handling-api-errors

Implement standardized error handling with proper HTTP status codes and error responses. Use when implementing standardized error handling. Trigger with phrases like "add error handling", "standardize errors", or "implement error responses".

Quality

70%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Fix and improve this skill with Tessl

tessl review fix ./plugins/api-development/api-error-handler/skills/handling-api-errors/SKILL.md

Quality

Content

57%Weight 40%Scale 1-3

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

The content is well-structured with good progressive disclosure and concrete error-handling specifics, but it leans verbose in background explanation, lacks executable code examples, and front-loads validation only at the end of the workflow.

Suggestions

Trim the Overview and Prerequisites of concepts Claude already knows (what RFC 7807 is, named monitoring services) to improve token efficiency.

Add at least one executable code block (e.g. a copy-paste Express error-handler middleware and a typed error class) instead of prose-described examples.

Insert a mid-process validation checkpoint (e.g. verify each error type maps to the correct status code before moving on) to add a feedback loop to the workflow.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is mostly efficient but the Overview and Prerequisites re-explain concepts Claude already knows (RFC 7807 fields, Sentry/Bugsnag/Rollbar, structured logging), so it could be tightened.	2 / 3
Actionability	It gives concrete specifics (typed error classes with status codes, RFC 7807 field names, output file paths), but provides no executable code blocks — examples are described in prose and inline JSON rather than copy-paste ready code.	2 / 3
Workflow Clarity	The 9 numbered instructions give a clear sequence, but validation/testing appears only at the final step with no mid-process checkpoints or feedback loops, leaving validation implicit.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	The body is a clear overview that points to well-signaled, one-level-deep references (implementation.md, errors.md, examples.md), all of which exist in references/, with content appropriately split.	3 / 3
	Total	9 / 12 Passed

Description

82%Weight 40%Scale 1-3

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 well-formed with explicit trigger guidance and natural keywords, making it strongly complete and trigger-friendly. Its main weakness is breadth of the error-handling domain and a lack of multiple enumerated concrete actions.

Suggestions

Add a few concrete capability actions to the description (e.g. "create typed error classes", "centralize error middleware", "map errors to RFC 7807 responses") to lift specificity.

Narrow the distinctiveness by referencing the API/HTTP-specific niche more sharply (e.g. "for HTTP APIs") to reduce overlap with generic error-handling skills.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	"Implement standardized error handling with proper HTTP status codes and error responses" names the domain and a couple of actions but does not enumerate multiple concrete actions (e.g. typed error classes, central middleware, RFC 7807 mapping), so it stops at the middle anchor.	2 / 3
Completeness	It states what the skill does and adds an explicit "Use when implementing standardized error handling" clause with concrete trigger phrases, answering both what and when.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	The trigger phrases "add error handling", "standardize errors", and "implement error responses" are natural terms a user would actually say, giving good coverage.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	"Error handling" is a broad domain that many API/backend skills could touch, so while the triggers are reasonably specific it could still overlap with similar skills.	2 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Validation

87%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 14 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
allowed_tools_field	'allowed-tools' contains unusual tool name(s)	Warning
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	14 / 16 Passed

Repository: jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills
Path: plugins/api-development/api-error-handler/skills/handling-api-errors/SKILL.md
Commit: 0540a62

Reviewed: 1 day ago

Table of Contents

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