explicit error type handling

Handle errors with explicit type checking and intentional decisions rather than generic catch-all approaches. This improves error handling precision and makes error recovery logic clearer.

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Prompt

Reviewer Prompt
Deploy Agent

Handle errors with explicit type checking and intentional decisions rather than generic catch-all approaches. This improves error handling precision and makes error recovery logic clearer.

Key practices:

  • Check for specific error types and names rather than generic Error catching
  • Use precise string matching (startsWith) instead of loose matching (includes) for error identification
  • Be explicit about when errors should be silently handled vs when they should propagate
  • Provide sensible defaults while allowing type flexibility when needed

Example of explicit error type checking:

// Good: Explicit check for specific error type
if (e instanceof DOMException && e.name === 'AbortError') {
  // Handle as normal control flow
  return handleAbortError()
}

// Good: Specific error detection
function isRecoverableError(error: unknown): boolean {
  if (error instanceof Error) {
    return error.message.startsWith(`${RECOVERABLE_ERROR}: `)
  }
  return false
}

// Good: Explicit about silent error handling with documentation
try {
  const context = defaultTransformer.parse(serializedContext)
  return { context, data: formData }
} catch (e) {
  // Intentionally return fallback when context parsing fails
  // to allow request processing to continue
  return { data: formData }
}

This approach prevents unexpected error swallowing, makes error handling intentions clear to other developers, and enables more precise error recovery strategies.

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