Stop

Overview

The Stop action terminates the current workflow execution immediately. It allows you to exit workflows conditionally when certain criteria are met or when you want to halt execution without marking the workflow as failed.

🛑 Purpose

Use Stop to:

• Exit early when conditions are met

• Skip unnecessary steps

• Implement conditional workflows

• Mark as passed when objective achieved

• Prevent redundant steps

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When to Use Stop

✅ Good Use Cases

Scenario	Reason
Early Success	Goal achieved, no need to continue
Conditional Skip	Requirements not met, skip remaining steps
Resource Limit	Stop before exceeding resource quota
Data Validation	Critical data missing, cannot proceed
Workflow Optimization	Skip redundant verification steps
Cleanup Prevention	Stop before cleanup runs

❌ Anti-Patterns (Don't Do)

• ❌ Stop on temporary errors (use Retry instead)

• ❌ Stop instead of proper error handling

• ❌ Stop without logging reason

• ❌ Frequent stops (indicates workflow design issue)

• ❌ Stop to avoid assertions (defeats purpose)

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Configuration

Basic Setup

1. Open your workflow

2. Click "Add Action" → Select "Stop"

3. Configure stop settings:

   • Stop Reason: Brief description of why stopping

   • Status: Pass or Fail (how to mark workflow)

   • Condition (optional): When to stop

4. Place in workflow at decision point

5. Save

Configuration Options

Stop Action Configuration
├── Stop Reason: Text description
├── Status: Pass / Fail / Skip
├── Condition: Stop if condition met (optional)
├── Log Message: What to log (optional)
└── Cleanup: Run cleanup before stopping

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Stop Status Options

Pass Status

Workflow ends successfully without error:

Use when:
- Objective was achieved
- Early exit is valid success
- All critical checks passed

Example:

Test objective: Verify user can login
[Web: Enter credentials]
[Web: Check if logged in successfully]
IF logged_in THEN
    [Stop: PASS - "User successfully logged in"]
ELSE
    [Continue with other verification]

Fail Status

Workflow ends with failure:

Use when:
- Critical requirement not met
- Cannot proceed safely
- Test should fail

Example:

IF required_data NOT FOUND THEN
    [Stop: FAIL - "Critical configuration missing"]

Skip Status

Workflow ends without pass or fail:

Use when:
- Workflow not applicable to current scenario
- Test should be skipped due to environment
- Requirements not met for this execution

Example:

IF environment != "production" THEN
    [Stop: SKIP - "Test only runs in production"]

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Conditional Stop Examples

Example 1: Early Success Stop

Workflow: Verify User Features

Step 1: Web - Navigate to Features Page
Step 2: Web - Check for Premium Feature Badge
   Output: has_premium = true/false

Step 3: IF has_premium THEN
   [Stop: PASS - "User is premium, core objective met"]
   
ELSE
   Step 3b: Web - Check Free Feature
   Step 3c: Assertion - Free feature works
   [Stop: PASS - "User has expected features"]

Example 2: Missing Data Stop

Workflow: Process Order Verification

Step 1: API - Create Order
   Output: order_id

Step 2: IF order_id IS NULL THEN
   [Stop: FAIL - "Order creation failed, cannot proceed"]

ELSE
   Step 3: API - Verify Order
   Step 4: Assertions
   [Stop: PASS - "Order verified"]

Example 3: Environment-Based Stop

Workflow: Production-Only Test

Step 1: Get Environment
   Output: current_env

Step 2: IF current_env != "production" THEN
   [Stop: SKIP - "Test only applicable in production"]

ELSE
   Step 3: API - Production feature test
   [Stop: PASS - "Feature works in production"]

Example 4: Resource-Based Stop

Workflow: Load Test with Limits

Step 1: Initialize - Get resource quota
   Output: remaining_requests = 100

Step 2: FOR loop (i = 1 to 10):
   Step 2a: [Make API Request]
   remaining_requests = remaining_requests - 1
   
   Step 2b: IF remaining_requests <= 5 THEN
      [Stop: PASS - "Reached resource limit safely"]

Step 3 (if not stopped): [Continue normal flow]

Example 5: Data Validation Stop

Workflow: Report Generation

Step 1: API - Fetch Report Data
   Output: data_points = 0

Step 2: IF data_points == 0 THEN
   [Stop: SKIP - "No data to report"]

ELSE
   Step 3: Generate report
   Step 4: Verify report format
   [Stop: PASS - "Report generated successfully"]

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Combining Stop with Other Actions

Stop + Condition

Standard conditional stop:

[Perform operation]
    ↓
[Evaluate condition]
    ↓
IF condition_met THEN
    [Stop: PASS]
ELSE
    [Continue]

Stop + Cleanup

Run cleanup before stopping:

[Perform operations]
    ↓
[Cleanup: Delete test data]
    ↓
[Stop: PASS]

Stop + Log

Log reason before stopping:

[Perform operation]
    ↓
IF criteria_met THEN
    [Comment: Log reason]
    [Stop: PASS]

Stop in Loop

Exit loop early:

FOR each_item:
    [Process item]
    
    IF goal_reached THEN
        [Stop: PASS]
    ELSE
        [Continue to next item]

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Best Practices

✅ Do

• Always include a reason - Explain why stopping in message

• Use meaningful stop status - Pass/Fail/Skip appropriately

• Log the reason - Help with debugging and analysis

• Test both paths - Verify stop executes and normal flow works

• Clean up first - Run cleanup before stopping if needed

• Document the logic - Explain why stop might occur

• Consider implications - How will stop affect overall test suite

❌ Don't

• Use Stop for error handling - That's what error actions are for

• Stop without reason - Always document why

• Stop frequently - Indicates workflow design issue

• Ignore resource cleanup - Run cleanup before stopping

• Mark as Pass when should Fail - Use correct status

• Skip logging - Important for troubleshooting

• Duplicate Stop logic - Consolidate decisions

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Performance Impact

Workflow Termination Timing

Stop action executes immediately:
- No delay or processing
- Instant workflow termination
- All downstream steps skipped
- Cleanup runs if configured

Timeline:
[Step 1]: 5 seconds
[Step 2]: 3 seconds
[Stop condition check]: < 1 second
[Stop action]: Immediate

Result: Workflow completes in ~8 seconds instead of 30+ seconds

Resource Cleanup

Always clean up resources before stopping:

Workflow: Create and Stop

[Create: 100 records]
[Perform verification]
IF verification_passed THEN
    [Delete: All 100 records] ← Run before stopping
    [Stop: PASS]
ELSE
    [Continue cleanup in error handler]

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Troubleshooting

Issue: Stop condition not being reached

Symptoms:

• Workflow runs all steps

• Stop should have executed but didn't

Causes:

• Condition never evaluates to true

• Condition syntax error

• Logic placed in wrong location

Solutions:

1. Add logging before stop to verify condition

2. Check condition syntax and logic

3. Verify data values before condition

4. Test condition independently

Issue: Resources not cleaned before stop

Symptoms:

• Test data left behind

• Resources allocated but not freed

Solutions:

1. Add cleanup step before Stop

2. Configure Stop to run cleanup

3. Move cleanup to earlier in workflow

4. Use separate cleanup workflow

Issue: Stop marked as wrong status

Symptoms:

• Stop marked as FAIL should be PASS

• Stop marked as PASS should be FAIL

Solutions:

1. Review stop condition and status mapping

2. Verify business logic

3. Test all code paths

4. Update documentation

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Real-World Scenarios

E-Commerce: Feature Availability Check

Workflow: Check Premium Feature

[Web: Login with standard user]
[Web: Navigate to Premium Features]
[Web: Check for Premium Badge]

IF badge_found THEN
    [Stop: FAIL - "Standard user shouldn't have premium badge"]
ELSE
    [Web: Verify Premium menu item disabled]
    [Stop: PASS - "Feature restriction working correctly"]

API Testing: Version Compatibility

Workflow: Test API Compatibility

[API: Check server version]
[Extract: version_number]

IF version < 2.0 THEN
    [Stop: SKIP - "Feature requires API v2.0+"]
ELSE
    [API: Test new feature]
    [Stop: PASS - "Feature working in v2.0+"]

Reporting: Data Sufficiency

Workflow: Generate Daily Report

[API: Fetch daily metrics]
[Count: data_points]

IF data_points == 0 THEN
    [Stop: SKIP - "No data for today, report generation skipped"]
ELSE
    [Process: Generate report]
    [Save: Store report]
    [Stop: PASS - "Report generated with {data_points} metrics"]

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Related Topics

• Workflow Patterns - When to use Stop

• Error Handling - Error strategies

• Execution Flow - Flow control

• Action Types Overview - All actions

• Nodes and Steps - Workflow building blocks

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Summary

• Stop terminates workflow execution immediately

• Use for conditional exits when objective is met

• Choose appropriate status - Pass/Fail/Skip based on context

• Always document why stopping in message

• Clean up resources before stopping

• Test both execution paths - stop and normal flow

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