I have been struggling to get the flow to work

Question

Hi guys been trying to do this for  3 days now: any help appriaciated: Goal	Collect email via Instagram DM			Validate email with NeverBounce			Allow max 3 invalid attempts			On 4th invalid email, send fallback message (form link)			Never send ebook unless email is valid	Current Flow Logic	User triggers automation by messaging “ebook”			Bot asks for email			Email is checked via NeverBounce (External Request)			Router checks:			nb_result is valid → Success message + ebook						Otherwise → invalid path					Invalid path:			Increment email_attempts by +1						Ask user to re-enter email						Gate checks email_attempts ≥ 3					Yes → fallback message									No → retry loop						Problem	On the 4th invalid email submission, the flow still routes to Success			Ebook is sent even though NeverBounce result is not valid			NeverBounce action itself works correctly			Attempts counter is incrementing, but routing is failing	Key Constraint	ManyChat standalone Actions cannot be routed			Actions inside message blocks can’t be read by routers			Current workaround uses:			“Attempt Router” message Actions  to increment attempts.			Question	How do I reliably block the Success path when:			nb_result ≠ valid						AND email_attempts ≥ 3					What is the correct pattern in ManyChat to:			Increment attempts						Evaluate attempts						Prevent Success from ever firing on invalid/catch-all results?			Any working reference flow or confirmed pattern would be appreciated.

cata_rendon · Accepted Answer

Hi ​@Charles,From what I can see, it looks like the main issue may be related to how the JSON response from your External Request is being saved into Custom User Fields (CUFs).Right now, it’s not fully clear (at least from the screenshots) which CUF you are saving the JSONPad / NeverBounce response into, or how that value is later evaluated in your routers. If the response isn’t being stored correctly (or is being overwritten), the router conditions may never evaluate as expected.A couple of important things to keep in mind:Clear CUFs at the start of the flow when testingWhen you test the same flow multiple times, it’s best practice to add an initial step that clears or resets the relevant CUFs (email result, attempts counter, etc.). Otherwise, previous values can interfere with your conditions and make the routing look inconsistent.About the “fourth attempt”I’m not entirely sure what you mean by the fourth email attempt in your flow. Are you referring to the Data Collection setting:“Retry X times if the user reply is invalid”?If that’s the case, I’d recommend this pattern:First, let the Data Collection step validate and confirm that the email is actually saved correctly in ManyChat.After that, use a conditional step (router) to verify that the email exists and is properly formatted.Only then send the External Request to your verification service (NeverBounce or your app) to evaluate deliverability.This separation usually makes the logic much more reliable and avoids Success paths firing when they shouldn’t.Hope this helps clarify the issue.Best,CataRendón

Charles · Answer

Thank you all so much—this was great help and led me to check the data collection blocks. I disabled the retry attempts by setting them to 0, and the entire flow is now working as expected.

The next step is to fix the HubSpot block so the email is sent correctly 🙂

Finally making some progress—thank you again!

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