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High severityexecution

Apache Airflow Error:
AirflowFailException

What does this error mean?

Raised to mark the current task as failed, ignoring any remaining retry attempts. This exception appears in Airflow task logs when the condition is triggered during DAG execution.

Common causes

  • 1Task code explicitly raised AirflowFailException to force immediate failure without retrying.
  • 2A critical validation or data quality check failed and the task author chose to skip retries.

How to fix it

  1. 1Review the task code to understand why AirflowFailException was raised.
  2. 2Add better validation upstream to catch the failure condition earlier.

Frequently asked questions

Where does AirflowFailException appear in Airflow?

In the task instance log, accessible via the Airflow UI under the failed task's Log tab, or in your log aggregation system.

Does this exception trigger a DAG retry?

No — AirflowFailException and AirflowSensorTimeout skip remaining retries immediately.

Source · airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/_api/airflow/exceptions/index.html

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