Overview #

Exception Strategies allow you to control how SiPHON responds when an error occurs during a process. You can define a Default action (a fallback for any unhandled exception) and one or more Classed Exception Strategies (targeted rules for specific exception types).

 

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The Exception Strategies Panel #

The Exception Strategies panel is divided into two sections:

• Default — defines the fallback behaviour for any exception not covered by a classed rule
• Classed Exception Strategies — defines targeted behaviour for specific exception classes

(interactive walkthrough to be added here)

 

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Default Exception Action #

The Default Exception Action dropdown controls what happens when an exception is encountered and no matching classed strategy exists.

Option	Description
None (Inherit)	No action is defined at this level. Behaviour is inherited from a parent process or platform default.
Continue	The process continues past the exception without interruption.
End	The process terminates. Additional fields appear to configure the outcome.

When End is selected #

Two additional fields become available: Default Exception Workflow Status Sets the status the process will end with.

Value	Description
Success	The process is marked as successfully completed.
Warning	The process ends with a non-critical warning state.
Error	The process ends in an error state. (Default)

Default Exception Flow An optional dropdown to select a flow that will execute when the exception is encountered. Use this to trigger notifications, logging, or compensating actions.

When Continue is selected #

Only Default Exception Flow is shown — no status is required since the process continues.

 

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Classed Exception Strategies #

Classed strategies let you override the default behaviour for specific categories of exceptions. Use the Add Classed Action dropdown to add one or more exception classes. Each class you add appears as its own section with its own configuration fields. A Remove Class button is available on each section to delete it.

Exception Classes #

Class	Description
System Exception	Unexpected system-level failures, such as timeouts or infrastructure errors.
Throttle Exception	Rate-limiting responses from an external service.
Authentication Exception	Authentication or authorisation failures.
Data Exception	Data validation or transformation failures.

 

Configuring a Classed Exception Strategy #

Each classed strategy section displays the exception class name at the top (e.g. Exception Class: Throttle Exception) and contains the following fields.

Flow Action Type #

Defines the action to take when this exception class is encountered.

Option	Available for
Continue	All classes
End	All classes
Retry	System Exception, Throttle Exception only

Note: Retry is not available for Authentication or Data exceptions. Auth failures are unlikely to resolve by retrying, and data errors are deterministic — the same input will produce the same failure.

 

 

When End is selected #

Exception Flow (optional) Select a flow to execute when this exception is encountered. Exception Flow Status Sets the status the process will end with: Success, Warning, or Error.

 

 

When Continue is selected #

Exception Flow (optional) Select a flow to execute when this exception is encountered. The process will continue after the flow completes.

 

 

When Retry is selected #

The following fields appear to configure the retry behaviour.

Field	Required	Type	Description
Max Retry Count	Yes	Number	The maximum number of retry attempts before the retry strategy is exhausted.
Back off	Yes	Boolean (toggle)	When enabled, the delay between retries increases with each attempt.
Delay Before First Retry	No	Number (ms)	Delay in milliseconds before the first retry is attempted. Only active when Back off is on.
Subsequent Retry Delay Multiplier	No	Number	Multiplier applied to the previous delay to calculate the next retry delay. Only active when Back off is on.
Retries Exhausted Action Type	No	Dropdown	Action to take once all retries are exhausted. Options: None, Continue, End. Defaults to End.
Retries Exhausted Flow Status	No	Dropdown	Status to end the process with when retries are exhausted. Options: Success, Warning, Error. Defaults to Error.
Retries Exhausted Exception Flow	No	Dropdown	A flow to execute when retries are exhausted.
Retries Exhausted Exception Flow Input Mapping	No	Mapper / Expression	Input mapping to pass data into the retries exhausted exception flow.

Backoff Behaviour

When Back off is enabled, each retry waits longer than the previous one. For example, with a Delay Before First Retry of 1000 ms and a Subsequent Retry Delay Multiplier of 2:

Retry	Delay
1st	1000 ms
2nd	2000 ms
3rd	4000 ms

 

 

Field Visibility Summary #

The fields displayed depend on the Flow Action Type selected for each section:

Field	Continue	End	Retry
Exception Flow			—
Exception Flow Status	—		—
Max Retry Count	—	—
Back off	—	—
Delay Before First Retry	—	—
Subsequent Retry Delay Multiplier	—	—
Retries Exhausted Action Type	—	—
Retries Exhausted Flow Status	—	—
Retries Exhausted Exception Flow	—	—
Retries Exhausted Exception Flow Input Mapping	—	—

 

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Examples #

Example 1 — Default End on error, continue on data issues #

A common setup: end the process with an error by default, but silently continue past any data validation failures. Default:

• Default Exception Action: End
• Default Exception Workflow Status: Error

Classed Exception Strategies:

• Data Exception → Flow Action Type: Continue

 

 

Example 2 — Retry throttle errors with backoff #

Retry up to 5 times when rate-limited, with increasing delays between attempts. Classed Exception Strategies:

• Throttle Exception → Flow Action Type: Retry
  • Max Retry Count: 5
  • Back off: On
  • Delay Before First Retry: 2000
  • Subsequent Retry Delay Multiplier: 1.5
  • Retries Exhausted Flow Status: Warning

 

 

Example 3 — Trigger a notification flow on auth failure #

End the process on authentication failure and trigger a notification flow. Classed Exception Strategies:

• Authentication Exception → Flow Action Type: End
  • Exception Flow: notify-auth-failure
  • Exception Flow Status: Error