# Start when another workflow fails or finishes

Run a workflow of your own when another one fails, or when it ends.

## When another workflow fails

1. In a new workflow, press **Add a trigger**, type `error` and choose **Error**.
2. Under **Watch Workflow**, choose a workflow, or **All workflows**.
3. Add a step that tells you, such as an email.
4. Press **Publish**.

In the step, use what failed:

- `{{trigger.workflow.name}}`: The workflow that failed.
- `{{trigger.failedStep.name}}`: The step that failed.
- `{{trigger.failedStep.error}}`: Why it failed, the same as the run’s error.
- `{{trigger.run.url}}`: A link to the failed run.

## When another workflow finishes

Choose **Run Finished** instead. Under **Run only when the watched run**, choose **Succeeded**, **Failed**, or **Finished (succeeded or failed)**. It starts on **Succeeded**.

Its data is the same, without `failedStep`: `{{trigger.workflow.name}}`, and `{{trigger.run.status}}` with the run’s other details.

## Or name one in the workflow’s settings

In the workflow that may fail, open **Settings** in the builder’s left rail and choose an **Error workflow**. It runs when a run of this workflow fails, and gets the failure as its trigger data. It must be published.

If a failure is caught both ways, the error workflow still runs once.

## What starts it, and what doesn’t

For the **Error** and **Run Finished** triggers:

- **Starts it**: Production runs of the workflows it watches, in this workspace. It starts at once and never waits in line.
- **Doesn’t**: Tests from the editor, a workflow run by a Sub-flow step (its caller’s run counts), its own runs, and runs an Error trigger or an error workflow started. A failed Run Finished handler still starts Error triggers.

The **Error workflow** setting also runs when a test from the editor fails, or when a workflow called by a Sub-flow step fails. It never runs for a run that an Error or Run Finished trigger started.

## Check it worked

Make a production run of a live workflow it watches fail, such as with **Run now…** in **Workflows**. In **Runs**, a run of your workflow follows it, and shows Worked.

## For developers

The triggers are `errortrigger` (`on_error`) and `runfinishedtrigger` (`on_run_finished`), with `config.watch_workflow` set to `all` or a workflow id, and `config.on_status` set to `completed`, `failed` or `any`. The setting is `settings.errorWorkflowId`. See [Workflow definition](https://docs.gorunner.io/api/workflow-definition).

## Related

- [Handle errors](https://docs.gorunner.io/build/handle-errors): Stop, carry on, or run steps of your own · 4 min
- [Error](https://docs.gorunner.io/apps/error-trigger): The trigger’s fields and data
- [Run Finished](https://docs.gorunner.io/apps/run-finished): The trigger’s fields and data

Source: https://docs.gorunner.io/build/react-to-other-runs