> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://athanor.alexisbouchez.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Conditions & Error Handling

> Controlling step execution with if and continue-on-error

## Step Conditions

The `if:` field on a step controls whether it runs, based on the job's current status.

### `success()` (default)

A step with no `if:` field, or with `if: success()`, runs only when no previous step
in the job has failed:

```yaml theme={null}
- name: Runs normally
  run: echo "all good"

- name: Same behavior, explicit
  if: success()
  run: echo "all good"
```

### `failure()`

Runs only when a previous step has failed:

```yaml theme={null}
- name: This will fail
  run: exit 1

- name: Error handler
  if: failure()
  run: echo "Something went wrong"
```

### `always()`

Runs regardless of prior step status. Useful for cleanup:

```yaml theme={null}
- name: Might fail
  run: risky-command

- name: Cleanup
  if: always()
  run: rm -rf /tmp/workdir
```

## `continue-on-error`

When a step has `continue-on-error: true`, a non-zero exit code does not mark the
job as failed. Subsequent steps still see a `success()` status:

```yaml theme={null}
- name: Optional check
  run: ./optional-lint.sh
  continue-on-error: true

- name: This still runs
  run: echo "Lint result doesn't matter"
```

Without `continue-on-error`, a failing step causes all remaining steps (except those
with `if: failure()` or `if: always()`) to be skipped, and the job is marked as failed.

## Combining Conditions and continue-on-error

```yaml theme={null}
steps:
  - name: Setup
    run: echo "setup"

  - name: Flaky test
    run: ./test.sh
    continue-on-error: true

  - name: Always report
    if: always()
    run: echo "Test completed (may have failed)"

  - name: On success only
    if: success()
    run: echo "Everything passed"
```

In this example:

* If `test.sh` fails, "Always report" runs, and "On success only" also runs
  (because `continue-on-error` prevented the job from entering a failed state)
* If `Setup` fails, "Flaky test" is skipped, "Always report" runs, "On success only"
  is skipped

## Job-Level Failure

When a step fails (without `continue-on-error`), the job finishes with a `failure`
status. Any downstream jobs that `needs:` this job are skipped.

See [Job Dependencies](/guides/job-dependencies) for details on failure propagation
across the DAG.