error-design SKILL.md skillA
error-design from codybrom/clairvoyance is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add codybrom/clairvoyance/error-design@git:20260722.fcfda01Pins git:20260722.fcfda01 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- codybrom/clairvoyance
- Path
skills/error-design/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 5
- Latest version
- git:20260722.fcfda01, committed Jul 22, 2026
- First version recorded
- Feb 27, 2026
- Size
- 6,312 bytes
- Repository stars
- 15
- License
- MIT
Reviews error handling and exception design, applying the "define errors out of existence" principle. Use when reviewing error handling, when a module throws too many exceptions, or when callers must handle errors they shouldn't need to know about. Not for general caller-burden complexity (use pull-complexity-down); this skill is specifically for exception and error-condition strategy.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Error Design Review Lens When invoked with $ARGUMENTS, focus the analysis on the specified file or module. Read the target code first, then apply the checks below. **Each exception a module throws is an interface element.** The best way to deal with exceptions is to not have them. ## The "Too Many Exceptions" Anti-Pattern Programmers are often taught that "the more errors detected, the better," but this produces an over-defensive style that throws exceptions for anything suspicious. Throwing is easy. Handling is hard. Each exception type in a module's interface is one more thing callers must understand and prepare for, making the class shallower than it needs to be. Exception handlers are rarely exercised in practice, which means bugs in them accumulate silently. When a handler is finally needed, it may not work. ## When to Apply - Reviewing error handling code or exception hierarchies - When a function has many error cases or throws many exception types - When callers are burdened with handling errors that rarely occur - When error handling code is longer than the happy path ## Core Principles ### The Decision Tree …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add codybrom/clairvoyance/error-design@sha256:6a78f8fc8f4e1b8bThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260722.fcfda01, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_ib34xecaub4bhaso)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 5 versions of this file, between Feb 27, 2026 and Jul 22, 2026, about one every 36 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260722.fcfda01 latest | 2026-07-22 | fcfda01 | 6,312 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260701.ba096c5 | 2026-07-01 | ba096c5 | 6,426 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260301.1854d20 | 2026-03-01 | 1854d20 | 6,248 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260227.455211b | 2026-02-27 | 455211b | 6,372 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260227.e9a9629 | 2026-02-27 | e9a9629 | 6,373 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (6312 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
codybrom/clairvoyance · 15 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-08 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_ib34xecaub4bhaso GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=codybrom/clairvoyance/error-design GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/6a78f8fc8f4e1b8b62c3b9d65d56384d8a8b24cd417c9466742fc91c76e1c531
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.