BPMN Error Event vs Escalation Event – Key Differences with Real Examples
In BPMN , Error Events and Escalation Events are often confused because both are used to react to exceptional situations. However, they serve very different purposes and using the wrong one can lead to incorrect process behavior in production . This article explains: What Error Events are What Escalation Events are Key differences Real business examples Best practices (based on Camunda 7 projects) 1️⃣ BPMN Error Event – For Technical or Business Failures 🔹 What is an Error Event? An Error Event represents a failure that stops the normal flow of execution. When an Error Event is thrown: The current transaction is rolled back Normal process flow is interrupted Control is transferred to the nearest matching Error Boundary Event 🧩 Real Example: Payment Failure Scenario Customer submits payment Payment gateway fails Process must stop and go to an error handling path Implementation throw new BpmnError ( "PAYMENT_FAILED" ); BPMN Behavior Transaction is rolled back Erro...