# Error handling and retries

**Category:** [Orchestration](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/orchestration)
**Updated:** 2026-08-19

## Decide what happens when a step fails

External apps occasionally fail — a timeout, a rate limit, a temporary outage. Every action step has an **If this step fails** setting so you control what happens next.
### The options

- **Stop the workflow** (default) — halt the run and record the error. Best when later steps depend on this one.
- **Continue to next step** — ignore the failure and carry on. Best for non-critical steps, like a "nice to have" notification.
- **Retry, then continue** — try the step again a few times before moving on.

### Tuning retries

When you choose **Retry**, set how many times to retry and how long to wait between attempts. This smooths over transient errors without any manual intervention.
### Diagnosing failures

Every run is logged in the workflow's **execution history** with a step-by-step trace — inputs, outputs, timing, and the exact error message. Fix the cause and you can re-run with confidence.

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## Related Articles

- [Delays: pause a workflow for minutes, hours, or days](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/flow-control-delays)
- [Orchestration Overview](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/orchestration-overview)
- [Connect an app](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/connect-an-app-1)
- [Build your first workflow](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/build-your-first-workflow)
- [Filters: stop a run when conditions aren't met](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/flow-control-filters)

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