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Verbose Error Messages Anti Pattern

Checked
igbuend·vlatest·testing·MIT

This skill identifies and mitigates overly verbose error messages, improving developer clarity and debugging efficiency.

Repository

Install on your platform

Showing Claude Code. One command installs this skill into any of the agents below.

  1. 1

    Run this in your project

    terminal
    $ npx skills add igbuend/grimbard --skill verbose-error-messages-anti-pattern -a claude-code

  2. Uses the open-source skills CLI and needs Node.js. Add -g to install it for your user instead of this project.

What we know about this skill

Publisher

igbuend

Taken from the source listing. We haven't verified who controls this account.

Install target

Live repository

Not pinned. Installing fetches whatever the repository holds at the time you run the command.

No human has reviewed this code. The checks below are a static scan of the files at one commit — nobody has run this skill or judged whether it works. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent, so read the source before you install it.

Automated safety checks

scanned

This skill passed all 6 checks. We read its files at one commit and looked for the things that make a skill dangerous to run — not for whether it works.

  • Declares what it does: passed

    SKILL.md parses and declares a name and a description.

    SKILL.md exists, its frontmatter parses, and it declares a name and a description.

  • No undeclared network calls: passed

    Makes no network calls.

    Every host the skill dials — from its scripts, its config endpoints or the commands it tells the agent to run — is either well-known package and API infrastructure or declared in its own frontmatter. Links in documentation are not counted.

  • No obfuscated payloads: passed

    No encoded or obfuscated payloads.

    No base64, hex or compressed blob is decoded and then executed, and no encoded shell commands.

  • No credential access: passed

    Reads no keys, tokens, keychains or credential files.

    Neither the code nor the SKILL.md instructions read SSH keys, cloud credentials, keychains, token stores, browser cookie databases or dotfiles that hold secrets.

  • No pipe-to-shell installers: passed

    No pipe-to-shell or download-and-run installers.

    No `curl … | sh` pattern, in the code or in the instructions, that runs code fetched at run time.

  • Pinned to a commit: passed

    Scanned igbuend/grimbard at cde088f5d7.

    The exact upstream commit SHA that was scanned is recorded, so the result refers to specific bytes.

Commit
cde088f5d7
Manifest
skills/verbose-error-messages-anti-pattern/SKILL.md
Scanned
1 file, 138 lines
This is a static scan, not a review. It reads the skill's files; it does not run them, and it cannot tell you whether the skill is any good or whether the code does what its description says. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent.
What each check looks for →

About this skill

What it does

This skill helps AI agents avoid the "verbose error messages" anti-pattern. It identifies instances where error messages are overly long, complex, or contain unnecessary technical details that confuse users. The agent can then rewrite these messages to be more concise, user-friendly, and actionable for non-technical individuals.

When to use it

  • Debugging User Issues: When a user reports an issue and the provided error message is difficult to understand.
  • Improving Application Usability: During application development or maintenance to proactively identify and fix verbose error messages.
  • Creating Documentation: When generating documentation for users, ensuring that error scenarios are explained clearly and simply.
  • Training AI Agents: To teach new agents how to communicate errors effectively without overwhelming the user with technical jargon.

Key capabilities

  • Identifies verbose error messages.
  • Rewrites error messages for clarity.
  • Focuses on actionable information for users.
  • Removes unnecessary technical details.

Example prompts

  • "Rewrite this error message to be more user-friendly: 'Error code 0x80070005, Access is denied.'"
  • "Can you simplify the following error and suggest a solution? 'The server encountered an internal error (500) while processing your request. Please contact support with the following log ID: XYZ123.'"
  • "I need to explain this error to a non-technical user. Can you rephrase it?: 'NullPointerException at com.example.MyClass.myMethod(MyClass.java:25)'"

Tips & gotchas

The skill's effectiveness relies on providing the full, original error message as input. It is designed for text-based error messages and may not be suitable for graphical or complex error displays.