> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Troubleshooting: a Flow created from a template fails its first publish or test send > A WhatsApp Flow created from a built-in template looks complete in the flow list, but publish and test send return a Meta validation error until you open the editor and press Save. Why the flow reached WhatsApp with no screens, and the one-step recovery. # Troubleshooting: a Flow created from a template fails its first publish or test send A Flow you created from one of the built-in templates — Appointment Booking, Order Tracking, Customer Satisfaction — shows up in the flow list like any other flow, yet the first publish or test send returns a validation error from WhatsApp and no screens would render for the recipient. Opening the flow in the editor and pressing Save clears the error. This page covers that failure: a flow whose screens never reached WhatsApp. If the Flow opens fine but completed submissions never land, work [Troubleshoot WhatsApp Flow submissions](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/troubleshooting/whatsapp-flow-submissions.md) instead; if the Flow fails mid-conversation, work [Flow execution failures](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/troubleshooting/flow-executions-failed.md). > [!NOTE] > > The recovery on this page is a tenant-owned control: the editor Save > uploads your screens to your WABA's flow. Nothing here requires a > change on Orbit's side. ## Symptom * You create a Flow from a built-in template and give it a name. The flow appears under **Messages → WhatsApp → Flows** with the template's screens previewable, so it looks finished. * Publish, or the dashboard's test send, fails with a validation error from Meta. The error names none of your screens, because as far as WhatsApp is concerned the flow has none. * Opening the flow in the editor shows the full screen set, and pressing **Save** makes the next publish and test send succeed. The cause is a flow that was created empty on the WABA side: the screens you saw lived only in your browser, and the flow's JSON definition was never uploaded, so WhatsApp rejects publish and test send until it is. Flows created from a template before 24 October 2026 were always created this way. Since that date, creating from a template uploads the screens as part of creation; the failure remains for flows created earlier, and for the degraded path where attaching the screens at creation does not complete — the flow is still created in that case, and the dashboard tells you to review and save it from the editor. ## Diagnosis: empty at WhatsApp vs a routing validation failure Two different failures both surface as a Meta validation error on publish, so tell them apart before touching the JSON: | Signal | Empty flow at WhatsApp (this page) | Malformed flow JSON (routing validation) | | - | - | - | | Editor vs `GET /whatsapp/flows/:flowId` | The editor shows complete screens while the flow record carries validation errors about the missing definition | Both agree on the screens; the errors name specific screens or components | | `validation_errors` content | Reports that the flow has no screens to validate | Names a screen id or component, often with line and column: a missing terminal `complete` action, a `next` naming a screen that does not exist, a Footer without an action | | Did an upload ever succeed? | No — the screens were never sent | Yes — the last `POST /whatsapp/flows/:flowId/assets` ran and Meta checked it | The routing class is the one [the Flows guide](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/guides/whatsapp/whatsapp-flows.md#building-the-flow-json) describes: fix the named screen and re-upload. The empty-flow class needs no JSON edits at all — the screens are already correct in the editor, they were just never uploaded. ## Recovery: Save in the editor, then publish and test send 1. Open the flow in the dashboard (**Messages → WhatsApp → Flows**, then the flow's name). The editor hydrates the template's screens. 2. Press **Save**. The editor uploads the screens it shows, via `POST /api/v1/whatsapp/flows/{flowId}/assets` — the same assets endpoint the API exposes — so the flow on WhatsApp now matches what you saw. 3. Run publish again, then the test send. Both succeed once the upload has landed. There is nothing else to rebuild: the screens in the editor are the template's original screens. Two creation paths never need this step: AI-generated flows upload their screens at creation, and template-created flows have done the same since 24 October 2026. ## What not to do * **Do not recreate the flow from scratch.** The existing flow is fine once its screens are uploaded; a new flow mints a new Meta flow id and strands any send, `flow_token`, or webhook filter that references the old one. * **Do not re-submit or re-pick the template.** The template already contributed its screens to the editor; picking it again uploads nothing. * **Do not edit the screens looking for a routing error** when the editor shows a complete template and the errors name no screen. That is the empty-flow class; Save is the whole fix. * **Do not retry publish or test send in a loop before saving.** The validation error is deterministic until the screens upload; retries only burn the WABA's Meta call budget — see [the 502 META\_API\_ERROR page](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/troubleshooting/whatsapp-flows-meta-api-error.md) for budget behavior. ## Escalation payload If a Save in the editor does not clear the error, email [whatsapp-support@devotel.io](mailto:whatsapp-support@devotel.io) with these four items so we can trace the flow against Meta without a back-and-forth: 1. The **flow id** (Meta's id, or the id in the dashboard URL). 2. The **WABA id** the flow was created on. 3. The **Meta error body** — the `validation_errors` list from the failed publish or test send, verbatim. 4. The **request id** from the failing response's headers. ## See also * [WhatsApp Flows: interactive forms end-to-end](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/guides/whatsapp/whatsapp-flows.md) — the lifecycle guide; the routing-validation class and the assets endpoint live there. * [Troubleshoot WhatsApp Flow submissions](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/troubleshooting/whatsapp-flow-submissions.md) — the submissions and funnel side, for flows that open fine but never return data. * [Troubleshoot WhatsApp template review and status](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/troubleshooting/whatsapp-template.md) — pending, rejected, or 24h-window-blocked templates. * [Troubleshooting: WhatsApp Flows API — 502 META\_API\_ERROR](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/troubleshooting/whatsapp-flows-meta-api-error.md) — a classified 502 on the Flows endpoints, a different failure from a validation error. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.