https://knowledgebase.pirho.net/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=The_Importance_of_Rich_Error_Messages 2026-07-11T11:44:00Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.43.0 https://knowledgebase.pirho.net/index.php?title=The_Importance_of_Rich_Error_Messages&diff=406&oldid=prev 2026-07-05T14:05:06Z

<p>Created page with &quot;&#039;&#039;&#039;Summary:&#039;&#039;&#039; Errors are part of every system. Rich, structured error messages allow humans and machines to understand failures, diagnose problems, automate recovery, and improve interoperability. == Context == Many platforms invest significant effort in defining APIs and data models while treating error handling as an afterthought. A well-designed error response should communicate: * What happened * Why it happened * Which component detected the problem * Whether t...&quot;</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>&#039;&#039;&#039;Summary:&#039;&#039;&#039;<br /> Errors are part of every system. Rich, structured error messages allow humans and machines to understand failures, diagnose problems, automate recovery, and improve interoperability.<br /> <br /> == Context ==<br /> <br /> Many platforms invest significant effort in defining APIs and data models while treating error handling as an afterthought.<br /> <br /> A well-designed error response should communicate:<br /> <br /> * What happened<br /> * Why it happened<br /> * Which component detected the problem<br /> * Whether the fault is temporary or permanent<br /> * What corrective action can be taken<br /> <br /> == The Cost of Poor Error Handling ==<br /> <br /> === Increased Support Costs ===<br /> <br /> Every missing detail increases diagnosis time.<br /> <br /> === Reduced Automation ===<br /> <br /> Structured errors enable automated decision making.<br /> <br /> === Interoperability Challenges ===<br /> <br /> Without a common semantic error model, each interface behaves differently.<br /> <br /> == What Makes an Error Rich? ==<br /> <br /> === Error Identity ===<br /> <br /> * ValidationError<br /> * AuthenticationFailed<br /> * ResourceNotFound<br /> * AccessDenied<br /> <br /> === Human Readable Description ===<br /> <br /> Provide a concise explanation for operators and users.<br /> <br /> === Machine Readable Classification ===<br /> <br /> * Client Error<br /> * Server Error<br /> * Validation Error<br /> * Security Error<br /> <br /> === Structured Detail ===<br /> <br /> Maintain machine-readable diagnostic information.<br /> <br /> === Correlation Information ===<br /> <br /> * Request ID<br /> * Correlation ID<br /> * Workflow ID<br /> * Transaction ID<br /> <br /> == SOAP Faults and RFC 7807 Solve the Same Problem ==<br /> <br /> === SOAP Fault ===<br /> <br /> * Code<br /> * Subcode<br /> * Reason<br /> * Detail<br /> <br /> === RFC 7807 Problem Details ===<br /> <br /> * type<br /> * title<br /> * status<br /> * detail<br /> * instance<br /> <br /> == Canonical Error Models ==<br /> <br /> A canonical fault model can be projected into:<br /> <br /> * SOAP Fault<br /> * RFC 7807 JSON<br /> * Event Streams<br /> * Audit Records<br /> * Monitoring Systems<br /> <br /> == Design Philosophy ==<br /> <br /> Success responses describe expected behaviour.<br /> <br /> Error responses describe unexpected behaviour.<br /> <br /> Rich error messages are not merely diagnostics.<br /> <br /> They are part of the platform&#039;s contract.</div>

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