Errors

When a command fails, the task stops there, and so does everything else hobnob was running:

tasks:
  fetch-question:
    steps:
      - run: curl -sf https://the-trivia-api.com/v2/question/no-such-id
      - run: echo "never runs"

$ hobnob fetch-question
run: [fetch-question] curl -sf https://the-trivia-api.com/v2/question/no-such-id
✗ [fetch-question] exit status 56

hobnob itself then exits with 1, whatever code the command exited with.

Carrying on after a failure

Add soft: true to a step that's allowed to fail. If it fails, the task carries on with the next step:

tasks:
  fetch-question:
    steps:
      - run: curl -sf https://the-trivia-api.com/v2/question/no-such-id
        soft: true
      - run: echo "still running"

$ hobnob fetch-question
run: [fetch-question] curl -sf https://the-trivia-api.com/v2/question/no-such-id
run: [fetch-question] echo "still running"
[fetch-question] still running
✓ [fetch-question] done

soft: works on a call: step too: if the called task fails, the caller carries on.

Reacting to a failure

A soft: step still captures its output when it fails. Capture exit, and a later step can check it with if::

tasks:
  fetch-question:
    steps:
      - run: curl -sf https://the-trivia-api.com/v2/question/no-such-id
        soft: true
        into:
          - CODE: exit
          - ERRORS: stderr
      - run: echo "no question with that id (curl exited {{.CODE}})"
        if: "{{ ne .CODE 0 }}"

$ hobnob fetch-question
run: [fetch-question] curl -sf https://the-trivia-api.com/v2/question/no-such-id
run: [fetch-question] echo "no question with that id (curl exited 56)"
[fetch-question] no question with that id (curl exited 56)
✓ [fetch-question] done

Rules

• A soft: step that fails prints nothing, and that covers any failure, not just a command exiting non-zero. A typo in a template or a path that leads nowhere is passed over just as quietly. Only use soft: on steps you expect might fail.
• Only run: and call: steps take soft:. Inside a loop, put it on the steps that might fail.
• A command killed by a signal has an exit of -1.
• A command that never started, such as one that isn't installed, captures nothing, so CODE above wouldn't be set. Write .CODE | default -1 if that can happen.