Handling Errors in Copilot Studio Flows – A Step-by-Step Guide

Error handling in Copilot Studio flows (which are powered by Power Automate) is crucial to ensure that your chatbot and automation workflows run smoothly. When errors occur—such as failed API calls, invalid data, or missing values—proper error handling ensures that the system fails gracefully and provides useful feedback instead of stopping abruptly.

This guide will walk you through every detailed step of handling errors in Copilot Studio flows, including debugging, prevention, and automated recovery strategies.

1. Understanding Error Handling in Copilot Studio Flows

What is Error Handling?

Error handling refers to detecting, managing, and responding to errors that occur during a chatbot conversation or an automated workflow. It ensures that:
✅ The user gets meaningful error messages instead of failure notifications.
✅ The chatbot can retry failed operations instead of stopping.
✅ Errors are logged and analyzed for future improvements.

Common Errors in Copilot Studio Flows:

Missing or Incorrect Input – The chatbot receives incomplete or incorrect data.
API Failures – External services (APIs) return errors or timeout.
Power Automate Flow Failures – A step in the workflow fails due to incorrect logic or missing data.
Authentication Errors – Issues with API authentication or expired tokens.
Data Formatting Issues – The chatbot or flow receives data in an unexpected format.

2. Setting Up Error Handling in Power Automate Flows

To handle errors in Power Automate flows, follow these steps:

Step 1: Identify Steps that May Fail

Before implementing error handling, identify which flow actions could fail.

API Calls
Data Processing Steps
Conditional Branching
Database Queries

To find these:

Open Power Automate → My Flows.
Select your flow and go to Run History.
Look for any failed runs and identify the step that failed.

Step 2: Implement “Configure Run After” for Error Handling

The “Configure Run After” setting allows you to define what happens if a step fails, times out, or is skipped.

How to Use “Configure Run After”:

Click on the step that should execute after an error.
Select “Configure Run After”.
Enable the following:
✅ Has Failed – Runs the next step if the previous one fails.
✅ Has Timed Out – Triggers a fallback action when there’s a timeout.
✅ Is Skipped – If a step is skipped due to missing conditions, handle it.

Example: If an API call fails, instead of stopping the flow, a fallback step can retry the API request or notify the user about the issue.

Step 3: Implement Try-Catch-Finally Using Scope

Power Automate allows you to create error-handling scopes using “Try-Catch-Finally” logic.

Add a Scope (Try Block):
- Create a Scope and add all the main steps inside it.
- This is where the main flow logic runs.
Add a Scope (Catch Block):
- Add another Scope below the first one.
- Use “Configure Run After” to execute it only if the Try block fails.
- Inside this Scope, add:
  - Logging Mechanisms (Store error details in Dataverse or SharePoint).
  - Notifications (Send an email to admins about the failure).
Add a Scope (Finally Block):
- This block runs regardless of success or failure.
- Use it to clean up resources or send a final status update.

Step 4: Implement Automatic Retry Logic

Power Automate allows automatic retries for failed steps.

Select a step that might fail (e.g., an API call).
Click on Settings (gear icon).
Enable Retry Policy and set:
✅ Fixed Interval – Retry after a fixed time (e.g., 30 seconds).
✅ Exponential Backoff – Retry with increasing wait times.
✅ Maximum Retries – Define how many times the step should retry before failing completely.

Step 5: Logging and Storing Errors for Debugging

To track errors effectively:

Store error details in Dataverse, SharePoint, or Azure Application Insights.
Use “Append to Array Variable” to collect error details and save them for analysis.
Send a notification via Microsoft Teams or Email when critical failures occur.

Example: Logging Errors to SharePoint

Create a SharePoint List named Flow Errors.
Add a step in the “Catch” block to create a new list item with:
- Error Message
- Flow Name
- Time of Occurrence

Step 6: Handling User-Friendly Error Messages

If a chatbot user encounters an error, provide a helpful response instead of an error message.

Instead of “Flow Failed,” say:
❌ Bad Response: “An error occurred. Please try again.”
✅ Good Response: “We’re having trouble processing your request right now. Please check your details and try again.”
Add a fallback topic in Copilot Studio to redirect users when an error occurs.

3. Handling API Errors in Copilot Studio Flows

If your flow interacts with an external API, errors may occur due to:

API Authentication Issues (Expired token, incorrect credentials).
API Timeouts (The API takes too long to respond).
Invalid API Response (Malformed JSON or missing data).

Step 1: Check API Responses with Postman

Open Postman and make a test request to the API.
Verify the status code and error message.
If the API returns errors like 401 Unauthorized or 500 Internal Server Error, handle them in Power Automate.

Step 2: Implement API Error Handling in Power Automate

Add a Condition Step to check if the API response contains "error".
If an error is detected:
- Retry the API call.
- If still failing, log the issue and notify the user.

4. Testing & Debugging Error Handling in Copilot Studio

Step 1: Simulate Errors

Manually trigger incorrect inputs.
Temporarily disable API connections to see if the error handling works.

Step 2: Review Flow Run History

Navigate to Power Automate → My Flows → Run History.
Check if error-handling steps executed correctly.

Step 3: Debug with AI Trace Logs

Use AI Trace Logs in Copilot Studio to track conversation errors.
Identify if the chatbot is sending incorrect data to Power Automate.

5. Best Practices for Error Handling in Copilot Studio Flows

✅ Always use “Configure Run After” to handle errors in flows.
✅ Implement Try-Catch-Finally Scopes to separate normal execution from error handling.
✅ Use Logging & Monitoring (Store errors in SharePoint, Dataverse, or send Teams alerts).
✅ Retry API Calls Automatically to reduce unnecessary failures.
✅ Provide User-Friendly Messages instead of raw errors.

Handling errors in Copilot Studio flows