Skip to main content

Understand Pathways sync summary numbers

Updated

This article explains discrepancies between Last Successes, Last Failures, and Estimated Records in Pathways syncs. Differences are normal due to incremental syncs, removals, and identity mismatches. Users should review failures, sync status, and mapping before troubleshooting. Downloads of success/failure records are limited to 7 days. Contact LockStep Support if issues persist after checks.

Use this article when

  • Last Successes plus Last Failures does not equal Estimated Records.
  • Pathways sync totals look different from your audience estimate.
  • Last Successes is much smaller or larger than Estimated Records.
  • You need to know when a difference is normal, and when to review failures.

You might also hear these columns called Last Sync Successes and Last Sync Failures. The current labels are Last Successes and Last Failures.

Applies to and prerequisites

Item What you need
Permission You need permission to view Pathways. Downloading Last Successes or Last Failures files, and using the Actions menu, requires permission to export from Pathways.
Pathways The Manage Pathways tab appears when Pathways is activated. Open Pathways in the left nav.
Insights-only The left nav may say Audiences. Manage Pathways is unavailable. Avid redirects that page to Manage Audiences.
File Export File Export rows omit Last Failures, Last Successes, and Last Synced. This article covers destination syncs that show those columns.

What the numbers mean

A Pathway is an audience-to-destination sync. An audience is the group of people you send to that destination.

Metric What it measures When Avid calculates it
Estimated Records Distinct records in this audience at the destination's mapped primary key. A primary key is the identifier the destination uses to match people, often email. This is not a sync outcome. Avid recalculates when you save the audience filter, and when Avid refreshes the dataset. Avid does not recalculate this on every Pathway sync.
Last Successes Records that changed successfully at the destination in the last sync. This includes adds, updates, and removals for destinations such as Mailchimp. Only changed records count, not the full audience. At the last sync run.
Last Failures Records Avid tried to send that the destination rejected. At the last sync run.

Acceptable threshold

There is no numeric percentage that marks a gap as a problem. Any difference is expected. The three numbers measure different things at different times.

Normal difference

  • Last Successes is much smaller than Estimated Records on a steady incremental sync. An incremental sync sends only records that changed since the last sync.
  • Last Successes plus Last Failures does not equal Estimated Records.
  • Last Successes can exceed Estimated Records when many removals succeed. For destinations such as Mailchimp, successful removals count as Last Successes.

You might see 1,091 Estimated Records, 906 Last Successes, and 3,231 Last Failures. That spread can be expected. The last two numbers are not meant to total the first.

Investigate the difference

  • Last Failures is high.
  • The destination audience is missing expected records.
  • The audience definition did not change, but the counts shifted dramatically.
  • Sync Status shows Error, or both last columns show N/A.

If the destination audience looks correct, you do not need to make the three numbers match.

Check your sync summary

  1. In the left nav, open Pathways. If Pathways is not activated, open Audiences instead.

    You see the Pathways page with a Manage Pathways tab. Insights-only users see Manage Audiences. Manage Pathways is unavailable.

  2. Select the Manage Pathways tab.

    You see destination accordion cards. Each card shows a logo, a connection name or File Export, a status badge, and an audience count.

    If none exist, the page shows: No pathways have been configured yet. Once you map an audience to a pathway, it will appear here.

  3. Click a destination accordion header to expand it.

    You see a dataset card and an audience table. The table includes Audience, Estimated Records, Sync Status, Last Failures, Last Successes, and Last Synced.

  4. Hover the Estimated Records, Last Failures, and Last Successes column headers.

    Avid shows these tooltips:

    • Estimated Records: This estimate will vary, even for the same audience, based upon the destination and what it considers the 'primary key'.
    • Last Failures: If a record isn't properly formatted, the destination may reject it. You can download the failed records to see what went wrong.
    • Last Successes: Avid will only sync records that have changed since the last sync. This is a count of records that have been synced successfully.

  5. Read Sync Status. Badges can be Active, Inactive, Syncing, Error, or Paused.

    If the badge is Error, hover it. Do not click it on Manage Pathways.

    A popover shows the error message from the last sync.

  6. If Last Failures or Last Successes is a link, click the count. Avid downloads a CSV.

    If the count is not a link, hover it. A count of 0 shows 0 and is not a link.

    Failed records download as errors.csv. Succeeded records download as added.csv. A hover can show These records are only retained for 7 days after the sync has finished. They cannot be downloaded anymore. or Download not available for modeled segments.

LockStep insight: Start with the column tooltips and a Last Failures download. Do not use Force Sync as a first check.

Why they differ

Syncs include adds, updates, and removals

A sync can process more records than the current audience size. Removals are successful sync activity. They are not current Estimated Records.

For destinations such as Mailchimp, those removals count in Last Successes.

Avid identity can differ from destination identity

Mailchimp matches members by email. Avid's default audience size can count donors at the account and person level.

The same audience can produce different counts at each destination. Hover Estimated Records for the primary-key tooltip.

Destination rejections count as Last Failures

Rejected records still count in Last Failures. They do not increase Estimated Records.

Common examples include a missing email, invalid formatting, or duplicate subscriber rules. Destinations can return other rejection messages too.

Avid keeps one destination identity per mapped primary key

Avid keeps one destination identity per mapped primary key. Sync counts can be lower than a count in your source system.

They can also be higher when Avid removes old destination records.

The numbers come from different moments

Estimated Records comes from the last time Avid counted the audience. Last Successes and Last Failures come from the last sync.

Audience membership can change between those times. See Understand data freshness notifications for source freshness.

Self-diagnosis checklist

Check Applies? What to look for
Timezone Does not apply These three counters do not use a timezone setting.
Date filters Applies if the audience uses them The same date filter is used for sizing and for the sync. Date or time fields in the audience filter can still change membership.
Deleted, inactive, or left-audience records Applies Removals count as Last Successes for destinations such as Mailchimp. They are not current Estimated Records.
Attribution model or window Does not apply Attribution is how credit for a conversion is assigned across interactions. It does not change these three numbers.
Sync window or freshness Applies Last Successes counts incremental changes. Estimated Records can be stale until Avid counts the audience again.
Field definition Applies (primary cause) The destination primary key, often email, can differ from Avid's donor or person level. Hover Estimated Records for the primary-key tooltip.

What to do next

  1. Confirm the three numbers are independent. If the destination audience looks correct, no fix is required.

    You treat a gap as expected, not as a total that failed to add up.

  2. If Last Failures is high, click the count if it is a link. Review missing or invalid emails, duplicates, and destination rules.

    Fix the source data or the mapping. Then wait for the next sync.

    The next run should send the corrected records. Use Force Sync only after you confirm mapping and settings.

  3. If the whole run failed, hover the Error badge on Manage Pathways. Do not click it on this screen.

    Both last columns show N/A. The popover shows the error message.

  4. If a count is not a link, hover it. Read the tooltip before you assume the file is missing.

    You see the 7-day retention message or Download not available for modeled segments.

  5. If Estimated Records shows --, the audience is a modeled segment.

    Download is not available for modeled segments.

  6. To review mapping, open the three-dot Actions menu. Select Manage Pathway.

    You can check the destination identifier mapping. Do not start with Force Sync.

Limits and edge cases

Success and failure downloads are limited. Hover a count that is not a link. The tooltip is These records are only retained for 7 days after the sync has finished. They cannot be downloaded anymore.

  • While Sync Status is Syncing, Last Successes and Last Failures show --. Wait for the run to finish.
  • When the pathway is Inactive or Paused, those last-count cells are empty.
  • When the entire sync failed, both last columns show N/A and Sync Status shows Error.
  • Modeled segments show -- in Estimated Records. Hover a download count for Download not available for modeled segments.
  • A count of 0 shows 0 and is not a download link.
  • File Export rows replace Sync Status with Custom Export Columns. They omit Last Failures, Last Successes, and Last Synced. Badges show True or False.
  • The Actions menu can include Export Audience, Manage Pathway, Cancel Sync, Resume Sync, and Pause Sync. It can also include Deactivate Sync, Activate Sync, and Force Sync. For File Export, use Change Export Columns instead of Manage Pathway.
For agency partners

Open Manage Pathway to review the mapped primary identifier and column mapping. The destination's primary key, often email, drives Estimated Records.

Mailchimp matches on email. Avid's default count can use account and person level. Align the mapped identifier before you change sync behavior.

When to contact LockStep Support

Contact LockStep Support if the destination is missing expected records after you review failures. Also contact support if counts shifted dramatically with no audience change.

Contact support if Error or N/A remains and the hover message is unclear. Contact support if high failures continue after you fix mapping.

Include these diagnostics:

  • The destination or connection name shown in Manage Pathways.
  • The audience name.
  • The Estimated Records, Last Successes, and Last Failures values.
  • The Last Synced value.
  • The Sync Status badge: Active, Inactive, Syncing, Error, or Paused.
  • The error message from hovering the Error badge.
  • Whether the last counts were download links, and any download tooltip text.
  • The failed records file if you can download it.
  • A screenshot of the audience row.

LockStep insight: Send the three numbers, Last Synced, the status badge, and the hover error text. That is enough to start an investigation.

Related to