Lesson 69 lessons
Error Handling in Workflows
Why workflows fail silently
Without error handling, a single failed node (an API timeout, a malformed response) can stop the entire workflow — and if it's scheduled, you may not notice for days.
The Error Trigger workflow
n8n lets you build a separate "error workflow" that fires whenever any other workflow fails. Use it to send yourself a Slack or email alert with the error details.
Node-level retry and continue-on-fail
Individual nodes can be set to retry on failure (useful for flaky APIs) or "continue on fail" so the workflow proceeds with partial data instead of stopping entirely.
Key Takeaways
- Unhandled node failures silently stop entire scheduled workflows.
- Build a dedicated error workflow to alert you when something fails.
- Use per-node retry settings for flaky external services.
- "Continue on fail" keeps critical workflows running despite partial errors.
Add error alerting
Create a separate error workflow triggered by "Error Trigger" that sends you an email with the failed workflow's name and error message.