name: error-handler description: 'Standardized error responses for all failure scenarios. Always transparent, always provide next steps.'

Purpose

Handle failures gracefully:

Post clear error messages to issues
Provide troubleshooting steps
Preserve partial progress
Never fail silently

Usage

Include this file when handling errors:

Use lib/error-handler to handle [error type] gracefully

Error Response Templates

1. Issue Validation Failed

When: Issue missing trigger label, closed, or not found

Template: ```markdown ⚠️ Cannot Process Issue

This issue needs the `claude:auto-fix` label to be processed automatically.

To enable automatic handling: ```bash gh issue edit --add-label "claude:auto-fix" ```

Then run: `/handle-issue ` ```

Post to: Issue comment Exit: Gracefully (not a failure)

2. Code Exploration Found Nothing

When: Targeted search and deep analysis return no results

Template: ```markdown 🔍 Analysis Incomplete

I searched the codebase but couldn't confidently locate code related to this issue.

What I searched for:

Keywords: ``, ``, ``
File patterns: `**/.{ts,js}`
Error traces:

Possible reasons:

Issue description may need more technical details (file names, function names, error messages)
Code may be in a different location than expected
Issue may require domain knowledge I don't have

Next steps:

Add more technical details to the issue description
Mention specific files or functions involved
Run `/handle-issue ` again after updating

Alternatively, this may require manual investigation. ```

Post to: Issue comment Exit: Gracefully (partial success)

3. Approval Check Failed

When: Can't access GitHub API, can't parse comments

Template: ```markdown ⚠️ Approval Check Failed

I couldn't verify approval due to an error: ``` ```

Manual verification:

Ensure you've approved the plan (👍 or 'approve' comment)
Check GitHub CLI is authenticated: `gh auth status`
Try again: `/continue-issue `

If the error persists, you can implement the plan manually using the details above. ```

Post to: Issue comment Exit: Error (but actionable)

4. Worktree Creation Failed

When: Branch exists, directory conflicts, git errors

Template: ```markdown ⚠️ Worktree Setup Failed

Couldn't create isolated workspace: ``` ```

Common fixes: ```bash

If branch exists from previous attempt

git worktree remove .worktrees/fix-issue- --force git branch -D fix/issue-

Then retry

/continue-issue ```

Manual alternative: ```bash git checkout -b fix/issue-

Implement changes from plan above

``` ```

Post to: Issue comment Exit: Error (but recoverable)

5. Implementation Failed

When: Tests fail, compilation errors, execution issues

Strategy: Commit partial progress, create draft PR

Step 1: Post issue comment: ```markdown ⚠️ Implementation Completed with Issues

PR created: # (draft)

The automated fix encountered some problems but progress has been committed. Please review the draft PR and complete remaining work.

What worked:

✅ <completed change 1>
✅ <completed change 2>

What needs attention:

❌
❌ ```

Step 2: Create draft PR: ```bash gh pr create
--title "[WIP] Fix: "
--body "$(cat <<'EOF'

⚠️ Automated Fix - Needs Review

Fixes #

Status: Implementation partially completed but encountered errors.

What Was Completed

✅ <change 1>
✅ <change 2>

What Failed

❌ Tests failing:
Error: ``

Next Steps

This PR contains the attempted fix but requires manual review:

Review the implemented changes
Fix the failing tests
Complete any remaining work from the plan

Automated implementation encountered issues. Manual review required. EOF )"
--label "automated-fix,needs-work"
--draft ```

Exit: Partial success (work preserved)

6. PR Creation Failed

When: GitHub API errors, permission issues

Template: ```markdown ✅ Implementation Complete

The fix has been implemented in branch: `fix/issue-`

However, PR creation failed: ``` ```

Create PR manually: ```bash gh pr create --head fix/issue- ```

Or visit: https://github.com///compare/fix/issue-

Changes made:

<file 1>:
<file 2>:

All changes have been committed and pushed. ```

Post to: Issue comment Exit: Partial success (code ready, manual PR needed)

Error Posting Function

function post_error() {
  local issue_number=$1
  local error_template=$2
  local error_message=$3

  # Replace placeholders
  local formatted_message="${error_template//<error message>/$error_message}"
  formatted_message="${formatted_message//<issue-number>/$issue_number}"

  # Post to GitHub
  gh issue comment "$issue_number" --body "$formatted_message"

  # Log locally for debugging
  echo "[ERROR] Issue #$issue_number: $error_message" >> ~/.claude/errors.log
}

Error Detection

GitHub CLI Errors

gh issue view 999 --json title 2>&1

If output contains:

"could not resolve to an Issue" → Issue not found
"HTTP 401" → Authentication failed
"HTTP 403" → Permission denied
"HTTP 404" → Repository not found

Git Errors

git worktree add .worktrees/test 2>&1

If output contains:

"already exists" → Branch or worktree exists
"not a git repository" → Not in git repo
"fatal: invalid reference" → Invalid branch name

Execution Errors

When spawning agents or executing commands:

Timeout after 10 minutes
Capture stdout and stderr
Check exit codes

Recovery Strategies

1. Retry with Backoff

For transient GitHub API errors:

function retry_gh_command() {
  local max_attempts=3
  local attempt=1
  local delay=5

  while [ $attempt -le $max_attempts ]; do
    if $@; then
      return 0
    fi

    echo "Attempt $attempt failed, retrying in ${delay}s..."
    sleep $delay
    delay=$((delay * 2))
    attempt=$((attempt + 1))
  done

  return 1
}

# Usage
retry_gh_command gh issue view 123 --json title

2. Partial Progress Preservation

Always commit work before failing:

# Before any risky operation
git add -A
git commit -m "wip: partial implementation before <operation>" || true

# Try operation
if ! risky_operation; then
  # Committed work is preserved
  post_error <issue> "implementation_failed" "$error"
fi

3. Graceful Degradation

If fancy features fail, fall back to basics:

Deep analysis fails → Use only targeted search
Worktree fails → Suggest manual branch creation
PR creation fails → Show manual commands

Integration Points

In handle-issue Command

Fetch issue → FAIL? → Error template #1
Parse issue → (always succeeds)
Search code → FAIL? → Error template #2
Generate plan → (always succeeds)
Post plan → FAIL? → Error template #3

In continue-issue Command

Check approval → FAIL? → Error template #3
Create worktree → FAIL? → Error template #4
Implement fix → FAIL? → Error template #5
Create PR → FAIL? → Error template #6

Logging

All errors logged to help debugging:

# ~/.claude/github-issue-handler.log

[2026-01-16 10:00:00] INFO: handle-issue 42 started
[2026-01-16 10:00:05] ERROR: gh CLI failed: HTTP 401
[2026-01-16 10:00:05] ERROR: Posted error template #3 to issue 42
[2026-01-16 10:00:05] EXIT: Graceful exit with code 1

YAGNI Notes

Not included:

Sentry/error tracking service
Email notifications on errors
Automatic retry loops (except for API rate limits)
Error analytics/metrics

Keep it simple: post to GitHub, log locally, provide next steps.

error-handler

SKILL.md