Error Handling Patterns

Handle errors gracefully in your chat bot with typed error classes and best practices

Error Handling Patterns

The Chat SDK provides typed error classes and patterns for handling failures in message handlers, API calls, and platform interactions.

Error Classes

The SDK exports specialized error types:

import { ChatError, RateLimitError, LockError, NotImplementedError } from "chat";

ChatError

Base error class for all SDK errors:

class ChatError extends Error {
  readonly code: string;      // Error code (e.g., "RATE_LIMITED")
  readonly cause?: unknown;   // Original error that caused this
  
  constructor(message: string, code: string, cause?: unknown);
}

Example:

try {
  await thread.post(message);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof ChatError) {
    console.error(`Chat error [${error.code}]: ${error.message}`);
    console.error("Caused by:", error.cause);
  }
}

RateLimitError

Thrown when hitting platform rate limits:

class RateLimitError extends ChatError {
  readonly retryAfterMs?: number;  // Milliseconds to wait before retrying
  
  constructor(message: string, retryAfterMs?: number, cause?: unknown);
}

Example:

import { RateLimitError } from "chat";

try {
  await thread.post(message);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof RateLimitError) {
    const waitMs = error.retryAfterMs || 1000;
    console.log(`Rate limited. Retrying in ${waitMs}ms...`);
    
    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, waitMs));
    await thread.post(message); // Retry
  }
}

LockError

Thrown when failing to acquire a thread lock:

class LockError extends ChatError {
  constructor(message: string, cause?: unknown);
}

Example:

import { LockError } from "chat";

try {
  await processMessage(thread, message);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof LockError) {
    console.error("Failed to acquire lock on thread:", error.message);
    // Another instance is already processing this thread
  }
}

NotImplementedError

Thrown when a feature is not supported by the platform:

class NotImplementedError extends ChatError {
  readonly feature?: string;  // Name of the unsupported feature
  
  constructor(message: string, feature?: string, cause?: unknown);
}

Example:

import { NotImplementedError } from "chat";

try {
  await adapter.stream(threadId, textStream);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof NotImplementedError) {
    console.log(`Streaming not supported: ${error.feature}`);
    // Fall back to post + edit approach
    await fallbackStream(threadId, textStream);
  }
}

Error Handling in Handlers

Try-Catch in Handlers

Wrap handler logic in try-catch:

import { emoji } from "chat";

chat.onNewMention(async (thread, message) => {
  try {
    const result = await processRequest(message.text);
    await thread.post(`${emoji.check} Success: ${result}`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Handler error:", error);
    await thread.post(
      `${emoji.x} Sorry, an error occurred: ${error.message}`
    );
  }
});

Ephemeral Error Messages

Show errors only to the user who triggered them:

chat.onSlashCommand("/deploy", async (event) => {
  try {
    const result = await deploy(event.text);
    await event.channel.post(`${emoji.rocket} Deployed: ${result}`);
  } catch (error) {
    await event.channel.postEphemeral(
      event.user,
      `${emoji.warning} Deployment failed: ${error.message}`,
      { fallbackToDM: false }
    );
  }
});

Validation Errors

Handle validation failures early:

import { emoji } from "chat";

chat.onAction("submit", async (event) => {
  const value = event.value;
  
  if (!value || value.length < 3) {
    await event.thread.postEphemeral(
      event.user,
      `${emoji.x} Value must be at least 3 characters`,
      { fallbackToDM: false }
    );
    return;
  }
  
  try {
    await processValue(value);
    await event.thread.post(`${emoji.check} Processed successfully`);
  } catch (error) {
    await event.thread.post(`${emoji.warning} Processing failed`);
  }
});

Retry Logic

Implement exponential backoff for transient failures:

import { RateLimitError } from "chat";

async function postWithRetry(
  thread: Thread,
  message: string,
  maxRetries = 3
) {
  for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
    try {
      return await thread.post(message);
    } catch (error) {
      if (error instanceof RateLimitError) {
        const waitMs = error.retryAfterMs || 1000 * (i + 1);
        console.log(`Rate limited. Retry ${i + 1}/${maxRetries} in ${waitMs}ms`);
        await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, waitMs));
      } else {
        throw error; // Re-throw non-retryable errors
      }
    }
  }
  
  throw new Error("Max retries exceeded");
}

// Usage
try {
  await postWithRetry(thread, "Important message");
} catch (error) {
  console.error("Failed after retries:", error);
}

Modal Validation Errors

Return validation errors from modal submissions:

import { emoji } from "chat";

chat.onModalSubmit("user_form", async (event) => {
  const { email, age } = event.values;
  
  // Validate fields
  const errors: Record<string, string> = {};
  
  if (!email.includes("@")) {
    errors.email = "Please enter a valid email address";
  }
  
  if (parseInt(age) < 18) {
    errors.age = "Must be 18 or older";
  }
  
  if (Object.keys(errors).length > 0) {
    return {
      action: "errors",
      errors,
    };
  }
  
  // Process valid submission
  try {
    await saveUser(event.values);
    
    if (event.relatedThread) {
      await event.relatedThread.post(
        `${emoji.check} User created successfully`
      );
    }
  } catch (error) {
    // Return error to modal
    return {
      action: "errors",
      errors: {
        _form: `Failed to save: ${error.message}`,
      },
    };
  }
});

Graceful Degradation

Handle unsupported features gracefully:

import { NotImplementedError } from "chat";

chat.onNewMention(async (thread, message) => {
  try {
    // Try native streaming first
    if (thread.adapter.stream) {
      const response = await generateResponse(message.text);
      await thread.adapter.stream(thread.id, response.textStream);
    } else {
      throw new NotImplementedError("Streaming not supported");
    }
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof NotImplementedError) {
      // Fall back to regular post
      const response = await generateResponse(message.text);
      const fullText = await consumeStream(response.textStream);
      await thread.post(fullText);
    } else {
      throw error;
    }
  }
});

Logging Errors

Use the built-in logger:

import { Chat, ConsoleLogger } from "chat";

const chat = new Chat({
  logger: new ConsoleLogger("debug"), // "debug" | "info" | "warn" | "error" | "silent"
  // ... other config
});

// Or provide a custom logger
const customLogger = {
  debug: (msg: string, meta?: unknown) => console.debug(msg, meta),
  info: (msg: string, meta?: unknown) => console.info(msg, meta),
  warn: (msg: string, meta?: unknown) => console.warn(msg, meta),
  error: (msg: string, meta?: unknown) => console.error(msg, meta),
};

const chat2 = new Chat({
  logger: customLogger,
  // ... other config
});

Complete Example

Robust error handling with retries and logging:

import { 
  Chat, 
  ChatError, 
  RateLimitError, 
  NotImplementedError,
  ConsoleLogger,
  emoji 
} from "chat";

const chat = new Chat({
  logger: new ConsoleLogger("debug"),
  // ... other config
});

const logger = chat.getLogger();

chat.onNewMention(async (thread, message) => {
  try {
    logger.info("Processing mention", { 
      threadId: thread.id, 
      userId: message.author.userId 
    });
    
    // Validate input
    if (!message.text.trim()) {
      await thread.postEphemeral(
        message.author,
        `${emoji.warning} Please provide a message`,
        { fallbackToDM: false }
      );
      return;
    }
    
    // Process with retries
    let result;
    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
      try {
        result = await processMessage(message.text);
        break;
      } catch (error) {
        if (error instanceof RateLimitError) {
          const waitMs = error.retryAfterMs || 1000 * (i + 1);
          logger.warn(`Rate limited, retrying in ${waitMs}ms`, { attempt: i + 1 });
          await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, waitMs));
        } else {
          throw error;
        }
      }
    }
    
    if (!result) {
      throw new Error("Failed after retries");
    }
    
    // Post result
    await thread.post(
      `${emoji.check} Result: ${result}`
    );
    
    logger.info("Mention processed successfully", { threadId: thread.id });
    
  } catch (error) {
    logger.error("Failed to process mention", { 
      error,
      threadId: thread.id 
    });
    
    // User-friendly error message
    let errorMessage = "An unexpected error occurred.";
    
    if (error instanceof RateLimitError) {
      errorMessage = "Service is busy. Please try again later.";
    } else if (error instanceof NotImplementedError) {
      errorMessage = `Feature not available: ${error.feature}`;
    } else if (error instanceof ChatError) {
      errorMessage = error.message;
    }
    
    await thread.post(
      `${emoji.x} ${errorMessage}`
    );
  }
});

Best Practices

Always catch errors in handlers

Unhandled errors in async handlers can crash your application. Wrap all handler logic in try-catch blocks.

Use ephemeral messages for user errors

Don’t clutter channels with error messages. Show validation and user-specific errors as ephemeral messages.

Log all errors with context

Include relevant context (threadId, userId, etc.) when logging errors to help with debugging.

Implement retry logic for rate limits

Use exponential backoff when retrying rate-limited operations. Respect the retryAfterMs value.

Provide user-friendly error messages

Don’t expose stack traces or technical details to users. Translate errors into helpful messages.

Handle platform differences gracefully

Not all platforms support all features. Use feature detection and fallbacks.

Next Steps

Actions

Handle errors in button click handlers

Modals

Return validation errors from modal submissions