Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Error Handling Patterns agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The Error Handling Patterns skill is a set of guidelines that an AI agent (such as Claude) loads when you ask it to design, write or review error handling in your code. It covers when to use exceptions versus explicit success/failure result types, how to separate recoverable errors from unrecoverable ones, and common mistakes such as empty catch blocks and overly broad catches. This guide shows you how to install it, trigger it with natural requests, and check what it does before you rely on it.
Error Handling Patternswshobson/agents · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Download the error-handling-patterns skill as a ZIP file from this page.
- 2Unzip into the skills folder. Unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder to limit it to that project.
- 3Or upload in the Claude apps. In the Claude apps, go to Settings → Capabilities → Skills and upload the ZIP.
- 4Make a natural request. Ask for help with error handling, such as reviewing a module for swallowed errors or designing failure behaviour for an API.
- 5Check the output. Review the agent's suggestions against your team's conventions before applying them.
What the skill makes the agent do
Once installed, the skill gives the agent a consistent framework for failures. It describes the main error handling philosophies: exceptions for unexpected or exceptional conditions, Result types for expected errors such as validation failures, and panics or crashes for unrecoverable errors and programming bugs.
It also teaches the agent to classify errors. Recoverable errors include network timeouts, missing files, invalid user input and API rate limits. Unrecoverable errors include out-of-memory, stack overflow and programming bugs such as null pointer errors.
- Choose between exceptions, Result types, error codes and Option/Maybe types
- Separate recoverable from unrecoverable errors
- Flag pitfalls: empty catch blocks, catching Exception too broadly, logging and re-throwing, unclosed resources, poor error messages
Install the skill from the ZIP download
Download the skill as a ZIP file from this page. Unzip it into your personal skills folder, ~/.claude/skills/, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder if you want the skill to apply only to that project.
Alternatively, if you use the Claude apps, you can upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
The skill folder contains two files: SKILL.md, which holds the main guidance, and references/details.md, which holds deeper pattern examples.
Trigger the skill with natural requests
You do not need a special command. The skill's description says it applies when implementing error handling, designing APIs, or improving application reliability, so ask for those things in plain language and mention error handling explicitly when you want it used.
- Implement error handling for a new checkout feature
- Review this module for swallowed errors and broad catch blocks
- Design the failure behaviour of this API, including retries
- Suggest better error messages for this validation code
- Help me separate recoverable errors from bugs in this service
Example: reviewing a function
Paste a function into the chat and ask the agent to review its error handling. The skill guides the agent to check for catch-all handlers, silent failures, duplicate logging and resources that are not cleaned up, then suggest changes.
The skill's own example shows the pattern it favours: validate input early, wrap external service failures with context, re-raise known application errors, and log unexpected errors with their stack trace before converting them to a generic application error.
except ApplicationError:
# Re-raise known application errors
raise
except Exception as e:
# Log unexpected errors
logger.exception(f"Unexpected error processing order {order_id}")
raise ApplicationError(
"Order processing failed",
code="INTERNAL_ERROR"
) from eWhat the skill needs and safety notes
The skill lists no required tools or dependencies. It does not run scripts and does not use the network, so it only supplies guidance text to the agent. The examples are Python-focused in the reference file, but the principles apply across languages.
Because the guidance is generic, it can conflict with your team's conventions or with framework-specific error handling. Review the agent's suggestions before merging them.
- Runs scripts: no
- Uses network: no
- Requires: nothing listed
- Licence: MIT
Tips for getting better results
Give the agent context: the language, the framework and any existing error classes. The reference file's examples use a custom exception hierarchy with a code, details and timestamp, so mentioning your own hierarchy helps the agent fit its suggestions to your code.
Ask the agent to explain why it chose exceptions or a Result type for a given case, so you can check its reasoning against your team's practice.
- Name the language and framework you use
- Share existing error classes or conventions
- Ask for the reasoning behind each change
What people use it for
- Writing new features with consistent, resilient error handling
- Reviewing code for swallowed errors, broad catch blocks and poor error messages
- Designing API failure behaviour, including retries and circuit breakers
- Deciding whether a failure should be an exception or an explicit Result type
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the error handling patterns skill?
Download the skill ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps, you can instead upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
Does the error-handling-patterns skill require anything else?
The skill lists no required tools or dependencies. It does not run scripts and does not use the network.
Is the error handling patterns skill free?
The skill is published under the MIT licence. The source does not mention pricing, so check this page for any current terms.
What is the difference between exceptions and Result types?
The skill describes exceptions as traditional try-catch that disrupts control flow, suited to unexpected errors. Result types make success and failure explicit, suited to expected errors such as validation failures.
Will the skill work in languages other than Python?
The skill's principles apply across languages, and it mentions patterns in several languages. The detailed examples in the reference file are Python, so expect Python-specific code samples.
Why isn't the agent using my team's error handling style?
The skill gives generic guidance and may not match your conventions or framework. Tell the agent your existing patterns explicitly and review its suggestions before merging.
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Our verdict
This skill suits developers writing new features, engineers reviewing code for swallowed or overly broad errors, and teams designing API failure behaviour. It is not a good fit for non-programmers or one-off fixes, because the guidance is conceptual and assumes coding knowledge. If your project relies heavily on framework-specific error handling, use the skill as a checklist rather than letting it override your conventions.
Download the skill