---
title: Error Trigger
description: Run the flow when a workflow fails.
---

Start a workflow when another workflow fails, with the details of what went wrong.

## What it does

When a watched workflow fails, a new run starts from the Error Trigger. It receives the failed workflow, the node that failed, the error message and the input that node was given, so the next steps can alert you, log the problem or clean up.

Only runs that start on their own report their failures: [Schedule](/nodes/builtin/trigger/schedule/), [Page Load](/nodes/builtin/trigger/pageload/), [Navigation](/nodes/builtin/trigger/navigation/), [Element Change](/nodes/builtin/trigger/elementchange/), [Context Menu](/nodes/builtin/trigger/contextmenu/), [Hotkey](/nodes/builtin/trigger/hotkey/) and [Browser Startup](/nodes/builtin/trigger/browserstartup/), all started by the browser extension. A run you start yourself from the designer or the workflow list shows its error to you directly and does not fire an Error Trigger, so a half-built workflow does not flood you with alerts.

A few more rules:

* A failure that a [Try / Catch](/nodes/builtin/flow/try/) node handled is not a failed run, so it does not reach the Error Trigger.
* A run started by an Error Trigger never reports its own failure, so a broken alert workflow cannot keep alerting about itself.
* Only your own activated workflows listen. An Error Trigger inside a workflow you installed from the marketplace does not run.

## When to use it

* One alert workflow that watches **All workflows** and sends you a message whenever anything fails.
* A per-workflow fallback with **This workflow**: the failure starts a separate branch of the same workflow.
* Keeping a log of failures in a sheet or a [Data Store](/nodes/builtin/core/datastore/).

To recover inside the run and keep going, use [Try / Catch](/nodes/builtin/flow/try/) instead.

## Inputs and settings

* **This workflow** watches the workflow the trigger is in. It keeps pointing at the right workflow after you duplicate or import it.
* **Selected workflows** watches the ones you pick in **Workflows**. The list is ignored with the other two options.
* **All workflows** watches every workflow, including the one it is in.

## Outputs

Each output item has these fields:

```json title="Shape of an output item"
{
  "workflowId": "…",
  "workflowName": "…",
  "nodeId": "…",
  "nodeLabel": "…",
  "message": "…",
  "input": null,
  "failedAt": "…",
  "triggerType": "errorTrigger",
  "triggeredAt": "…"
}
```

`workflowName` and `nodeLabel` are the names you see in the app, so they read well in a message. `input` is left out when the failing node had no input. When you test the trigger yourself in the designer, only `triggerType` and `triggeredAt` are set.

## Dependencies and credentials

None. This node needs no connection and has no slots for other nodes.

## Example workflow

Get a desktop alert whenever any workflow fails:

1. Create a new workflow and add **Error Trigger** with **Watch** set to **All workflows**.
2. Add [Browser Notification](/nodes/extension/browsernotification/) with **Title** `{{ $input.workflowName }} failed` and **Message** `{{ $input.nodeLabel }}: {{ $input.message }}`.
3. Activate the workflow.

## Common issues

* **A workflow failed but the Error Trigger did not run.** The failed run was started by hand, or a Try / Catch handled the error. Only runs started on their own by the extension report failures.
* **Nothing runs even for scheduled failures.** The workflow with the Error Trigger is not activated, or **Watch** does not include the failed workflow. With **Selected workflows**, check the list in **Workflows**.
* **The fields are empty.** You ran the trigger yourself to test it. Real values only arrive when a watched workflow fails.
* **Failures are not reported in the web app.** The runs that report failures are started by the browser extension. Install it and activate your workflows there.

## Related nodes

* [Try / Catch](/nodes/builtin/flow/try/): handle a failure inside the run and continue.
* [Stop and Error](/nodes/builtin/flow/stopanderror/): fail a run on purpose, with your own message.
* [Browser Notification](/nodes/extension/browsernotification/): alert yourself when something fails.

See also [Error handling](/concepts/flow/error-handling/).