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Error Handling and Recovery Patterns(ERP)
Comprehensive error communication and recovery interface patterns for graceful failure handling in agent systems
In 30 seconds
- What
- Presents errors with problem, cause, and actionable solution; routes display through inline, tooltip, modal, or banner based on severity.
- When to use
- Agent systems need users to understand failures, recover quickly, and maintain work context across error states.
- Watch out
- Over-communicating minor errors or suggesting recovery steps that don't actually work erodes user trust faster than silence.
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Error Handling and Recovery Patterns: Overview
Comprehensive error communication and recovery interface patterns for graceful failure handling in agent systems
- Progressive error disclosure with actionable solutions
- Multiple error display modalities (inline, modal, banner)
- Automated recovery suggestion and implementation
- Context preservation during error recovery processes
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Also known as: Conversational AI error recovery, Agent fallback strategies
References
The papers, specifications, and repositories this pattern is based on.
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