diff --git a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/automation.spec.js b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/automation.spec.js
index 05ec44d70e..689ee4ab76 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/automation.spec.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/automation.spec.js
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ const automation = require("../index")
 const usageQuota = require("../../utilities/usageQuota")
 const thread = require("../thread")
 const triggers = require("../triggers")
-const { basicAutomation, basicTable } = require("../../tests/utilities/structures")
+const { basicAutomation } = require("../../tests/utilities/structures")
 const { wait } = require("../../utilities")
 const { makePartial } = require("../../tests/utilities")
 const { cleanInputValues } = require("../automationUtils")
@@ -61,44 +61,13 @@ describe("Run through some parts of the automations system", () => {
   it("try error scenario", async () => {
     await setup.runInProd(async () => {
       // the second call will throw an error
-      await triggers.externalTrigger(basicAutomation(), { a: 1 })
+      const response = await triggers.externalTrigger(basicAutomation(), {a: 1}, {getResponses: true})
       await wait(100)
       expect(console.error).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      expect(response.err).toBeDefined()
     })
   })
 
-  it("should be able to check triggering row filling", async () => {
-    const automation = basicAutomation()
-    let table = basicTable()
-    table.schema.boolean = {
-      type: "boolean",
-      constraints: {
-        type: "boolean",
-      },
-    }
-    table.schema.number = {
-      type: "number",
-      constraints: {
-        type: "number",
-      },
-    }
-    table.schema.datetime = {
-      type: "datetime",
-      constraints: {
-        type: "datetime",
-      },
-    }
-    table = await config.createTable(table)
-    automation.definition.trigger.inputs.tableId = table._id
-    const params = await triggers.fillRowOutput(automation, { appId: config.getAppId() })
-    expect(params.row).toBeDefined()
-    const date = new Date(params.row.datetime)
-    expect(typeof params.row.name).toBe("string")
-    expect(typeof params.row.boolean).toBe("boolean")
-    expect(typeof params.row.number).toBe("number")
-    expect(date.getFullYear()).toBe(1970)
-  })
-
   it("should check coercion", async () => {
     const table = await config.createTable()
     const automation = basicAutomation()
@@ -120,7 +89,7 @@ describe("Run through some parts of the automations system", () => {
           }
         }
       }
-    }))
+    }), expect.any(Function))
   })
 
   it("should be able to clean inputs with the utilities", () => {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/automations/triggers.js b/packages/server/src/automations/triggers.js
index db4b8304dd..d90511c7ba 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/automations/triggers.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/automations/triggers.js
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ const { coerce } = require("../utilities/rowProcessor")
 const { definitions } = require("./triggerInfo")
 const { isDevAppID } = require("../db/utils")
 // need this to call directly, so we can get a response
-const { processEvent } = require("./utils")
 const { queue } = require("./bullboard")
 const { checkTestFlag } = require("../utilities/redis")
+const utils = require("./utils")
 
 const TRIGGER_DEFINITIONS = definitions
 
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ exports.externalTrigger = async function (
   }
   const data = { automation, event: params }
   if (getResponses) {
-    return processEvent({ data })
+    return utils.processEvent({ data })
   } else {
     return queue.add(data)
   }
diff --git a/packages/server/src/automations/utils.js b/packages/server/src/automations/utils.js
index 6815de3e62..29a8e38b18 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/automations/utils.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/automations/utils.js
@@ -52,16 +52,19 @@ exports.processEvent = async job => {
     if (env.USE_QUOTAS) {
       job.data.automation.apiKey = await updateQuota(job.data.automation)
     }
+    // need to actually await these so that an error can be captured properly
+    let response
     if (!env.isProd()) {
-      return runSingleThread(job)
+      response = await runSingleThread(job)
     } else {
-      return runWorker(job)
+      response = await runWorker(job)
     }
+    return response
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(
       `${job.data.automation.appId} automation ${job.data.automation._id} was unable to run - ${err}`
     )
-    return err
+    return { err }
   }
 }