
parseDate(2. Post date text (E); "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss")

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3. Then I use a filter:

Scheduling date <= now

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  1. so the flow only continues if the scheduled time has passed.
  2. If the condition is met, the post is published and the status in Sheets is updated to "Publicado".

:cross_mark: The problem:

The scenario runs every minute (as scheduled), but:

  • It ignores the date filter and sometimes posts too early.
  • Other times, it does not execute at all even though the time has passed.
  • The Scheduling date variable is being created and shows up correctly (e.g., 2025-04-25T17:00:00.000Z).
  • The now value is also correct and in UTC.
  • I’ve ruled out timezone issues (I’m in UTC-4).
  • I also tested comparing directly with the datetime cell or other formats using parseDate().

:red_question_mark:What I need:

I just want Make to wait until the scheduled time from the sheet has arrived, and only then trigger the post. Any earlier rows should be skipped until their time comes.

If anyone can point out what I might be missing—type mismatch, filter logic, datetime conversion—I’d really appreciate the help :folded_hands:

Thanks in advance!

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2

Welcome to the Make community!

You are using a Numeric operator in the filter when you are comparing dates.

Try using a Date operator.

Hope this helps! Let me know if there are any further questions or issues.

— @samliew

P.S.: Investing some effort into the Make Academy will save you lots of time and frustration using Make.

1 Like
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Thanks a lot! it solved the problem!