error-handling-patterns
Master error handling patterns across languages including exceptions, Result types, error propagation, and graceful degradation to build resilient applications. Use when implementing error handling, designing APIs, or improving application reliability.
69
54%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
95%
1.39xAverage score across 3 eval scenarios
Passed
No known issues
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./tests/ext_conformance/artifacts/agents-wshobson/developer-essentials/skills/error-handling-patterns/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
67%Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.
The description is structurally sound with a clear 'Use when...' clause and covers the domain adequately. However, it reads more like a course catalog entry than an actionable skill description—it lists pattern categories rather than concrete actions Claude would perform. The trigger terms are decent but could be more comprehensive with common user vocabulary.
Suggestions
Replace abstract pattern names with concrete actions, e.g., 'Implements try-catch blocks, converts exceptions to Result/Either types, adds retry logic with exponential backoff, designs error hierarchies'
Add more natural trigger terms users would say, such as 'try-catch', 'error codes', 'crash handling', 'retry logic', 'fallback strategy', or specific language mentions like 'Rust Result', 'Python exceptions'
Narrow the 'designing APIs' trigger to 'designing API error responses' to reduce overlap with general API design skills
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | Names the domain (error handling) and lists some patterns (exceptions, Result types, error propagation, graceful degradation), but these are more category labels than concrete actions. It doesn't specify what it actually does with these patterns (e.g., 'converts try-catch blocks to Result types', 'adds retry logic'). | 2 / 3 |
Completeness | Clearly answers both 'what' (master error handling patterns including exceptions, Result types, error propagation, graceful degradation) and 'when' (Use when implementing error handling, designing APIs, or improving application reliability) with an explicit 'Use when...' clause. | 3 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Includes relevant terms like 'error handling', 'exceptions', 'Result types', 'error propagation', and 'graceful degradation', which are reasonably natural. However, it misses common user phrases like 'try-catch', 'error codes', 'retry', 'fallback', 'crash', 'bug handling', or specific language patterns users might mention. | 2 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | The error handling focus is a reasonably distinct niche, but terms like 'designing APIs' and 'improving application reliability' are broad enough to overlap with API design skills or general code quality/resilience skills. The cross-language scope also makes it less distinct. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 9 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
42%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This skill is a comprehensive but bloated reference document that tries to cover error handling across 4 languages and multiple patterns all in one file. While the code examples are high-quality and executable, the skill suffers from severe verbosity, unnecessary conceptual explanations (error categories, philosophies), and poor progressive disclosure—everything is crammed into one massive file with phantom references to non-existent bundle files.
Suggestions
Move language-specific patterns into separate referenced files (e.g., references/python-errors.md, references/typescript-errors.md) and keep only the most critical pattern in SKILL.md as a quick-start example.
Remove the 'Core Concepts' and 'Error Categories' sections entirely—Claude already knows what exceptions, result types, and recoverable vs unrecoverable errors are.
Provide the referenced bundle files (exception-hierarchy-design.md, error-recovery-strategies.md, etc.) or remove the references section to avoid phantom links.
Add a brief workflow section that guides when to apply which pattern (e.g., 'For API endpoints: custom exceptions + error aggregation for validation; For external calls: retry + circuit breaker') rather than just listing patterns.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | Extremely verbose at ~400+ lines. Explains basic concepts Claude already knows (error categories, what exceptions vs result types are, 'when to use each'). The 'Core Concepts' section is entirely unnecessary padding. Multiple full implementations across 4 languages is excessive for a single skill file—most of this should be in referenced files. | 1 / 3 |
Actionability | All code examples are fully executable and copy-paste ready across Python, TypeScript, Rust, and Go. The circuit breaker, error aggregation, retry decorator, and Result type implementations are complete and concrete. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The best practices section provides a good comprehensive example (process_order), but there's no clear workflow for when/how to apply these patterns in sequence. The skill reads more like a reference catalog than a guided workflow. No validation checkpoints for implementing error handling in a codebase. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | Monolithic wall of content—everything is inline with no actual bundle files to support the references listed at the bottom. The references section lists 6 files that don't exist. The language-specific patterns and universal patterns should be split into separate referenced files rather than all being in the main SKILL.md. | 1 / 3 |
Total | 7 / 12 Passed |
Validation
90%Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.
Validation — 10 / 11 Passed
Validation for skill structure
| Criteria | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|
skill_md_line_count | SKILL.md is long (642 lines); consider splitting into references/ and linking | Warning |
Total | 10 / 11 Passed | |
- Repository
- Dicklesworthstone/pi_agent_rust
- Commit
99da384
- Reviewed
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