Quick answer: Shopify Flow does not treat an action failure as an Otherwise branch. Runtime errors are handled through run history, retry tools, intentional failure actions, and a separate workflow that starts with Workflow error occurred.
The real symptom
- A workflow stops partway through.
- An app action or HTTP request fails and later actions never run.
- The merchant wants an alert or fallback when any step errors.
- Then/Otherwise logic exists, but there is no ordinary try/catch branch.
Likely causes
- The condition branch controls business logic, not runtime exceptions.
- The connected app returned an error.
- The workflow references data that the trigger does not supply.
- A list from a Get data action is being treated like a single object.
- The workflow runs before another app writes the required data.
Create an error-monitoring workflow
- Go to Apps → Flow.
- Create a workflow using the Workflow error occurred trigger.
- Add a condition for workflow name or workflow ID if only certain workflows need alerts.
- Add Send Shopify alert for errors, internal email, or HTTP request.
- Test with a deliberately failing workflow.
- Use Recent runs to inspect the failed step and input data.
Simple checks
- Use Fail workflow run for intentional validation failures.
- Use manual retry only after correcting the underlying failure.
- Design per-record fallback logic with status tags, metafields, or an external service when needed.
Do not do this
Do not assume the error trigger is a per-order dead-letter queue. It is an alerting pattern, not a complete recovery system.