CircleCI Dynamic Config "no continuation" - Fix setup Workflows

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

Your dynamic-config pipeline runs the setup stage but never continues. Either setup: true is missing from the top-level config, or the setup workflow never calls the continuation orb to hand off the generated config.

What this error means

The setup workflow finishes "successfully" but no real jobs ever run - the pipeline stops after setup. CircleCI shows the setup stage green and then nothing, because the continuation that would schedule the second config was never triggered.

CircleCI UI

Setup workflow completed, but no continuation was requested.
Pipeline ended after setup. Did you call continuation/continue?

Common causes

Missing setup: true on the top-level config

Dynamic config requires setup: true at the top of .circleci/config.yml. Without it, CircleCI treats the file as a normal pipeline and ignores any continuation call.

Setup workflow never calls continuation

The setup job must run continuation/continue (or circleci config process + the continuation API) with the generated config path. If that step is missing, the pipeline has nothing to continue into.

Generated config path is wrong

The configuration-path passed to the continuation points at a file the setup job never wrote, so the continuation has no config to schedule.

How to fix it

Enable setup mode and continue with the generated config

.circleci/config.yml

setup: true

orbs:
  continuation: circleci/continuation@1.0.0

workflows:
  setup:
    jobs:
      - continuation/continue:
          configuration-path: .circleci/generated.yml
          pre-steps:
            - checkout
            - run: ./scripts/generate-config.sh > .circleci/generated.yml

Confirm the generated config is produced before continuing

Generate the second config into a known path during the setup job.
Pass that exact path as configuration-path to the continuation.
Validate the generated file with circleci config validate before handing it off.

How to prevent it

Keep setup: true at the very top of the dynamic-config entry file.
Always end the setup workflow with a continuation call.
Validate the generated config so a broken second stage fails loudly.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to enable anything in project settings for dynamic config?

Yes - "Enable dynamic config using setup workflows" must be on under Project Settings → Advanced. Without it, setup: true is rejected and the pipeline runs the file as a normal config.

References

GitHub Actions documentation