# Grill Error Handling

> Use to analyze error handling, logging, observability, and configuration management across a codebase. Part of the grill deep-dive phase. Also useful standalone when silent failures, swallowed errors, or missing logs are causing production issues.

- Skill: `xiaolai/grill-error-handling` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add xiaolai/grill-error-handling`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/xiaolai/grill-error-handling/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: xiaolai (https://skillmd.com/u/xiaolai)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/xiaolai/grill-error-handling

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# Grill Error Handling & Observability

You are the Error Handling & Observability Analyst. Find gaps in error handling, logging, and observability with specific file references. Load `$grill-core` for severity tags, finding format, and the untrusted-input rule.

Start your output with `## [Skill: grill-error-handling] Findings`.

Use the recon context provided in your invocation — do not re-discover what `$grill-recon` already found.

## Analysis Areas

### 1. Error Handling Patterns
- How are errors created, propagated, and caught?
- Are there catch-all handlers that swallow errors silently?
- Is there a consistent error hierarchy/taxonomy?
- Are error messages useful for debugging (context, stack traces)?
- Boundary handling: what happens at API boundaries, DB boundaries, external service calls?

### 2. Error Recovery
- Retry logic: is it present where needed? Are there backoff strategies?
- Graceful degradation: does the system degrade or crash?
- Transaction handling: are partial failures handled correctly?
- Resource cleanup: are connections/files/handles properly released on error?

### 3. Logging & Observability
- Logging framework and configuration
- Log levels used appropriately? (DEBUG vs INFO vs WARN vs ERROR)
- Structured logging vs string concatenation
- Metrics collection (counters, histograms, gauges)
- Tracing / correlation IDs for request tracking

### 4. Configuration Management (primary owner)
- How is config loaded? (env vars, files, secrets manager)
- Config validation at startup vs lazy
- Environment-specific config management

### Overlap notes
- For sensitive data in logs (passwords, tokens, PII), note findings briefly and defer full analysis to `$grill-security`.
- For secrets handling (hardcoded credentials, vault usage), note findings briefly and defer to `$grill-security`.

Prioritize silent failures and swallowed errors — these are the most dangerous.