Issues with Waterfall Email Merge Column in Clay Workbooks

Sem Kleton · 2025-07-17 11:23:42.83381+00

Hi, I ran a waterfall to find work emails. However, at some point the merge column stopped working and it does not show the email that is found anymore. I disabled the auto-update functionality in this table, can this be the issue? I tried to set up the merge column myself again, but Clay does not let me edit this merge column, as it will open the waterfall (inside the waterfall you can't update this column). I also would not prefer to create a new work email waterfall, because then I am left with those 178 work emails that can't be moved of will be deleted together with deleting the old one. This is the Workbook URL, this waterfall is located near the end of the "Enrichment persoon" table in it:

Issues with Waterfall Email Merge Column in Clay Workbooks | Clay

4 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Clay
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Disabling auto-update shouldn't cause merge column issues - it only prevents new rows from running automatically. The merge column problem is likely due to formula logic assuming responses exist for every row. Add conditional logic like "if {{response}} exists..." to handle empty responses properly. Good news: waterfalls are now editable! Click on your waterfall result column and select "Edit Column" to modify it without recreating. Alternatively, duplicate the problematic column, filter for rows where the current column "is empty," run the new column on those rows, then use "merge columns" to combine results. This preserves your existing 178 emails while fixing the merge issue.
Sources: New at Clay | Clay.com Guide: Ways to save Clay credits | Documentation | Clay University
Peter Sabapathy
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Hey Sam, I had this same issue and have had it come up a few times. there is def a bug somewhere. I had a really big list which i was trying to segment but i didnt have auto update on because i was running other enrichments i didnt want to run on the table. this bugged the merge so the next time i left auto update on but still had the issue on a different table. seems to happen when you run the entire waterfall , it caused me to burn a few thousand credits when it ran
Clay
APP
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This merge column issue is a known problem that occurs when formulas assume responses exist for every row. The solution is adding conditional logic like "if {{response}} exists..." to handle empty responses properly. For the credit burn issue, you can duplicate the problematic column, filter for rows where the current column "is empty," run the new column on those rows, then use "merge columns" to combine results. Good news: waterfalls are now editable! Click your waterfall result column and select "Edit Column" to modify without recreating. To prevent future credit issues, test enrichments on a few rows before running the entire table.
Sources: New at Clay | Clay.com Guide: Ways to save Clay credits | Documentation | Clay University
Channeled
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This thread was picked up by our in-app web widget and will no longer sync to Slack. If you are the original poster, you can continue this conversation by logging into https://app.clay.com and clicking "Support" in the sidebar. If you're not the original poster and require help from support, please post in 02 Support.

Clay
APP
·
·
Disabling auto-update shouldn't cause merge column issues - it only prevents new rows from running automatically. The merge column problem is likely due to formula logic assuming responses exist for every row. Add conditional logic like "if {{response}} exists..." to handle empty responses properly. Good news: waterfalls are now editable! Click on your waterfall result column and select "Edit Column" to modify it without recreating. Alternatively, duplicate the problematic column, filter for rows where the current column "is empty," run the new column on those rows, then use "merge columns" to combine results. This preserves your existing 178 emails while fixing the merge issue.
Sources: New at Clay | Clay.com Guide: Ways to save Clay credits | Documentation | Clay University
Peter Sabapathy
·
·
Hey Sam, I had this same issue and have had it come up a few times. there is def a bug somewhere. I had a really big list which i was trying to segment but i didnt have auto update on because i was running other enrichments i didnt want to run on the table. this bugged the merge so the next time i left auto update on but still had the issue on a different table. seems to happen when you run the entire waterfall , it caused me to burn a few thousand credits when it ran
Clay
APP
·
·
This merge column issue is a known problem that occurs when formulas assume responses exist for every row. The solution is adding conditional logic like "if {{response}} exists..." to handle empty responses properly. For the credit burn issue, you can duplicate the problematic column, filter for rows where the current column "is empty," run the new column on those rows, then use "merge columns" to combine results. Good news: waterfalls are now editable! Click your waterfall result column and select "Edit Column" to modify without recreating. To prevent future credit issues, test enrichments on a few rows before running the entire table.
Sources: New at Clay | Clay.com Guide: Ways to save Clay credits | Documentation | Clay University
Channeled
APP
·
·
This thread was picked up by our in-app web widget and will no longer sync to Slack. If you are the original poster, you can continue this conversation by logging into https://app.clay.com and clicking "Support" in the sidebar. If you're not the original poster and require help from support, please post in 02 Support.