Can't use RecordID in Bika without Searching?

Bika.ai discussions
1

I find Bika very confusing when it comes to variables, I am not sure if they do not work, or if I am doing something wrong.

For example whenever I try to use “recordID” it is never an option. I have even created a formula field that automatically pulls the recordID, but still can’t use it as a variable.

What is more strange is that when using “Get Records” I can see the recordID’s as well, but when I try to use that throughout the automation is not an option at all.

I have attached videos below to be as detailed as possible:

  1. Why can we not see a recordiD when I am putting specific conditions to match? It is kind of boggling my mind? I can see a ton of other information but not the recordiD. I have attached a video: Cant Pull RecordID From a Trigger. | Loom

  2. I also do not understand how to update records through automations either, I seem to think i am mapping the value but nothing is happening at all whatsoever correctly. I have attached a video as well: Can't Update Records When Mapping Data In Bika | Loom

2

Hi @Chowderr , thanks again for the detailed videos — they were really helpful in understanding what’s happening here.

  1. The reason you don’t see the RecordID when running a test is completely normal — the “Run Test” step uses mock data, not actual records from your database. So it won’t return real record values such as RecordID.

  2. The Update Record error occurs because the automation was triggered manually, while your HTTP variables come from a “Record Match” trigger.
    When triggered manually, that trigger doesn’t produce any output, so the automation fails since it has no record data to work with.

Here are two ways to make it work correctly:

Option 1: Use a Scheduled Trigger, then add a Get Records action to retrieve a batch of records that match your condition, and loop through them to update each one.

Option 2: Use a Record Match Trigger — every time a record meets the condition, it will automatically trigger the automation and update that record.

We truly appreciate your patience and detailed feedback. :pray:

3

@Thea is it possible you can show a video? I still do not understand. I am using a record match.

The output of the error is beyond unclear:

Output:{

error:

“<%= _triggers.trgKFHLrYXMMdzMk9o96ZmQt.database.id %> render failed.”

}

4

Hi @Chowderr, before this message appeared, did you happen to click “Run Test” on the Record Match trigger?

Would you please try running the trigger test once, then run the automation test again?

This will help confirm whether the trigger is correctly producing the output that the next steps rely on.

I’m happy to record a short video if it’s still unclear afterward. Just to confirm, is your workflow set up like this?

  1. A record meets a match condition
  2. Use Get Records to fetch the matching record
  3. Then try to update that same record

If that’s correct, I can help check where the mapping might be failing.

5

Just curious on if you watched either loom that I provided when I started this post?

6

@Chowderr , yes, I did watch both Loom videos, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to describe your workflow.

I also checked the error message you shared with our engineering team. One possibility they mentioned is that when running the automation test, the trigger itself wasn’t tested first, which can lead to the output not being generated and cause the render error you’re seeing.