"Action Failed" TidyUP Error in Past Courses

Quick Links: | Environment | Solution | Root Cause |

When attempting to run TidyUP in a past-term Canvas course, the tool displays a generic error message stating "Action failed. Please try again and contact CidiLabs if the problem continues." The error prevents instructors from using TidyUP to clean up and organize their course content. This issue affects instructors who want to review or repurpose content from previous semesters after the course becomes read-only.

Environment

This article is relevant to you if:

• You are attempting to use TidyUP in a Canvas course from a past term
• You receive the error message "Action failed. Please try again and contact CidiLabs if the problem continues."
• The course was active in a previous semester and is no longer the current active term

Solution

To fix this TidyUP error in past-term courses, follow these steps:

1. Create a new sandbox course to serve as a temporary workspace.
2. Import the content from your past-term course into the new sandbox.
3. From the sandbox course navigation menu, select TidyUP.
4. Run TidyUP as needed in this sandbox environment.

Now you can use TidyUP successfully in your sandbox copy of the course, allowing you to clean up and organize content before repurposing it for future terms.

Root Cause

When TidyUP attempts to access or modify content in past-term courses, it encounters restrictions related to the course's archived or concluded status. Canvas applies certain limitations to past-term courses that can interfere with external tools like TidyUP, even if the course is not fully read-only. By copying the course to a new sandbox environment, you create a fresh course instance without these term-based restrictions, allowing TidyUP to function normally.