Error handling

In 20 seconds

By default, a failing step ends the run. You can change that per step in its Settings tab: Retry tries again, Continue On Fail lets the run carry on with an empty item. For a group of steps, Try / Catch sends a failure down a separate branch. An Error Trigger starts another workflow when a run fails.

See it happen

Try / Catch guards a page read. The page has changed and the step fails, so the rest of the guarded steps are skipped and the Catch branch receives one item describing the failure.

Example run: Try / Catch, 1 item → Get Element Data, error → Catch branch, 1 item. Illustration of a run. The Catch item names the failed step, its error and the data it was given.

1. Try / Catch 1 item Try branch →
2. Get Element Data error failed →
3. Catch branch 1 item

Output of Catch branch Table JSON

#	nodeLabel	message	input
0	Get Element Data	No element matches the selector .price	{"url":"https://shop.example/p/1"}

Illustration of a run. The Catch item names the failed step, its error and the data it was given.

Pick how to handle a failure

• Retry The failure is often temporary: a timeout, a busy server, a rate limit. Example Up to 3 tries, 1 second apart, transient errors only. step Settings tab
• Continue On Fail The step is optional and the rest of the run should go on. Example A thumbnail that's nice to have. step Settings tab
• Try / Catch → A group of steps needs a plan B when any of them fails. Example If the page can't be read, post an alert and stop. Try · Catch
• Error Trigger → You want to hear about failed runs, whatever failed. Example Message yourself when the nightly sync fails. starts a workflow

Retry a flaky step

Double-click the step to open its settings, then:

123456

1. 1 Step 1:Open the Settings tab
2. 2 Step 2:Turn on Allow Retry The retry options appear under it.
3. 3 Step 3:Max. Tries How many attempts, up to 10 (3 by default).
4. 4 Step 4:Wait Between Tries (ms) The pause between attempts (1,000 ms by default).
5. 5 Step 5:Backoff Fixed waits the same each time. Exponential (with jitter) waits longer after each attempt, which suits rate-limited services.
6. 6 Step 6:Retry condition Any error (the default), Transient errors only (429, 5xx, network errors and timeouts; fails at once on errors like 401 or 404), or When message matches the text or /regex/ in Retry if message matches.

Numbered areas in the screenshot: 1. Settings tab; 2. Allow Retry; 3. Max. Tries; 4. Wait Between Tries (ms); 5. Backoff; 6. Retry condition.

Carry on after a failure

Two more switches sit in the same Settings tab:

12

1. 1 Step 1:Continue On Fail If the step still fails after any retries, the error is logged and the step outputs one empty item. The steps after it keep running.
2. 2 Step 2:Always Output Data The step outputs one empty item when it would otherwise output nothing, so the run doesn't end at this step.

Numbered areas in the screenshot: 1. Continue On Fail; 2. Always Output Data.

Retry runs first. When it’s used up, Continue On Fail decides whether the run stops or goes on.

Catch a failure with Try / Catch

Wire the steps you want to protect to the Try output of a Try / Catch node, and the plan B to Catch. Bring both branches back into the same step to mark where the guarded part ends.

flowchart LR
  S[Start] --> T{Try / Catch}
  T -->|Try| F[Get Element Data] --> P[Edit Fields]
  T -->|Catch| A[Send an alert]
  P --> J[Save]
  A --> J
  class T awf-flow
  class F,P awf-data
  class A awf-err
  class J awf-ok

If a guarded step fails, the rest of the Try branch is skipped and Catch runs with nodeLabel, message and input. A failure inside the Catch branch isn’t caught by the same Try: it goes to an outer Try / Catch, or ends the run.

To stop a run on purpose with a clear message, use Stop and Error.

Hear about failed runs

An Error Trigger starts a workflow when a watched workflow fails. It receives the failed workflow, the step that failed, the error and its input. It fires for runs that start on their own (a schedule, a page load, a hotkey and so on), not for runs you start yourself from the designer, and not for failures a Try / Catch already handled.

You’ll notice this when…

One failing step ended the whole run

That’s the default. Turn on Retry or Continue On Fail in the step’s Settings tab, or guard it with Try / Catch.

A step kept retrying a “401 Unauthorized” error

Retry condition is set to Any error. Set it to Transient errors only so the step fails fast when the problem won’t go away, then fix the connection.

The steps after a Continue On Fail step get an empty item

That’s how Continue On Fail works: the failed step outputs one empty item. Add a fallback in later expressions, such as {{ $input.title || "Untitled" }}, or check for it with an IF.

The Error Trigger didn’t fire

You started the run yourself, a Try / Catch handled the failure, or the alert workflow isn’t activated. See the Error Trigger rules.

A page step fails with an element not found

The page changed, or it wasn’t ready yet. Add Wait For Element before the step, and check the selector still matches. See Browser context.

Next

Next concept: Lambda workflowsReuse a group of steps in many workflows.

Practise itRecipes that guard page reads and API calls.