Principle:Kubeflow Pipelines Exit Handling
| Sources | Domains | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|
| KFP Control Flow | ML_Pipelines, Control_Flow, Reliability | 2026-02-13 |
Overview
A reliability pattern that guarantees execution of a cleanup or notification task after a pipeline block completes, regardless of whether the block succeeded or failed.
Description
Exit handling implements a try-finally pattern in pipeline DAGs. An exit task is defined before the main block. The ExitHandler context wraps the main execution block. After all tasks in the block finish (success or failure), the exit task is guaranteed to execute. Use cases include:
- Resource cleanup (deleting temp resources)
- Sending notifications
- Updating external systems
- Logging results
Usage
Use when pipeline steps might fail and you need guaranteed cleanup or post-execution actions — e.g., deleting provisioned resources, sending failure alerts, or recording outcomes.
Theoretical Basis
Exception handling in workflow systems. Analogous to try-finally in programming languages. The exit task runs in a separate execution context that is unconditionally triggered by block completion.