flowgraph/docs/architecture/error-handling.md

---
status: draft
last_updated: 2026-05-20
---

# Error Handling

FlowgraphError hierarchy, validation error collection, and error boundaries.

## Design Principle

Flowgraph follows taskgraph's error handling pattern:

1. **Programmer errors throw** — invalid arguments, duplicate node IDs, cycles where acyclicity is enforced
2. **Operational conditions return structured results** — validation errors, type mismatches, unreachable nodes
3. **Graph mutations throw on constraint violations** — adding a duplicate node throws `DuplicateNodeError`, adding a cycle-creating edge throws `CycleError`

This means validation functions (`validateGraph()`, `validateSchema()`, `validateTemplate()`) *never throw* — they collect issues and return them. But construction functions (`fromSpecs()`, `addNode()`, `addEdge()`) *do throw* on constraint violations.

## Error Hierarchy

```
FlowgraphError                    # Base class for all flowgraph errors
├── ConstructionError              # Errors during graph construction
│   ├── DuplicateNodeError         # Duplicate node key
│   ├── DuplicateEdgeError         # Duplicate edge key
│   ├── NodeNotFoundError          # Referenced node doesn't exist
│   ├── CycleError                 # Adding an edge would create a cycle
│   └── InvalidInputError          # Invalid input to fromJSON() or constructor
├── ValidationError                # Schema validation failed (single field)
├── GraphValidationError           # Graph-level validation issue
│   ├── CycleValidationError       # Cycle detected in the graph
│   └── DanglingReferenceError     # Edge references non-existent node
├── TypeIncompatError              # Type compatibility check failed
└── InvalidTransitionError         # Invalid call status transition
```

### FlowgraphError

```typescript
class FlowgraphError extends Error {
  constructor(message: string) {
    super(message);
    this.name = "FlowgraphError";
  }
}
```

Base class. All flowgraph errors inherit from this.

### ConstructionError

```typescript
class ConstructionError extends FlowgraphError {
  constructor(message: string) {
    super(message);
    this.name = "ConstructionError";
  }
}
```

Base class for errors that occur during graph construction (`fromSpecs()`, `addNode()`, `addEdge()`, etc.).

### DuplicateNodeError

```typescript
class DuplicateNodeError extends ConstructionError {
  constructor(public readonly key: string) {
    super(`Node with key "${key}" already exists`);
    this.name = "DuplicateNodeError";
  }
}
```

Thrown when adding a node with a key that already exists in the graph.

### DuplicateEdgeError

```typescript
class DuplicateEdgeError extends ConstructionError {
  constructor(
    public readonly source: string,
    public readonly target: string,
  ) {
    super(`Edge "${source} -> ${target}" already exists`);
    this.name = "DuplicateEdgeError";
  }
}
```

Thrown when adding an edge between two nodes that already have an edge between them.

### NodeNotFoundError

```typescript
class NodeNotFoundError extends ConstructionError {
  constructor(public readonly key: string) {
    super(`Node "${key}" not found in graph`);
    this.name = "NodeNotFoundError";
  }
}
```

Thrown when referencing a node that doesn't exist (e.g., adding an edge with a non-existent endpoint).

### CycleError

```typescript
class CycleError extends ConstructionError {
  constructor(public readonly cycles: string[][]) {
    super(`Adding this edge would create a cycle: ${JSON.stringify(cycles)}`);
    this.name = "CycleError";
  }
}
```

Thrown when adding an edge would create a cycle. The `cycles` field contains the cycle paths that would be created.

Note: `CycleError` is flowgraph's cycle error, thrown by `addEdge()` during construction. Taskgraph uses a different error name (`CircularDependencyError`, thrown by `topologicalOrder()`). The two are distinct errors for distinct contexts — flowgraph prevents cycles at construction time, taskgraph allows cycles and detects them later.

### InvalidInputError

```typescript
class InvalidInputError extends ConstructionError {
  constructor(public readonly errors: ValidationError[]) {
    super(`Invalid input: ${errors.length} validation error(s)`);
    this.name = "InvalidInputError";
  }
}
```

Thrown by `fromJSON()` when the input data fails schema validation. The `errors` field contains the array of `ValidationError` objects describing which fields failed validation. This is distinct from `ValidationError` (which is a returned result) — `InvalidInputError` is thrown because `fromJSON()` enforces that deserialized data is structurally valid.

### ValidationError

```typescript
interface ValidationError {
  type: "schema";
  nodeKey: string;
  field: string;
  message: string;
  value?: unknown;
}
```

Returned by `validateSchema()` when a node's attributes don't match the TypeBox schema. This is a structured result, not a thrown error.

### GraphValidationError

```typescript
interface GraphValidationError {
  type: "graph";
  category: "cycle" | "dangling-reference" | "orphan-node" | "status-inconsistency";
  details: unknown;
}
```

Returned by `validateGraph()` for graph-level issues:

| Category | Meaning | Details |
|----------|---------|---------|
| `cycle` | The graph contains cycles | `{ cycles: string[][] }` |
| `dangling-reference` | An edge references a non-existent node | `{ source: string, target: string }` |
| `orphan-node` | A node has no incoming or outgoing edges | `{ nodeKey: string }` |
| `status-inconsistency` | A call node has incompatible status with its parent (e.g., parent completed but child still running) | `{ nodeKey: string, parentKey: string, nodeStatus: string, parentStatus: string }` |

### InvalidTransitionError

```typescript
class InvalidTransitionError extends FlowgraphError {
  constructor(
    public readonly requestId: string,
    public readonly from: CallStatus,
    public readonly to: CallStatus,
  ) {
    super(`Invalid status transition for call ${requestId}: ${from} → ${to}`);
    this.name = "InvalidTransitionError";
  }
}
```

Thrown when `updateNodeStatus()` is called with an invalid transition (e.g., `completed → running`).

### TypeIncompatError

```typescript
interface TypeIncompatError {
  type: "type-compat";
  sourceKey: string;
  targetKey: string;
  compatible: false;
  mismatches: TypeMismatch[];
}

interface TypeMismatch {
  path: string;
  expected: string;
  actual: string;
}
```

Returned by `validateTemplate()` and `analyzeTypeCompat()` when an edge between operations has incompatible type schemas. This is a structured result, not a thrown error.

## Error Collection

Validation functions collect all issues into an array and return them. They do not throw on the first error:

```typescript
const errors = graph.validate();
// errors is AnyValidationError[], which may be empty

for (const error of errors) {
  if (error.type === "schema") {
    console.log(`Node ${error.nodeKey} has invalid field ${error.field}: ${error.message}`);
  } else if (error.type === "graph" && error.category === "cycle") {
    console.log(`Graph has cycles: ${error.details.cycles}`);
  }
}
```

This "collect all errors" pattern allows consumers to see all issues at once, rather than fixing them one at a time.

### AnyValidationError

```typescript
type AnyValidationError = ValidationError | GraphValidationError | TypeIncompatError;
```

Union type for all validation errors. Consumers use the `type` discriminator to handle each category:

```typescript
switch (error.type) {
  case "schema":      // ValidationError
  case "graph":       // GraphValidationError
  case "type-compat": // TypeIncompatError
}
```

## Throwing vs. Returning

The distinction between thrown errors and returned errors:

| Function | Behavior | Rationale |
|----------|----------|-----------|
| `addNode(key, attrs)` | Throws `DuplicateNodeError` on duplicate key | Adding a duplicate is a programmer error |
| `addEdge(source, target)` | Throws `NodeNotFoundError` on missing endpoint | Edge without endpoints is invalid |
| `addEdge(source, target)` | Throws `CycleError` if edge creates cycle | DAG invariant must be maintained |
| `fromJSON(data)` | Throws `InvalidInputError` on validation failure | Deserialized data must be structurally valid |
| `updateNodeStatus(id, status)` | Throws `InvalidTransitionError` on invalid transition | State machine must be enforced |
| `validateSchema()` | Returns `ValidationError[]` | Schema issues are validations, not crashes |
| `validateGraph()` | Returns `GraphValidationError[]` | Graph issues are validations, not crashes |
| `validateTemplate()` | Returns `AnyValidationError[]` | Template issues are validations, not crashes |
| `analyzeTypeCompat()` | Returns `TypeCompatResult` (includes mismatches) | Type incompatibility is advisory, not blocking |
| `topologicalOrder()` | Throws `CycleError` on cycles | No valid ordering exists from a cyclic graph |

This matches taskgraph's pattern: construction enforces invariants (throwing on violations), validation reports issues (returning error arrays).

## Error Boundaries in the Call Graph

The call graph has an additional error boundary: `updateFromEvent()`. Call events arrive from the pub/sub layer and may reference unknown operations or have invalid transitions. The error boundary handles these gracefully:

- **Unknown `requestId`** in a `call.responded` event → log warning, ignore the event (the call may have been created by a different process)
- **Invalid status transition** → log warning, ignore the event (the call may have transitioned in a different order)
- **Unknown `operationId`** → create the node anyway with `status: "pending"` (the operation may be registered later)

This makes `updateFromEvent()` resilient to out-of-order, duplicate, and partial events. Errors are logged but don't crash the process.

## Constraints

- **Validation functions never throw** — they collect errors and return them. This is a contract.
- **Construction functions throw on invariant violations** — adding a cycle-creating edge is a programming error, not a validation finding.
- **All errors have structured data** — `CycleError` includes cycle paths, `InvalidTransitionError` includes from/to status, `TypeIncompatError` includes mismatch details.
- **Error messages are descriptive** — errors include enough context to diagnose the problem without additional lookups.
- **Error classes follow the taskgraph pattern** — naming, structure, and behavior match `@alkdev/taskgraph_ts/src/error/`.

## References

- Taskgraph errors: `@alkdev/taskgraph_ts/src/error/`
- Call protocol events: `@alkdev/operations/src/call.ts`
- Schema: [schema.md](schema.md)