Balance Make execution logs against confidential-data needs
Make can hide processed payloads from execution logs with “Keep data confidential”, but its documentation warns that troubleshooting options then become limited.
Minimize the data you send first, and choose the setting deliberately for the workflow.
Work through the setup
- Inventory the payload. Identify which fields are necessary for the destination. Remove unnecessary personal data before it enters the automation rather than relying only on a log setting.
- Read the confidentiality setting. In Scenario settings, review Keep data confidential. Make says runs are still visible, but the actual processed data is not retained in those logs when enabled.
- Prepare safe diagnostics. Use non-sensitive test records, business event IDs and coarse statuses so you can distinguish failure locations without copying complete customer payloads into notes.
- Document the trade-off. Record who can access the scenario and how failures will be reproduced. Review other destinations and logs separately; one setting cannot erase data already sent elsewhere.
A worked example
Instead of logging a full booking form, a diagnostic note might say “booking B-207: CRM write failed”. The booking ID can help the authorized operator find the original record without duplicating every field in a troubleshooting document. Whether even that ID is sensitive depends on your system.
What to watch out for
- Hiding Make payloads does not hide data in third-party destinations.
- Screenshots and copied support messages can create new data copies.
- Reduced diagnostic detail can slow recovery. Plan before a real failure.
Decide what evidence may be retained
Write down which sample values are safe to inspect and which must not appear in a debug record. Use synthetic examples to reproduce mapping problems when possible. Make’s confidential-data settings can change what execution information remains available; they do not by themselves establish compliance with your organization’s rules. Review the consequence for incomplete executions before changing the setting. Do not paste a real customer payload into a support request just because an execution failed.
Sources and evidence
- Scenario settings - Help Center (read November 7, 2026)
- Manage incomplete executions - Help Center (read November 7, 2026)
Common checks
Will I still see that a run happened?
Make says the execution remains visible without the actual payload, with much more limited troubleshooting detail.
Published November 7, 2026. Sources last read November 7, 2026. Send a correction.