claude-code-source-code-deobfuscation/specs/error_handling.md

Claude Code CLI - Error Handling Specifications

Error Classification

Severity Levels

Level	Description	User Impact	Handling Approach
Critical	Application cannot continue	Application termination	Immediate logging, clean shutdown, detailed recovery instructions
Major	Feature completely broken	Feature unavailable	Graceful degradation, alternative suggestion, detailed error message
Minor	Partial feature limitation	Reduced functionality	Warning message, continue with limited functionality
Informational	Non-disruptive issue	Minimal to none	Subtle notification, continue normal operation

Error Categories

Category	Description	Examples
Authentication	Issues with user authentication	Invalid token, expired credentials, permission denied
Network	Connection and communication errors	API timeout, connection refused, SSL certificate error
File System	Issues with reading/writing files	Permission denied, file not found, locked file
Command Execution	Problems running terminal commands	Command not found, execution failure, timeout
AI Service	Issues with AI processing	Rate limit exceeded, invalid request, model error
Configuration	Problems with application setup	Invalid config format, missing required settings
Resource	System resource limitations	Out of memory, disk space exhausted

Error Handling Strategies

Retry Mechanisms

• Exponential backoff for transient errors
• Configurable retry limits
• Progress notification during retries
• Fallback mechanisms after exhausting retries

Graceful Degradation

• Feature-specific fallback modes
• Reduced functionality operation
• Local-only operation when cloud services unavailable
• Cache utilization for resilience

User Notification

• Clear, actionable error messages
• Technical details available on demand
• Suggested remediation steps
• Links to relevant documentation

Recovery Procedures

• Session state preservation
• Auto-save mechanisms
• Crash recovery on restart
• Transaction rollback for failed operations

Error Tracking and Reporting

Telemetry Collection

• Error frequency and patterns
• Environment context capture
• Anonymized error reports
• User-permitted crash reports

Sentry Integration

• Real-time error tracking
• Exception grouping and analysis
• Performance impact assessment
• Release correlation

Error Aggregation

• Pattern recognition across instances
• Prioritization based on impact
• Trend analysis for recurring issues
• User impact assessment

Specific Error Handling Cases

Authentication Errors

• Clear re-authentication instructions
• Token refresh attempts
• Credential validation checks
• Security-focused error messages

API Communication Errors

• Connection diagnostics
• Network environment checks
• Request/response logging
• API status verification

File System Errors

• Permission verification
• Path validation
• Resource availability checks
• Alternative storage suggestions

Command Execution Errors

• Shell environment validation
• Dependency verification
• Command path verification
• Output/error stream capture

AI Processing Errors

• Query validation
• Context size management
• Rate limit handling
• Model fallback options

Error Logging

Log Levels

Level	Description	Information Included
ERROR	Significant problems	Error details, stack trace, context, user action
WARN	Potential issues	Warning details, related context, potential impact
INFO	Normal but significant events	Event description, relevant parameters
DEBUG	Detailed diagnostic information	Verbose execution details, state information
TRACE	Very detailed diagnostic information	Full execution path, variable states

Log Structure

{
  "timestamp": "ISO-8601 timestamp",
  "level": "ERROR|WARN|INFO|DEBUG|TRACE",
  "message": "Human-readable message",
  "category": "Error category",
  "code": "Error code",
  "user": {
    "id": "Anonymized user identifier",
    "action": "User action that triggered the error"
  },
  "context": {
    "command": "Executed command",
    "file": "Relevant file path",
    "operation": "Operation being performed"
  },
  "technical": {
    "stack": "Stack trace (if applicable)",
    "raw": "Raw error details"
  },
  "session": {
    "id": "Session identifier",
    "duration": "Session duration in seconds"
  }
}

Log Storage and Rotation

• Local log files with rotation
• Size and time-based rotation policies
• Compression of archived logs
• Automated cleanup of old logs

User-Facing Error Messages

Message Structure

• Clear problem statement
• Probable cause
• Suggested action
• Further information reference

Localization

• Error message translation framework
• Locale-specific error resources
• Fallback to English for missing translations
• Cultural sensitivity in error messaging

Visual Presentation

• Color-coding by severity
• Icons for error categories
• Progressive disclosure of technical details
• Contextual help links