How Do I Know If My AI Workflows Are Stalling in Dave by voolama?

The Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) Dashboard displays four summary cards on the home screen. Each shows a single numeric count. Sourced from the dashboard help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed against content_orchestrator main at commit ddb945f, 2026-08-30.

• Active Agents (blue): the count of agents whose status is not retired or disabled. The dashboard help documentation defines this as: "an agent whose status is not retired or disabled; counted in the Active Agents card." A zero count when you expect agents to be available means agents have been retired or have not yet been created. Click this card to navigate to the Agents section (requires Admin, Create, or Curate role).

• Workflows (purple): the total number of workflow definitions in your tenant, regardless of status. This count includes draft workflows that are not yet active. Click this card to navigate to the Workflows section (requires Admin, Create, or Curate role).

• Running Instances (green): the count of workflow instances currently in the running status, actively executing nodes. The dashboard help documentation defines a Running Instance as: "a workflow instance currently in the running status, actively executing nodes." This is the throughput indicator: how much work is in flight right now. Click this card to navigate to the Instances section (requires Admin, Create, Curate, Use, or Reporting role).

• Pending Tasks (amber): the count of tasks created but not yet completed, typically awaiting human review or user input. The dashboard help documentation defines a Pending Task as: "a task created but not yet completed, typically awaiting human review or user input." This is the bottleneck indicator. Click this card to navigate to the Tasks section (requires Admin, Create, Curate, or Use role).

When the tenant is new or no data exists, cards display a dash instead of a number. Dashboard counts are not real-time: they reflect the state at the moment you loaded the page. The dashboard help documentation states: "The Dashboard loads data when you navigate to it. To see updated counts, navigate away and return, or refresh the browser page."

Run this three-step check every time you log in. It takes under two minutes and requires no page navigation beyond the Dashboard. Every step is sourced from the dashboard help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.

1. Read Running Instances (green card). This is your throughput number: how many workflow instances are actively executing right now. A number greater than zero means work is in flight. Zero means no instances are currently running.

2. Read Pending Tasks (amber card) and compare it to Running Instances. The dashboard help documentation gives the diagnostic rule directly: "Use Pending Tasks as a bottleneck indicator: a high pending-task count relative to running instances suggests you need more reviewers or that tasks are stalling." And the inverse: "If many instances are running but few tasks are pending, workflows are progressing smoothly."

   Two patterns and their concrete responses:

   • Pending Tasks is high relative to Running Instances (for example, 12 pending tasks against 3 running instances): human review or user input steps are the bottleneck. Instances are running but waiting at a Human Review or User Interaction node for a human to act. Go to Work a Task from Your Inbox to complete the oldest tasks. If the backlog is persistent, ask an Admin to assign additional Use-role users so more people can action tasks from their Task Inbox.
   • Pending Tasks is low relative to Running Instances (for example, 1 pending task against 10 running instances): workflows are progressing smoothly. Instances are moving through nodes without stalling at human steps.

3. Check the Recent Instances panel (lower-left) for context. The dashboard help documentation describes this panel as: "the lower-left panel listing the most recently created or updated workflow instances." Its empty state is: "No instances yet. Create a workflow and start an instance to see activity here." If Running Instances is high but you do not recognise the workflows listed, confirm that the correct workflows are active and that instances are being launched against the intended workflow versions. See Watch a Run and Read Its Timeline for instance-level detail.

Three troubleshooting scenarios are documented in the dashboard help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30. Each is quoted directly and followed by the specific action to take. These are the three situations that actually cause confusion when teams first start running workflows in Dave by voolama.

Scenario 1: All cards show a dash or 0

The dashboard help documentation states: "All cards show a dash or 0: the tenant is new. Create an agent, build a workflow, launch an instance."

Action sequence to get from zero to a live Running Instances count of 1:

1. Create at least one AI provider at Admin, then API Management, then Providers. See Add an AI provider.
2. Create an agent at Agents. See Create an agent.
3. Build and activate a workflow at Workflows. See Create a workflow and make it active.
4. Launch an instance. See Launch an instance.
5. Navigate away from the Dashboard and back. The Running Instances card should now show 1.

Scenario 2: Cards not updating after activity

The dashboard help documentation states: "Cards not updating: the Dashboard loads counts on navigation. Refresh the page."

This is the most common source of confusion for new teams: the Dashboard does not poll for updates. If you launched an instance in another tab and then look at the Dashboard, the Running Instances count will still show the old value until you navigate away and back, or press the browser refresh button. This is expected behaviour, not a bug. The fix is always: navigate away and back, or press refresh. If counts still do not update after a refresh, navigate directly to the Instances or Tasks section to confirm the activity was actually saved.

Scenario 3: Clicking a card gives 403 Forbidden

The dashboard help documentation states: "Clicking a card gives 403 Forbidden: your role lacks permission for the destination page." And: "The cards themselves are always visible. Access restrictions apply to the destination page, not the card."

The specific role requirements per card, from the dashboard help documentation:

• Active Agents card: Admin, Create, or Curate role required.
• Workflows card: Admin, Create, or Curate role required.
• Running Instances card: Admin, Create, Curate, Use, or Reporting role required.
• Pending Tasks card: Admin, Create, Curate, or Use role required.

Dave by voolama has six default roles: Admin, Create, Curate, Use, Reporting, and Financial. Roles are editable. If a user needs access to a destination page, an Admin can update their role assignment at Admin, then Settings, then Users and Roles. See How Do I Remove a Team Member's Access in Dave by voolama? for the role-management path.