Introduction

Error handling is crucial in bot scenarios where you are using middleware for your automation workflows. To ensure that your processes run smoothly even when something goes wrong, we will explore the error handling options to us in Make.com, particularly focusing on the Break module. This module is particularly useful for handling API timeouts, such as those that may occur with connectors like Microsoft Excel.

Understanding the Break module

The Break module allows us to pause a scenario for a specified period before retrying a failed operation. This is essential when dealing with API's that might have rate limits or temporary downtime. By introducing a gap interval, we give the scenario some time for the API to recover, increasing the chances of a successful connection on the next attempt.

Setting up the Break module

To setup the Break module, we need to right click on a module which is error prone or has an API rate limit you are aware of. For this example, we will use a Microsoft Excel module.

Configuring the retry logic

There are two fields in the module which we need to configure.

1. Number of attempts:
   This helps us configure the number of retries the module will attempt to make a successful API connection. Ideally, we would set this anywhere between 3-5 tries. But, if the API you are working with is prone to constant down-times, feel free to increase this number.
2. Interval between attempts:
   This field enables us to define the amount of time between each attempt. Depending on the API you are using, set this between 3-10 minutes to leave enough time gap in between attempts.

Conclusion

The Break module in Make.com is a powerful tool for handling API timeouts and other errors. By placing the Break module with an error-prone module, we can ensure more reliable automation workflows. Always remember to test your scenarios thoroughly to ensure that they handle errors as expected and the retry logic works correct.