Stop Workflow
Terminate workflow execution immediately with a specified status — success, cancelled, or failed — and an optional message.
The Stop Workflow node is a terminal node — it has no output ports. When execution reaches it, the workflow ends immediately with the configured status. The status and message are recorded in the workflow execution history and are visible in the BizFirst monitoring dashboard. Stop Workflow is used for intentional termination — both at natural completion points and at early-exit conditions such as validation failures or business rule violations.
Termination Statuses
| Status | Meaning | Use When |
|---|---|---|
| success | The workflow completed its intended purpose successfully | Normal completion after all steps executed without issue. Also used when early exit is the correct business outcome (e.g., no action needed because a condition was already met). |
| cancelled | The workflow was intentionally stopped due to a business condition, not an error | User-initiated cancellation, a business rule that makes further processing pointless (e.g., customer already churned), or a request that was superseded by another. |
| failed | The workflow could not complete its purpose due to an unrecoverable condition | Validation failure after exhausted retries, data corruption detected, maximum retry limit exceeded, or a business constraint violation that cannot be resolved automatically. |
Key Characteristics
- Terminal node — no output ports; workflow stops here
- Status and message are recorded in the execution history
- When used inside a Sub-Workflow, the status propagates to the parent as the child workflow outcome
- The message can be a literal string or a dynamic BizFirst expression
- Multiple Stop Workflow nodes can exist in the same workflow for different exit paths
- All active parallel branches are also terminated when Stop Workflow is reached on any branch
Common Use Cases
| Scenario | Status | Message Example |
|---|---|---|
| Early exit when cancellation detected | cancelled | "Request cancelled by user before processing began." |
| Terminate after maximum retries exceeded | failed | "API call failed after 3 retries. Last error: 503 Service Unavailable." |
| Stop on data validation failure | failed | "Required field 'email' is missing or invalid." |
| Explicit success with summary | success | "Invoice INV-2026-0042 generated and emailed to jane@company.com." |
| Business rule violation — no further action needed | cancelled | "Customer already has an active subscription. No renewal action required." |
In This Guide
Configuration
status, message, and message_expression properties with usage guidance for each termination status.
Input & Output
Terminal node behaviour, what gets recorded in execution history, and sub-workflow propagation.
Examples
Five examples: early cancellation exit, max retries failure, validation failure, explicit success message, and business rule short-circuit.