Run the task based on runIf condition

Conditionally execute individual tasks at runtime using the runIf attribute in Kestra. This flow shows how to skip or run a step based on a boolean input, so you can build one workflow that runs end to end or only selected parts depending on how it is triggered. It is the lightweight alternative to wrapping a single task inside an io.kestra.plugin.core.flow.If block, keeping declarative YAML flat and readable while still giving you full conditional control over execution.

How it works

The flow declares a single run_everything input of type BOOL that defaults to true. It then defines two io.kestra.plugin.core.log.Log tasks:

1. step1 always runs and logs a confirmation message.
2. step2 carries runIf: "{{ inputs.run_everything }}", so it only executes when the input evaluates to true. When the condition is false, Kestra marks the task as skipped rather than failed.

A io.kestra.plugin.core.trigger.Schedule trigger fires every day at 0 10 * * * and passes run_everything: true, so scheduled runs always execute every task. Manual runs can flip the input to false to skip the conditional step.

What you get

• Per-task conditional execution without nesting tasks inside an If block.
• A clear skipped state in the execution UI when a condition is not met.
• A scheduled run that exercises the full flow plus a manual debug path that runs only part of it.
• A reusable pattern that works on any task type, not just logging.

Who it's for

• Data and platform engineers who want clean, flat conditional pipelines.
• Teams maintaining one flow for both full production runs and partial debug runs.
• Anyone replacing verbose If wrappers around a single conditional task.

Why orchestrate this with Kestra

Kestra makes conditional logic declarative: runIf is a property on the task itself, evaluated against runtime inputs, trigger payloads, or upstream outputs. You get event and schedule triggers, automatic retries, full execution lineage, and a visual topology, all from YAML. A plain scheduler or cron job cannot express per-task conditions, surface a skipped state, or branch a single definition between full and partial runs without custom scripting. Kestra handles that natively.

Prerequisites

• A running Kestra instance.

Secrets

This flow uses no secrets.

Quick start

1. Add the flow to a namespace in your Kestra instance.
2. Execute it manually with run_everything set to true and confirm both tasks run.
3. Execute again with run_everything set to false and confirm step2 is skipped.
4. Leave the Schedule trigger enabled to run the full flow daily at 10:00.

How to extend

• Swap the Log tasks for real work such as database writes, API calls, or file processing.
• Drive runIf from upstream task outputs or trigger variables instead of a static input.
• Combine several runIf conditions to assemble feature-flag style pipelines.
• Use runIf alongside io.kestra.plugin.core.flow.If when you need to gate multiple tasks at once.

Links

• Core plugin docs