Assuming the first example is the correct one as far as the status value goes, I'd code it this way.

Update:tweaked it a bit.

sub bar {
    my($self) = @_;
    my $rv = { status => 0, error => undef, external_id => undef };
    
    $rv->{ error } = "Authentication Failed" and return $rv
        unless $self->authenticate_user();
   
    my $profile = $self->get_user_profile();
   
    $rv->{ error } = "User is not active"  and return $rv
        unless $profile->is_active();
        
    $rv->{ external_id } = $self->find_external_id( $profile ) //
        $self->send_profile_to_partner( $profile );
    
    $rv->{ status } = 1;
    return $rv;
}
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