# The `ignore_errors` Parameter

<span aria-hidden="true" id="ignore-errors"></span><span aria-hidden="true" id="ignore_errors"></span><span aria-hidden="true" id="robot-error-handling"></span>

The <code>ignore_errors</code> parameter is supported by all Robots at the Step level. It lets
you keep an <dfn>Assembly</dfn> moving when certain per-file errors
are acceptable for your workflow.

## Why this can be useful

`ignore_errors` is useful when partial success is better than full failure. Common examples:

* Batch processing where some files are expected to be malformed or unsupported.
* Pipelines where metadata extraction is optional.
* Large imports where missing or temporarily unavailable files should not stop all other files.

## Supported values

All Robots support `meta` and `execute`. Import Robots additionally support `import`.

|Value|Effect|
|-|-|
|(omit), `false`, or `[]`|Default behavior: do not ignore errors.|
|`true`|Ignore all supported phases for that Robot.|
|`["meta"]`|Ignore metadata extraction errors.|
|`["execute"]`|Ignore execution/transcoding errors.|
|`["meta", "execute"]`|Ignore both metadata and execution errors.|
|`["import"]`|Import Robots only: ignore import/fetch errors.|
|`["meta", "import", "execute"]`|Import Robots only: ignore all supported phases.|

## Examples

Ignore metadata extraction errors for an image resize step:

```json
{
  "steps": {
    ":original": {
      "robot": "/upload/handle"
    },
    "resized": {
      "use": ":original",
      "robot": "/image/resize",
      "width": 1200,
      "ignore_errors": ["meta"]
    }
  }
}
```

Ignore import errors for an import step:

```json
{
  "steps": {
    "imported": {
      "robot": "/s3/import",
      "credentials": "YOUR_S3_CREDENTIALS",
      "path": "/incoming/",
      "ignore_errors": ["import"]
    },
    "encoded": {
      "use": "imported",
      "robot": "/video/encode",
      "preset": "ipad-high"
    }
  }
}
```

Ignore all supported phases:

```json
{
  "steps": {
    "imported": {
      "robot": "/http/import",
      "url": "https://example.com/multi-file-feed.json",
      "ignore_errors": true
    }
  }
}
```

## Notes and best practices

* Use `ignore_errors` intentionally. It improves resilience but can hide problems if overused.
* Prefer targeted arrays (for example, only `["meta"]`) over `true` when possible.
* Monitor your <dfn>Assembly Status</dfn> for ignored failures.
  Ignored errors are reported in fields like `ignored_errors` and `ignored_error_count`.
* If you need to still emit files on metadata-related issues in some import scenarios, also review
  Robot-specific options such as `import_on_errors` on [🤖/http/import](/docs/robots/http-import.md).