> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://notes.kodekloud.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Using continue on error expression
> This article explains how to use the `continue-on-error` feature in GitHub Actions to manage workflow failures.
GitHub Actions’ `continue-on-error` expression lets you prevent failures in a specific step or an entire job from aborting your workflow. You can use this setting to:
* Handle non-critical errors without stopping downstream steps.
* Upload logs and artifacts even when tests or checks fail.
* Experiment with unstable configurations in a matrix without blocking the run.
Below is an overview of how `continue-on-error` behaves at each level:
| Level | Scope | Typical Use Case |
| ----- | ---------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Step | A single step within a job | Allow a flaky test or coverage threshold to fail “softly” |
| Job | The entire job in a workflow | Let an experimental matrix configuration fail quietly |
***
## Continue-on-error at the Step Level
When you set `continue-on-error: true` on a step, a non-zero exit code won’t fail the job. This is ideal for allowing post-test uploads or cleanup steps to run even if tests or coverage checks fail.
In this example, the **Code Coverage** job executes tests, enforces a coverage threshold, and then uploads the report regardless of success or failure.
```yaml theme={null}
# .github/workflows/coverage.yml
jobs:
code-coverage:
name: Code Coverage
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Checkout Repository
uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Setup Node.js
uses: actions/setup-node@v3
with:
node-version: 18
- name: Install Dependencies
run: npm install
- name: Check Code Coverage
continue-on-error: true
run: npm run coverage
- name: Archive Coverage Report
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
with:
name: Code-Coverage-Result
path: coverage
retention-days: 5
```
By enabling `continue-on-error` on the coverage step, your workflow still uploads the coverage report even if the threshold isn’t met.
Example output when coverage fails:
```bash theme={null}
> nyc --reporter cobertura --reporter lcov --reporter text --reporter json-summary mocha app-test.js --timeout 10000 --exit
ERROR: Coverage for lines (88.8%) does not meet global threshold (90%)
...
Error: Process completed with exit code 1
```
Despite the exit code, the **Archive Coverage Report** step proceeds and your artifact is saved.
***
## Continue-on-error at the Job Level
Applying `continue-on-error` on a job prevents that job from failing the entire workflow run. This is useful for matrix jobs where you want an “experimental” axis to fail quietly.
```yaml theme={null}
# .github/workflows/main.yml
jobs:
test:
runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
continue-on-error: ${{ matrix.experimental }}
strategy:
fail-fast: false
matrix:
node: [13, 14]
os: [macos-latest, ubuntu-latest]
experimental: [false]
include:
- node: 15
os: ubuntu-latest
experimental: true
steps:
- name: Checkout Repository
uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Setup Node.js
uses: actions/setup-node@v3
with:
node-version: ${{ matrix.node }}
# ... additional test steps ...
```
Here, any job with `matrix.experimental: true` will not block the workflow on failure.
Below is the workflow summary, showing completed unit tests, a coverage job with an error, and the uploaded artifacts:
***
## Links and References
* [GitHub Actions Workflow Syntax: continue-on-error](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idcontinue-on-error)
* [GitHub Actions: Uploading Artifacts](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/storing-workflow-data-as-artifacts)
* [nyc Code Coverage Tool](https://github.com/istanbuljs/nyc)