GenericErrorText [anti-pattern] v1.0.0

Displaying 'An error occurred', 'Something went wrong', or 'Please try again' without explaining what failed, why, or what the user should do next.

Label

Generic or Vague Error Messages

Meta

• License: Apache-2.0
• License Provenance: package-authorship-claim

Trap

Catch-all error handlers display a generic message to avoid exposing internal state. This is appropriate for security (server errors, auth failures), but developers apply the same pattern everywhere including form validation, network timeouts, and user-correctable errors where specific guidance is needed.

Detection Heuristics

• Error text is identical across multiple failure scenarios
• Error message has no actionable next step
• Message says 'try again' without indicating when or how
• No error code or reference for support contact

Remediation

• Name the field or resource that failed: 'Your card number is invalid'
• Explain the constraint: 'Password must be at least 8 characters'
• Provide a recovery action: 'Check your connection and try again — if this persists, contact support'
• For opaque server errors: show a reference code so support can look it up
• Reserve 'Something went wrong' only for truly unclassifiable errors

GenericErrorText [anti-pattern] v1.0.0

Displaying 'An error occurred', 'Something went wrong', or 'Please try again' without explaining what failed, why, or what the user should do next.

Label

Generic or Vague Error Messages

Meta

• License: Apache-2.0
• License Provenance: package-authorship-claim

Trap

Catch-all error handlers display a generic message to avoid exposing internal state. This is appropriate for security (server errors, auth failures), but developers apply the same pattern everywhere including form validation, network timeouts, and user-correctable errors where specific guidance is needed.

Detection Heuristics

• Error text is identical across multiple failure scenarios
• Error message has no actionable next step
• Message says 'try again' without indicating when or how
• No error code or reference for support contact

Remediation

• Name the field or resource that failed: 'Your card number is invalid'
• Explain the constraint: 'Password must be at least 8 characters'
• Provide a recovery action: 'Check your connection and try again — if this persists, contact support'
• For opaque server errors: show a reference code so support can look it up
• Reserve 'Something went wrong' only for truly unclassifiable errors

Relations

related: [@community/rule-actionable-error-messages, @community/rule-error-message-associated, @community/principle-nielsen-error-recovery]

Label

Generic or Vague Error Messages

Meta

• License: Apache-2.0
• License Provenance: package-authorship-claim

Trap

Catch-all error handlers display a generic message to avoid exposing internal state. This is appropriate for security (server errors, auth failures), but developers apply the same pattern everywhere including form validation, network timeouts, and user-correctable errors where specific guidance is needed.

Detection Heuristics

• Error text is identical across multiple failure scenarios
• Error message has no actionable next step
• Message says 'try again' without indicating when or how
• No error code or reference for support contact

Remediation

• Name the field or resource that failed: 'Your card number is invalid'
• Explain the constraint: 'Password must be at least 8 characters'
• Provide a recovery action: 'Check your connection and try again — if this persists, contact support'
• For opaque server errors: show a reference code so support can look it up
• Reserve 'Something went wrong' only for truly unclassifiable errors