Studio Web User Guide

DELIVERY:

Last updated Aug 6, 2025

Response

The Response activity terminates an API workflow and sends a structured response to the requester. The response typically includes a status and additional data.

Use the Response activity to:

Always return the correct status and response details.
End workflows with a clear and structured result.
Handle errors gracefully, especially when combined with the Try-Catch activity.

The Response activity should be the final step in a workflow, to ensure the process provides the intended information.

Important: If you do not add a Response activity, the workflow returns the response from the last executed request. If an error occurs, the workflow returns the error details instead.

Using Response activity

To add a Response activity to your workflow:

On your API workflow designer canvas, select the plus (+) icon. The Add activity menu appears.
Select Response.
In the Properties panel, configure the following fields:
- Type
  - Select Success when the workflow completes successfully and returns the expected response.
  - Select Failure when the workflow encounters an error or lacks the necessary data for a successful response.
- Details—Use the Expression editor to define a JSON object containing the desired response information.
Save the configuration.

Response activity example

The following example retrieves a worker from Workday and aggregates details about their manager and direct reports.

The following image displays the example workflow:

The Failure response

The workflow returns a Failure status with an error message if any retrieval step fails.

To achieve this:

Wrap the retrieval steps inside a Try-Catch block.
If an error occurs, the Error Response step in the Catch flow returns a structured failure response.

Configure the Response with the following details:

Type—Failure
Details—Open the Expression editor and write the following:
```
({
    "error_message": $context.outputs.Try_Catch_3.error.title,
    "status": $context.outputs.Try_Catch_3.error.status
})({
    "error_message": $context.outputs.Try_Catch_3.error.title,
    "status": $context.outputs.Try_Catch_3.error.status
})
```
Here, $context.outputs.Try_Catch_3.error provides a structured error output from the Try-Catch activity. When the Try flow encounters an error during execution, the workflow returns the following output:

The Success response

The workflow returns a Success status with the aggregated worker information. The Search Workers by Name or ID activity returns an array, even when ther is only one match. There, we use a For Each activity to process each result, and then consolidate the data using a Script activity.

Configure the Response with the following details:

Type—Success
Details—Open the Expression editor and write the following:
```
({
    "workers": $context.outputs.For_Each_2.results
})({
    "workers": $context.outputs.For_Each_2.results
})
```
Here, workers contains the aggregated output from the Script step of the For Each loop. The workflow returns the following output: