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Use the FINALLY Block for Guaranteed Cleanup

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When you run a test suite, individual tests can leave behind artifacts such as items in a shopping cart, form data, or user sessions. Conditional logic makes this worse, because depending on which IF or ELSE branch runs, different state gets left behind and the next test may or may not start cleanly.

The FINALLY block in Harness AI Test Automation (AIT) solves this by running a set of cleanup steps at the end of the test, regardless of which conditional branch was taken. Think of it as your guaranteed teardown. Go to Conditionals to review the full reference for IF, ELSE, ELSE IF, END IF, and FINALLY.

This guide walks you through building a conditional checkout test against a sample e-commerce app (NovaMart), adding a FINALLY block to clear the cart, and verifying the cleanup runs even when an IF or ELSE branch is skipped.

Prerequisites​

Step 1: Create a new test​

Navigate to AI Test Automation in your Harness project. Select 'Create Test' and select your environment.

Step 2: Navigate to a product and add it to the cart​

Use AI commands or record the following actions:

ActionDescription
Navigate to START_URLOpens the NovaMart homepage
Click on "Sony WH-1000XM5..."Navigates to the product detail page
Click the color or variant selectorSelects a product variant
Click the 'Add to Cart' buttonAdds the $349.99 headphones to the cart
Click the cart iconNavigates to the shopping cart
AIT step panel showing the navigate, click product, select variant, add to cart, and open cart steps with green checks

At this point, the cart has one item totaling $377.99 (product plus tax).

Step 3: Build the IF/ELSE conditional block​

This step uses IF, ELSE, and END IF to branch the test based on the cart total.

Add the IF condition​

Select + Add step > Conditionals > IF. For the IF condition, use an assertion question:

Is the cart total more than $300?

AIT evaluates the page and determines the answer. In this case, $377.99 is greater than $300, so the condition is TRUE.

IF step expanded with the assertion question and the AI explanation that the Order Summary total of $377.99 is greater than $300

Add the IF branch (proceed to checkout)​

After the IF step, add the action that runs when the condition is true:

  • Use an AI command: Proceed to Checkout.

This navigates the user to the checkout or shipping page.

Add the ELSE branch (continue shopping)​

Select + Add step > Conditionals > ELSE. After the ELSE marker, add the action for when the cart total is $300 or less:

  • Use an AI command: Click the Continue Shopping button to navigate back to products.

Since the IF condition was true, this ELSE branch is skipped during execution.

Close the conditional with END IF​

Select + Add step > Conditionals > END IF. This closes the IF/ELSE block and tells AIT where the conditional branching ends.

Step 4: Build the FINALLY block with cleanup​

This step adds the FINALLY marker and the cleanup actions that always run, regardless of which conditional branch executed.

Add the FINALLY marker​

Select + Add step > Conditionals > FINALLY. Everything after this marker is guaranteed to run, regardless of which branch (IF or ELSE) was executed.

FINALLY restrictions

Each test can have at most one FINALLY block. FINALLY cannot be nested inside conditional blocks or used within tasks.

Add cleanup steps inside FINALLY​

After the FINALLY marker, add your cleanup actions:

ActionDescription
Navigate to the cartGoes to the cart page
Remove all items from the cartClicks the remove button to clear the cart
Assert: Is the cart empty?Confirms cleanup was successful
Navigate to the homepageReturns to a neutral starting state
AIT step panel showing the FINALLY marker followed by navigate to cart, remove items, assert cart empty, and navigate to homepage steps, with the NovaMart homepage in the video panel

Step 5: Save and run​

Select 'Save' to store the test. You can now run it individually or add it to a test suite.

When the test runs:

  • The product steps add the headphones to the cart and always execute.
  • The IF condition (cart > $300) evaluates against the page.
  • Proceed to Checkout runs because the condition was TRUE; the Continue Shopping action in the ELSE branch is skipped.
  • If the cart total had been $300 or less, Continue Shopping would have run instead and Proceed to Checkout would have been skipped.
  • The cleanup steps inside the FINALLY block always run after the conditional, regardless of which branch executed.

That is the value of FINALLY: your cleanup is decoupled from your test logic, so dirty state never leaks into the next test in the suite.

Use FINALLY for

Clearing carts, logging users out, navigating to a neutral page, or resetting form state at the end of any test that branches on runtime conditions.

Next steps​

You now have a test that branches on a runtime condition and always leaves the application in a clean state. Use the same FINALLY pattern in any test that mutates user-facing state.

  • Go to Conditionals to review the full IF, ELSE, ELSE IF, END IF, and FINALLY reference.
  • Go to Set up a test suite with setup and teardown to combine FINALLY with suite-level teardown for layered cleanup.
  • Go to Tasks to understand where FINALLY cannot be used and how to structure cleanup inside reusable tasks instead.

FAQs​