failedAt

FailedAt is a timestamp field used in software systems to record the exact time at which an operation or process failed. It functions as a successor to simple boolean failure indicators by providing a precise point in time for auditing, analysis, and troubleshooting. The field is commonly found in logs, database schemas, and status objects that track the lifecycle of tasks, jobs, or requests.

In practice, failedAt appears in various contexts such as background job queues, build and deployment pipelines, test results, and error-tracking dashboards. It is often paired with additional metadata like failedReason, errorCode, status, and retryCount. The presence of failedAt helps determine how long a task has remained failed, informs retry policies, and supports post-mortem investigations.

Data type and format typically use a date-time value. It is commonly stored as an ISO 8601 string or as a timestamp, with time zone considerations generally favoring UTC to avoid ambiguity. The field is usually nullable, meaning it is set when a failure occurs and left unset for successful or in-progress operations. Naming conventions vary, with failedAt (camelCase) or failed_at (snake_case) depending on the data model.

Semantics can differ: in some systems, failedAt is updated with each retry attempt to reflect the most recent failure, while in others it records the first failure time. It is a key element for auditing, monitoring, and determining elapsed time since failure, and should be complemented by reliable time sources and consistent logging practices.

See also: failedReason, status, retryAt, startedAt, completedAt.