Robotic Process Automation (RPA) - Recent Threads

RE: Implementing MFA for Appian RPA bots

miguelangel.carnero — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:01:12 GMT

Hi, do you mean using Appian RPA bots in a MFA process? If it's that, there is no a native way to direct interact with the MFA. A workaround is changing the MFA process so the Verification Code is sent to an email, then, you automate to gather that code, store it in a variable so you can use Appian RPA to paste that code in the MFA fields.

Let us know if this works.

Thanks.

Implementing MFA for Appian RPA bots

Naveen chandu Ganji — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:18:21 GMT

Has anyone configured MFA for Appian RPA bots?

How is the manual action to accept or decline the request on authenticator bypassed ?

Unable to re-trigger or test one of the Robotic Tasks

anusham — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:38:12 GMT

I have many robotic tasks, all of them runs when triggered either from process or by Re-execution or By TEST button, but one of the Robotic tasks which was executing previously has stopped triggering from process model, the process model gets stuck at the robotic tasks node without any errors and fails with timeout after long time. Re-execution of the previous instances is also not triggering any new instance for this robotic tasks alone.

RE: Unable to re-trigger or test one of the Robotic Tasks

Harsha Sharma — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 06:20:08 GMT

If An execution instance is not getting created it is weird indeed and I have never faced this with my limited experience with RPA. I can suggest few things as of now, that you can try.

If recently any modifications are made to the Robotic task, then revert it back to the version before and try to run the task.
If no modifications are made, then see if recently you had RPA upgrade/any hotfix deployments done that might have as regression impacted this behaviour. Appian Support team should be looped in on this issue in this case for resolution.
The Robotic task design, whether its in a loop or a subtask of another robotic task etc might be impacting the debugging. As a note, The debugging execution automatically pauses at the beginning of the Setup and Main sections. So go through this documentation here to debug the robotic task with various debugging options available and try to find the root cause.

If none of the above work then better to reach out to Appian Support to investigate the matter.

RE: Unable to re-trigger or test one of the Robotic Tasks

anusham — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 06:01:31 GMT

Yes, nothing happens, no execution gets created in operations console. Robot is online and other tasks run as expected on testing or debugging except this particular robotic task. I would really appreciate if you can suggest a solution to handle this

RE: Unable to re-trigger or test one of the Robotic Tasks

Harsha Sharma — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:57:34 GMT

Did you try to debug or test like this? docs.appian.com/.../robotic-task-execution.html

RE: Unable to re-trigger or test one of the Robotic Tasks

anusham — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:46:19 GMT

Removed all the older executions of that Robotic task still the issue persists

RE: Unable to re-trigger or test one of the Robotic Tasks

Shubham Aware — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 05:54:46 GMT

Your issue is most likely a stuck/queued robotic task or no available robot, so the process stays active and times out after 96 hours.
https://docs.appian.com/suite/help/26.3/Execute_Robotic_Task.html#runtime-behavior

Also, Verify the concurrent execution limit setting on that robotic task - if it's set to 1 and a previous instance is stuck In Progress, new ones queue indefinitely, which matches your exact symptoms (no error, just hangs then times out).
https://docs.appian.com/suite/help/26.3/rpa-9.22/configure-run-time-settings-tab.html

https://docs.appian.com/suite/help/26.3/rpa-9.22/robotic-task-execution.html

RE: Unable to login using RPA

Gokul — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 06:53:26 GMT

Hi sadhus2473 ,

Can you provide the complete execution log, it seems the execution got struct in the open browser step itself not even moved to the username step.

Also can you attach the configurations done in the open browser step to debug in detail.

From high level, it seems RPA didn't receive the response back as browser opened with the mentioned URL and expecting some response.

Unable to login using RPA

sadhus2473 — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 19:04:25 GMT

Hi All,

I have recorded an RPA to Login to Appian

I have configured credentials. Screenshots are below

When I start Testing the RPA running and opening the url in the browser, but Username and password are not set

After sometime I'm receiving this the below error(attached) and task is terminating.

Please suggest some solutions and let me know if you need anything else

Appian RPA - working with Excel

nicolaem159908 — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:42:10 GMT

I have a question related to "Appian RPA - working with Excel": is the set of activities powerful enough?

I have a project that requires specific activities in a few Excel files:

-renaming a sheet

-adding/removing a sheet

-applying sorting

-transferring (copy and paste) data from one sheet to another one in the same Excel documents and between documents

-searching in a column for the first file name (the column has files names in it) that has or not an extension (".txt" for example).

etc etc etc

Can the Appian "working with Excel" set of activities powerful enough? Did somebody have something that couldn't be implemented (lack of functionality maybe)?

I have to choose between "Appian RPA" and "MS power automation", I don't want to start with "Appian RPA" and to realize afterwards that it cannot do this and that, etc.

Thank you so much.

RE: Appian RPA - working with Excel

Shubham Aware — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 11:13:14 GMT

Appian Smart Services can't handle your requirements - it only does basic import/export. Appian RPA (Excel: License Required module) supports all your needs like renaming sheets, sorting, copying data, and searching columns.

RE: Multibot in Appian RPA

miguelangel.carnero — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 11:30:47 GMT

nicolaem159908 Thanks for your feedback. I would really like to understand your point to try to help explain how Appian RPA address this. If I may, I have some questions and comments:

Questions:
Q1. What do you mean by "The Product"? Appian RPA, Appian platform, both?
Q2. What do you mean by "default"? Asking because, if I am not misunderstanding your need, that can be easily addressed with Appian and Appian RPA OOTB capabilities.
Q3. What do you mean by "a runner"? Asking to clarify to what you are comparing it with in the Appian platform. Same needs are normally addressed differently between vendors. That does not mean it cannot be addressed, just the way to do it is different.
Q4. Could you provide a specific, detailed description of the use case you're trying to address with Appian and/or Appian RPA?

Comments:
- "Concurrent transactions" is one of the most common use cases and it is extremely easy to address with Appian RPA by configuring the number of Agents you need and the proper Robot Pool to manage it. Then, Process Models can add additional orchestrator logic when necessary.
- Comparing concepts between vendors often lead to confusion. We recommend trying to address the use case with Appian from an holistic perspective, using all its platform potential, without making 1:1 comparisons.

Multibot in Appian RPA

nicolaem159908 — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 15:26:15 GMT

I know about Appian queues, etc related to multibot configuration.

However when I compare how UIPath queues work (in a reFramework configuration we first load data in the queue - using what we call a "dispatcher" - and each record is locked during processing using what we call a "performer") and I compare this with Appian queues I have a feeling that there is something that I miss.

Can somebody provide more details about it?

Thank you.

How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

nicolaem159908 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 22:31:16 GMT

How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

Thank you.

RE: How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

Jesse Knight — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:36:23 GMT

That's not my point - see above, where I think there are great use cases for specifics on try/catch. My point is that it was never a great idea in software (even before RPA) to use try/catch as the only approach to error handling.

As for whether RPA as a fundamental technology is even relevant these days.... in my personal opinion, it isn't. But Appian doesn't typically listen to my hot takes when determining what's on their roadmap.

RE: How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

nicolaem159908 — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 15:23:47 GMT

Jesse Knight - so your point is let's not ask Appian to implement any other activities because we don't need it ("pushing the problem off"). And also your point is UIPath RPA / Blue prism RPA / Automation Anywhere RPA ... they are not modern RPAs, top of the market systems ... they are all stupid guys that don't know what they are talking about. Jessy ... really????

RE: How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

Jesse Knight — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 15:19:34 GMT

Sure, re-throwing an Exception is a thing. But again, that simply means you're pushing the problem off onto some other part of the code passively, rather than proactively dealing with it. In some cases, such as generic connection handlers, that makes sense. Yet in most cases it's simply a way to punt on a problem that should be dealt with.

The time / effort to handle an error will be spent at some point, whether it's dealt with immediately via checks or rethrown and dealt with in a few months as a mess of data / processes that need to be cleaned up.

RE: How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

nicolaem159908 — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 14:28:12 GMT

Jesse Knight - sorry but I disagree and this is the reason why: a try/catch combined with a "throw" or a "rethrow" (to force the generation of an error) is a powerful way of directing the code to a specific part of the program that should run or not. That means control not "developer has not checked". By the way, couldn't find in this Appian RPA a "throw" (or a "rethrow") activity but again, the number of things that are missing ... I don't really want to talk about it because is very frustrating.

RE: How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

Jesse Knight — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 14:17:32 GMT

I disagree that a 'catch' block is 'powerful' in the longer term. Most of the time they are a 'code smell' because they imply that a developer has not checked the assumptions about initial conditions / data in their code prior to running it. The reality of nearly all code I've written and reviewed is that a 'catch' block is just a way for developers to ignore problems by logging them to deal with later. Sometimes that is all that can be done (e.g. leaky abstractions, where a lower-level library throws a generic exception with no relevant means of handling it in a specific way), but most other times it is far more performant and maintainable to check assumptions ahead of the try() block.

The lack of generic error-handling in Appian, while absolutely frustrating at times in early development, is a way to force developers to properly address errors in their code as part of productionization. I do wish Appian would formally support try/catch (specifically to gracefully handle issues with data-driven dropdowns), but I also know developers would simply abuse it.

RE: How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

miguelangel.carnero — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:24:29 GMT

Thanks for raising this. You're right that try/catch is common practice in RPA tools. We hear you and understand the desire for robust error handling in RPA, and we're actively working to enhance this area.

While Appian RPA is designed to integrate legacy systems into the broader Appian platform (where you can leverage process models for complex logic and error handling), we recognize that native try/catch capabilities in RPA would make certain workflows more efficient.

This capability is on our roadmap, and we're evaluating the best approach to deliver it in a way that fits naturally with Appian's unified platform. We appreciate this kind of direct feedback, as it helps us prioritize what matters most to our customers.

RE: Start a Robotic Task by whoever started the process

shivakanthreddyp0001 — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 04:41:26 GMT

I am not sure about RPA side, an alternate approach
How about passing pp!initiator value to RPA and use that as started by in RPA?

Start a Robotic Task by whoever started the process

sudip.das005 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 11:14:17 GMT

Hi everyone,

We have an application where business users can start a process using a Start Process Smart Service from the application site. The process model includes an Execute Robotic Task node, which is currently configured to “Run as whoever designed this process model”.

This configuration is required because the process is initiated by basic business users whose usernames are not available in the Appian RPA users list. As a result, setting the node to “Run as whoever started the process” causes the robotic task execution to fail.

Is there any supported way to configure the Execute Robotic Task node to run as “whoever started the process” by changing any other configuration in robotic task/RPA?

Thank you in advance.

RE: How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

Stefan Helzle — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:57:50 GMT

Agentic RPA

RE: How do you implement a try/catch in Appian RPA no code environment?

nicolaem159908 — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:39:35 GMT

Stefan Helzle - you are so right!!! The question is why there is no progress on this bandaid from Appian? any Appian employees here?