Preflight checks

When you turn a campaign on, Victoria runs a readiness check before anything sends. The same check runs whether you activate in the app, through the AI Sales Copilot, or from a connected assistant or the API.

How the preflight works

Turn on the switch at the top of Campaigns → your campaign. A window lists every check:

• Failed checks block activation. Activate Campaign stays disabled until you fix them.
• Warnings don't block. You can still select Activate Campaign; read each one first.
• Passed checks are collapsed under "N checks passed".

Each failed or warning check shows the exact problem and a Fix → link to the tab or page where you fix it. After fixing, close the window and turn the switch on again to re-run the check.

Preflight check: Sequence has steps

Message: "Sequence has no steps. Add at least one step to start outreach."

The sequence (Variation A) is empty. Fix: open Sequence and add at least one step, or pick a template when you create the campaign.

Preflight check: All steps have content

Message: "N steps are missing content."

An email step has no subject or no body, or a LinkedIn message step has no text. This blocks activation. Connection requests without a note are fine. Fix: open Sequence, click each empty step and fill it in.

Preflight check: Variation B has steps

Shown only when A/B testing is on. Message: "Variation B has no steps. Add steps or disable A/B testing."

Fix: on Sequence, switch to B and select Copy from Variation A or add steps. Or select Disable A/B. See A/B testing.

Preflight check: Variation B steps have content

Shown only when A/B testing is on. Message: "Variation B: N steps are missing content."

This blocks activation, like the check for Variation A. Fix: switch to B on Sequence and fill in every email and LinkedIn message.

Preflight check: Variables resolve

Message: "Unknown variables: {x}. Check for typos or add them as custom/AI fields."

A variable in the copy isn't a lead field, a custom field from your leads, or one of the campaign's active AI Personalization fields. Variable names must match exactly. Fix: correct the spelling, or create an AI Personalization field with that name, or upload leads with a column of that name. See Personalization fields.

Preflight check: All leads have data for sequence variables

Message (warning): "N lead-variable gaps", naming each variable and how many leads lack it, ending "you can activate, or enrich them first." Message (blocking): the same list, ending "upload or enrich before activating."

Some enrolled leads have no value for a lead field or custom field the sequence uses. At or below 10% of leads missing a variable, it's a warning; above that, it blocks. AI fields aren't counted. Fix: fill in the missing data on Leads (re-upload or enrich), remove those leads, or take the variable out of the copy.

Preflight check: No double-bracket variables

Message: "Double-bracket variables: {{x}}", followed by a reminder to use single brackets, such as {first_name}.

{{first_name}} isn't a variable in Victoria and would send a broken message. Fix: on Sequence, change every {{name}} to {name}.

Preflight check: Accounts assigned

Message: "No accounts assigned. Assign at least one in Settings."

Fix: open Settings → Connected Accounts and select at least one account. If the list is empty, connect one on Sender Accounts first.

Preflight check: Leads, sequence, and accounts align

This check fails or warns for any of these messages:

• "Sequence has LinkedIn steps but no LinkedIn account is assigned." Fix: assign a LinkedIn account in Settings → Connected Accounts.
• "Sequence has email steps but no email account is assigned." Fix: assign a mailbox in Settings → Connected Accounts.
• "N of M leads have no email", followed by "add a LinkedIn step or remove LinkedIn-only leads" or "They will be skipped". The sequence has no LinkedIn steps, but some leads only have a LinkedIn URL. It warns when 10% or fewer of the leads are affected (they're skipped) and blocks above that. Fix: add LinkedIn steps, or remove those leads, or add their emails.
• "N LinkedIn-only leads", followed by "assign a LinkedIn account in Settings". Fix: assign a LinkedIn account in Settings → Connected Accounts.
• "N of M leads have no LinkedIn URL", followed by "add an email step or remove email-only leads" or "They will be skipped". The sequence has no email steps, but some leads only have an email. Same thresholds. Fix: add email steps, or remove those leads.

Preflight check: Accounts not active in another campaign

Message: "N accounts are also active in "Other campaign". Each account should run in one campaign at a time."

An account you assigned already sends for another active campaign. This blocks activation. Fix: pause the other campaign, or unassign the account in this campaign's Settings → Connected Accounts and assign a different one. Settings marks an account in use as Active in: with the other campaign's name.

Preflight check: Accounts within subscription limit

This check fails for either message:

• "N assigned accounts are no longer active. Reconnect on the Sender Accounts page." An assigned account is disconnected. Fix: reconnect it on Sender Accounts, or unassign it. See Reconnect a sender.
• "You have N active LinkedIn accounts but your subscription covers M. Increase quantity in Billing." You have more active accounts on one platform than your plan covers. Fix: add seats or mailboxes in Credits & Billing, or disconnect accounts you don't use.

Preflight check: Email sender domains authenticated (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

Victoria checks the DNS records of each assigned mailbox's domain. A result older than 24 hours is checked again during the preflight.

• Blocking: "… failed the email authentication check (no SPF record). Fix SPF/DMARC on the Sender Accounts page before activating." Fix: add or correct the record named in the message, then re-check on Sender Accounts. See DNS setup.
• Warning: "… passed the email authentication check with warnings." You can activate; the details are on Sender Accounts.
• Warning: "We couldn't verify SPF, DKIM and DMARC for … yet." The check couldn't complete. You can activate; it retries on its own.

Preflight check: Leads enrolled

Message: "No leads enrolled. Upload leads in the Leads tab."

Fix: open Leads and use Find Leads, Add Lead or Upload CSV.

Preflight check: Active subscription

This check fails with one of these messages. Every fix is on Credits & Billing:

• "No subscription found. Start a trial in Billing."
• "Payment failed. Update your card in Billing to resume sending." See Failed payments.
• "Subscription is canceled. Reactivate in Billing."
• "Subscription is set to cancel at period end. Reactivate in Billing."
• "Trial has ended. Add a payment method in Billing." See Free trial.
• "Subscription is not active. Check Billing."

When the preflight can't run

If the window says Couldn't check readiness, the check itself didn't complete. Select Retry. If it keeps failing, close the window and try again in a minute; a campaign is never activated without a completed check.