Which type of gateway in BPMN allows only one path to be taken?

The Exclusive Gateway in BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) is designed to direct the flow of a process into one and only one of its possible outgoing paths. This type of gateway evaluates conditions or expressions associated with each outgoing path, and based on the results of that evaluation, it allows only a single path to be activated while all other paths remain closed.

This functionality is essential when you want to make decisions within a business process where only one option can be pursued at a time. For example, in a scenario where a customer chooses a payment method, the process can only move forward with one selected method, such as credit card, PayPal, or bank transfer, based on the exclusive choice made by the customer.

In contrast, other types of gateways allow for different behaviors: the Inclusive Gateway can activate one or more paths, the Parallel Gateway can activate multiple paths simultaneously, and the Event-Based Gateway directs flow based on events rather than conditions evaluated in the flow. This differentiation highlights the unique and specific role of the Exclusive Gateway in managing process paths efficiently and effectively.