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66 changes: 66 additions & 0 deletions common-fallback-state-jsonata/README.md
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# Common Fallback State - JSONata
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Would maybe "Shared Fallback State" be a better description?


This example workflow illustrate practical solutions for fetching failed state name in JSONata StateMachine with common fallback state for multiple task states. AWS Step Functions users commonly seek to implement centralized error reporting within their workflows to avoid duplicating error handling logic across multiple states. While implementing a shared error reporting task is straightforward, a significant challenge arises: the error reporting task can access the error message from the failed state, but cannot inherently determine which specific state triggered the error. This limitation becomes particularly problematic in workflows containing numerous Lambda functions, as it complicates identifying the exact point of failure. Using JSONata as our query language, we demonstrate approach to overcome this limitation, enabling comprehensive error tracking while maintaining workflow efficiency.

Learn more about this workflow at Step Functions workflows collection: [https://serverlessland.com/workflows/common-fallback-state-jsonata](https://serverlessland.com/workflows/common-fallback-state-jsonata)

Important: this application uses various AWS services and there are costs associated with these services after the Free Tier usage - please see the [AWS Pricing page](https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/) for details. You are responsible for any AWS costs incurred. No warranty is implied in this example.

## Requirements

* [Create an AWS account](https://portal.aws.amazon.com/gp/aws/developer/registration/index.html) if you do not already have one and log in. The IAM user that you use must have sufficient permissions to make necessary AWS service calls and manage AWS resources.
* [AWS CLI](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/install-cliv2.html) installed and configured
* [Git Installed](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git)
* [AWS Serverless Application Model](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/serverless-application-model/latest/developerguide/serverless-sam-cli-install.html) (AWS SAM) installed

## Deployment Instructions

1. Create a new directory, navigate to that directory in a terminal and clone the GitHub repository:
```
git clone https://github.com/aws-samples/step-functions-workflows-collection
```
1. Change directory to the pattern directory:
```
cd step-functions-workflows-collection/common-fallback-state-jsonata
```
1. From the command line, use AWS SAM to deploy the AWS resources for the workflow as specified in the template.yaml file:
```
sam deploy --guided
```
1. During the prompts:
* Enter a stack name
* Enter the desired AWS Region
* Allow SAM CLI to create IAM roles with the required permissions.
Once you have run `sam deploy --guided` mode once and saved arguments to a configuration file (samconfig.toml), you can use `sam deploy` in future to use these defaults.
1. Note the outputs from the SAM deployment process. These contain the resource names and/or ARNs which are used for testing.
## How it works
The workflow doesn't require any input. By default, the third lambda function in "ThirdLambdaState" task state is programmed to fail. Thus, the workflow execution fails at this task state and transitions into "FallbackState" with input as "FailedStateName": "ThirdLambdaState".
The "ThirdLambdaFunction" is intentionally programmed to simulate the failure.
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Add to paragraph above and then remove

## Image
![image](./resources/statemachine.png)
## Testing
To test the workflow, simply start an execution of the state machine. This workflow doesn't require any input payload. Observe the execution once it has completed.
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Please include a description of what the user should expect

## Cleanup
1. Delete the stack
```bash
aws cloudformation delete-stack --stack-name STACK_NAME
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You deployed using SAM, why not use sam delete?

```
1. Confirm the stack has been deleted
```bash
aws cloudformation list-stacks --query "StackSummaries[?contains(StackName,'STACK_NAME')].StackStatus"
```
----
Copyright 2022 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Suggested change
Copyright 2022 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT-0
69 changes: 69 additions & 0 deletions common-fallback-state-jsonata/example-workflow.json
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{
"title": "Common Fallback State JSONata",
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Use same title as in the README

"description": "Fetch failed state name in JSONata StateMachine with common fallback state for multiple task states",
"language": "Python",
"simplicity": "2 - Pattern",
"usecase": "Error Handling",
"type": "Standard",
"diagram":"/resources/statemachine.png",
"videoId": "",
"level": "200",
"framework": "SAM",
"services": ["stepfunctions","lambda"],
"introBox": {
"headline": "How it works",
"text": [
"This example workflow illustrate practical solutions for fetching failed state name in JSONata StateMachine with common fallback state for multiple task states. AWS Step Functions users commonly seek to implement centralized error reporting within their workflows to avoid duplicating error handling logic across multiple states. While implementing a shared error reporting task is straightforward, a significant challenge arises: the error reporting task can access the error message from the failed state, but cannot inherently determine which specific state triggered the error. This limitation becomes particularly problematic in workflows containing numerous Lambda functions, as it complicates identifying the exact point of failure. Using JSONata as our query language, we demonstrate approach to overcome this limitation, enabling comprehensive error tracking while maintaining workflow efficiency."
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This is a bit too verbose, condense and leave out filler words like "practical", "particular", "comprehensive" etc.
Make the same changes to the README

]
},
"testing": {
"headline": "Testing",
"text": [
"See the GitHub repo for detailed testing instructions."
]
},
"cleanup": {
"headline": "Cleanup",
"text": [
"1. Delete the stack: <code>sam delete</code>."
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Suggested change
"1. Delete the stack: <code>sam delete</code>."
"Delete the stack: <code>sam delete</code>."

]
},
"deploy": {
"text": [
"sam deploy --guided"
]
},
"gitHub": {
"template": {
"repoURL": "https://github.com/aws-samples/step-functions-workflows-collection/tree/main/common-fallback-state-jsonata/",
"templateDir":"common-fallback-state-jsonata",
"templateFile": "template.yaml",
"ASL": "statemachine/statemachine.asl.json"
},
"payloads": [
{
"headline": "",
"payloadURL": ""
}
]
},
"resources": {
"headline": "Additional resources",
"bullets": [
{
"text": "The AWS Step Functions Workshop",
"link": "https://catalog.workshops.aws/stepfunctions/en-US"
}
]
},
"authors": [
{
"name": "Sahithi Ginjupalli",
"image": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YcKYuGz3LfzSxiwb2lWJfpyi49SbvOSr/view?usp=sharing",
"bio": "Cloud Engineer at AWS with a passion for diving deep into cloud and AI services to build innovative serverless applications.",
"linkedin": "ginjupalli-sahithi-37460a18b",
"twitter": ""
}
]
}

6 changes: 6 additions & 0 deletions common-fallback-state-jsonata/functions/first-function/app.py
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def lambda_handler(event, context):
print("Executing First Lambda Function")
return {
'statusCode': 200,
'body': 'First Lambda Function executed successfully'
}
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@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
def lambda_handler(event, context):
print("Executing Second Lambda Function")
return {
'statusCode': 200,
'body': 'Second Lambda Function executed successfully'
}
7 changes: 7 additions & 0 deletions common-fallback-state-jsonata/functions/third-function/app.py
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def lambda_handler(event, context):
print("Executing Third Lambda Function")
print(raising_error)
return {
'statusCode': 200,
'body': 'Third Lambda Function executed successfully'
}
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116 changes: 116 additions & 0 deletions common-fallback-state-jsonata/statemachine/statemachine.asl.json
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{
"Comment": "StateMachine using JSONata QueryLanguage with common fallback state for multiple task states",
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Suggested change
"Comment": "StateMachine using JSONata QueryLanguage with common fallback state for multiple task states",
"Comment": "State machine using JSONata query language with common fallback state for multiple task states",

"StartAt": "FirstLambdaState",
"States": {
"FirstLambdaState": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:states:::lambda:invoke",
"Output": "{% $states.result.Payload %}",
"Arguments": {
"FunctionName": "${FirstLambdaArn}",
"Payload": "{% $states.input %}"
},
"Retry": [
{
"ErrorEquals": [
"Lambda.ServiceException",
"Lambda.AWSLambdaException",
"Lambda.SdkClientException",
"Lambda.TooManyRequestsException"
],
"IntervalSeconds": 1,
"MaxAttempts": 3,
"BackoffRate": 2,
"JitterStrategy": "FULL"
}
],
"Next": "SecondLambdaState",
"Catch": [
{
"ErrorEquals": [
"States.ALL"
],
"Next": "FallbackState",
"Output": {
"FailedStateName": "{% $states.context.State.Name %}"
}
}
]
},
"SecondLambdaState": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:states:::lambda:invoke",
"Output": "{% $states.result.Payload %}",
"Arguments": {
"FunctionName": "${SecondLambdaArn}",
"Payload": "{% $states.input %}"
},
"Retry": [
{
"ErrorEquals": [
"Lambda.ServiceException",
"Lambda.AWSLambdaException",
"Lambda.SdkClientException",
"Lambda.TooManyRequestsException"
],
"IntervalSeconds": 1,
"MaxAttempts": 3,
"BackoffRate": 2,
"JitterStrategy": "FULL"
}
],
"Catch": [
{
"ErrorEquals": [
"States.ALL"
],
"Next": "FallbackState",
"Output": {
"FailedStateName": "{% $states.context.State.Name %}"
}
}
],
"Next": "ThirdLambdaState"
},
"ThirdLambdaState": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:states:::lambda:invoke",
"Output": "{% $states.result.Payload %}",
"Arguments": {
"FunctionName": "${ThirdLambdaArn}",
"Payload": "{% $states.input %}"
},
"Retry": [
{
"ErrorEquals": [
"Lambda.ServiceException",
"Lambda.AWSLambdaException",
"Lambda.SdkClientException",
"Lambda.TooManyRequestsException"
],
"IntervalSeconds": 1,
"MaxAttempts": 3,
"BackoffRate": 2,
"JitterStrategy": "FULL"
}
],
"End": true,
"Catch": [
{
"ErrorEquals": [
"States.ALL"
],
"Next": "FallbackState",
"Output": {
"FailedStateName": "{% $states.context.State.Name %}"
}
}
]
},
"FallbackState": {
"Type": "Pass",
"End": true
}
},
"QueryLanguage": "JSONata"
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move to top, just to be more visible

}
95 changes: 95 additions & 0 deletions common-fallback-state-jsonata/template.yaml
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AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'
Transform: AWS::Serverless-2016-10-31

Resources:
# Common Lambda Role
LambdaExecutionRole:
Type: AWS::IAM::Role
Properties:
AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
Version: '2012-10-17'
Statement:
- Effect: Allow
Principal:
Service: lambda.amazonaws.com
Action: sts:AssumeRole
ManagedPolicyArns:
- arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/service-role/AWSLambdaBasicExecutionRole

# First Lambda Function
FirstLambdaFunction:
Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
Properties:
CodeUri: functions/first-function
Handler: app.lambda_handler
Runtime: python3.13
Architectures:
- x86_64
MemorySize: 128
Timeout: 30
Role: !GetAtt LambdaExecutionRole.Arn

# Second Lambda Function
SecondLambdaFunction:
Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
Properties:
CodeUri: functions/second-function/
Handler: app.lambda_handler
Runtime: python3.13
Architectures:
- x86_64
MemorySize: 128
Timeout: 30
Role: !GetAtt LambdaExecutionRole.Arn

# Third Lambda Function
ThirdLambdaFunction:
Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
Properties:
CodeUri: functions/third-function/
Handler: app.lambda_handler
Runtime: python3.13
Architectures:
- x86_64
MemorySize: 128
Timeout: 30
Role: !GetAtt LambdaExecutionRole.Arn

# State Machine Role
StateMachineRole:
Type: AWS::IAM::Role
Properties:
AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
Version: '2012-10-17'
Statement:
- Effect: Allow
Principal:
Service: states.amazonaws.com
Action: sts:AssumeRole
Policies:
- PolicyName: LambdaInvokePolicy
PolicyDocument:
Version: '2012-10-17'
Statement:
- Effect: Allow
Action: lambda:InvokeFunction
Resource:
- !GetAtt FirstLambdaFunction.Arn
- !GetAtt SecondLambdaFunction.Arn
- !GetAtt ThirdLambdaFunction.Arn

# State Machine
StateMachine:
Type: AWS::Serverless::StateMachine
Properties:
DefinitionSubstitutions:
FirstLambdaArn: !GetAtt FirstLambdaFunction.Arn
SecondLambdaArn: !GetAtt SecondLambdaFunction.Arn
ThirdLambdaArn: !GetAtt ThirdLambdaFunction.Arn
DefinitionUri: statemachine/statemachine.asl.json
Role: !GetAtt StateMachineRole.Arn

Outputs:
StateMachineArn:
Description: "State Machine ARN"
Value: !Ref StateMachine