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Automation action "Find records" showing "no valid nested values" for dynamic values

  • February 14, 2023
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I'm setting up an automation triggered by updating a field in one table, which updates a field on the linked record in another table. I'm using "Find records" to search the linked table based on condition that the record's name/title matches the name/title of the linked record from the source. Essentially, I'm just trying to find the record linked to the updated record.

However, when selecting "Dynamic" for the condition value, the name/title field to be used is not selectable, with the pop-up message of "no valid nested values" when hovering over the field. It really seems like this should work, and this error message is cryptic and not helpful.

Does anyone understand this "no valid nested values" error?

Should I be grabbing linked records to be updated in a different way?

Best answer by TheTimeSavingCo

> Essentially, I'm just trying to find the record linked to the updated record.
Hm, what if you used an "Update Record" immediately to update the record linked to the updated record like so? 

Link to base with automation

If the above doesn't meet your needs, would it be possible to share your base with some example data so that I can troubleshoot it?

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TheTimeSavingCo
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> Essentially, I'm just trying to find the record linked to the updated record.
Hm, what if you used an "Update Record" immediately to update the record linked to the updated record like so? 

Link to base with automation

If the above doesn't meet your needs, would it be possible to share your base with some example data so that I can troubleshoot it?

Adam, Consultant @ The Time Saving Co
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  • February 15, 2023
TheTimeSavingCo wrote:

> Essentially, I'm just trying to find the record linked to the updated record.
Hm, what if you used an "Update Record" immediately to update the record linked to the updated record like so? 

Link to base with automation

If the above doesn't meet your needs, would it be possible to share your base with some example data so that I can troubleshoot it?


Thanks Adam! That did the trick. I didn't realize you could reference a linked record using its ID instead of its name. I can probably use this to optimize some other automations as well. I appreciate your help.

TheTimeSavingCo
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Genius 💪

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@Remy_Smith 

I got stuck on a similar problem and found both the explanation and solution to it. I'm late in the game, but this might help you out for future automations where you can't avoid using a Find Records module.

If you’re getting the tooltip ‘No valid nested option’ when trying to select a field as a condition in an automation, that's because the data type of the selected field and the data type of the populated value do not match.

To understand why this happens, it’s useful to know that Airtable processes linked records and lookups as arrays, even when the cell contains only 1 element (in that case, Airtable treats it as a 1-item array). This means you’re trying to have [string = array] as a condition, which Airtable considers as impossible.

The workaround to that is to create a formula field that references the linked record or lookup. This new field will display the original value, but will convert the array into a string. You can select this newly created field as a condition in your Find Records module.


 
 
Hope it helps.

JBJ
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  • February 17, 2025
JBJ wrote:

@Remy_Smith 

I got stuck on a similar problem and found both the explanation and solution to it. I'm late in the game, but this might help you out for future automations where you can't avoid using a Find Records module.

If you’re getting the tooltip ‘No valid nested option’ when trying to select a field as a condition in an automation, that's because the data type of the selected field and the data type of the populated value do not match.

To understand why this happens, it’s useful to know that Airtable processes linked records and lookups as arrays, even when the cell contains only 1 element (in that case, Airtable treats it as a 1-item array). This means you’re trying to have [string = array] as a condition, which Airtable considers as impossible.

The workaround to that is to create a formula field that references the linked record or lookup. This new field will display the original value, but will convert the array into a string. You can select this newly created field as a condition in your Find Records module.


 
 
Hope it helps.

JBJ
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Thank you! I tried rollup and lookup and was about to quit before I found your workaround. Worked like a charm!

JBJ
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auruspro wrote:

Thank you! I tried rollup and lookup and was about to quit before I found your workaround. Worked like a charm!


@auruspro Glad to read it got you out of the rut!

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