GitHub Actions continue-on-error did not propagate the step outcome

continue-on-error makes a failed step report success as its conclusion, so subsequent steps that check conclusion run as if nothing failed. The real result lives in steps.<id>.outcome, not conclusion.

What this error means

A step that should be treated as failed is treated as passed downstream, because continue-on-error rewrote its conclusion to success.

# 'if: steps.lint.conclusion == failure()' never fires
steps.lint.outcome: failure
steps.lint.conclusion: success   # rewritten by continue-on-error

Common causes

Checking conclusion instead of outcome

continue-on-error sets conclusion to success while leaving outcome as failure; conditions must read outcome to detect the real result.

How to fix it

Gate on steps.<id>.outcome

1. Give the optional step an id.
2. In downstream conditions, reference steps.<id>.outcome to detect the true result.
3. Re-run.

- id: lint
  continue-on-error: true
  run: npm run lint
- if: steps.lint.outcome == 'failure'
  run: echo "lint failed but did not block the job"

How to prevent it

• Use steps.<id>.outcome, not conclusion, after a continue-on-error step.
• Reserve continue-on-error for steps whose failure should not block the job.

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