[MISSING] Comprehensive error handling and user feedback [Size: M, Pri...

[devwif]

[MUST] Implement Comprehensive Error Handling and User Feedback for svmai-cli

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🚩 Problem Statement

Currently, svmai-cli lacks robust error handling and user feedback mechanisms. This absence leads to silent failures, unexpected crashes, and a poor user experience. For a security-sensitive wallet management tool, ensuring that every error is caught, logged, and communicated clearly to the user is non-negotiable. Without this, users risk losing trust in the tool’s reliability and security.

We must architect and implement a comprehensive error handling strategy throughout the entire CLI tool, paired with user-friendly feedback that guides users to resolve issues or understand failure states. This is a Medium-sized, high-priority foundational enhancement critical to all future development and user adoption.

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🧠 Technical Context

• Language: Rust
• Project: svmai-cli (Solana Wallet Management CLI)
• Current State: Prototype/MVP with minimal error handling
• Key Features: Vanity wallet generation, multi-threaded scanning, OS keychain integration, text-based UI
• Known Gaps: Silent failures, unhandled panics, inconsistent user feedback
• User Base: CLI users managing Solana wallets, requiring secure, transparent operations

Rust’s strong type system and error handling idioms (Result, Option, thiserror, anyhow) provide a great foundation for building this system. Additionally, the text-based UI must clearly display errors and guidance without overwhelming or confusing users.

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🔧 Detailed Implementation Steps

1. Research & Design

   • Audit existing codebase for all error sources (I/O, RPC, keychain access, wallet generation, threading).
   • Review Rust error handling best practices and popular crates (thiserror, anyhow, miette for diagnostics).
   • Design a unified error handling architecture:
     • Define custom error enums/types for different modules.
     • Plan error propagation strategies (use ? operator, convert errors into user-friendly messages).
     • Decide on logging vs user feedback separation.
   • Design user feedback patterns:
     • Clear, concise error messages.
     • Suggestions or next steps when possible.
     • Consistent formatting in CLI output.

2. Implement Error Types and Wrappers

   • Create module-specific error enums implementing std::error::Error.
   • Use crates like thiserror for ergonomic error definitions.
   • Wrap lower-level errors (e.g., IO, RPC) into these types.

3. Refactor Code to Use Result/Error Handling

   • Replace any .unwrap() or .expect() calls with proper error handling.
   • Propagate errors up to CLI command handlers.
   • Catch panics globally if possible to prevent crashes (consider std::panic::set_hook).

4. Develop User Feedback Mechanisms

   • Integrate error reporting into CLI UI.
   • Print user-friendly messages, including error context and troubleshooting hints.
   • Use colors or formatting for visibility (consider ansi_term or colored crates).
   • Ensure feedback is consistent across commands and modules.

5. Logging

   • Implement logging of detailed error info for debugging (using log crate and optionally env_logger).
   • Differentiate logs for developers vs user-facing messages.

6. Testing

   • Write unit tests for error creation and propagation.
   • Write integration tests simulating failure scenarios (e.g., network failures, keychain access denied).
   • Validate user feedback correctness and clarity.
   • Add fuzz/security tests if applicable.

7. Documentation

   • Update README and CLI help to explain error messages and recovery steps.
   • Document error types and handling approach in a CONTRIBUTING or DESIGN.md file.
   • Add usage examples demonstrating error feedback.

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⚙️ Technical Specifications

• Use Rust idiomatic error handling:
  • Result<T, E> with custom error enums implementing std::error::Error
  • Employ thiserror crate for error definitions:

    #[derive(thiserror::Error, Debug)]
    pub enum WalletError {
        #[error("Keychain access denied")]
        KeychainAccessDenied,
        #[error("Network RPC failure: {0}")]
        RpcFailure(String),
        // additional variants...
    }

• Consistent error propagation using ? operator.
• Global panic hook to catch unexpected crashes and provide graceful shutdown messages.
• User feedback to:
  • Print errors with human-readable messages.
  • Use ANSI colors for errors (red) and warnings (yellow).
• Logging:
  • Log errors with stack traces or debug info at debug or error levels.
  • Allow log verbosity control via CLI flags (--verbose).
• Testing:
  • Use Rust’s #[test] framework.
  • Integration tests in /tests folder simulating failure modes.
• Documentation:
  • Update CLI help commands with examples of error messages.
  • Add a section in README for troubleshooting.

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✅ Acceptance Criteria

• All existing .unwrap() and .expect() calls are removed or justified.
• Custom error types cover at least 90% of expected failure modes.
• User feedback displays clear, colored error messages explaining what went wrong.
• CLI gracefully handles errors without crashing or panicking.
• Global panic hook installed to capture unexpected crashes.
• Logging is implemented and configurable via CLI flags.
• Unit and integration tests cover error scenarios with >80% coverage.
• Documentation updated with error handling overview and troubleshooting guide.
• Code reviewed and approved by at least two maintainers.

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🧪 Testing Requirements

• Unit tests for each error type and conversion.
• Integration tests simulating:
  • RPC timeouts and errors.
  • Keychain access failures.
  • Invalid user inputs.
  • Thread panics.
• Manual testing of CLI commands with induced failures.
• Verify error messages are clear and actionable.
• Test logging output under verbose modes.
• Stress test error handling under concurrent operations.

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📚 Documentation Needs

• Add a new section Error Handling and User Feedback in README.
• Update CLI help (--help) to explain error codes/messages.
• Document error enums and their meaning in /docs/error_handling.md.
• Provide example scenarios showing how errors are reported and what users should do.
• Add guidelines in CONTRIBUTING.md for adding new errors and messages.

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⚠️ Potential Challenges

• Identifying all failure points in an evolving codebase.
• Balancing technical error details with user-friendly messages.
• Integrating error reporting into the text-based UI without clutter.
• Capturing panics in multi-threaded contexts.
• Ensuring no performance regressions due to added error handling/logging.
• Coordinating with other planned features (e.g., token mixing) to maintain consistent error architecture.

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🔗 Resources & References

• Rust Error Handling Best Practices:
  https://rust-lang.github.io/api-guidelines/error-handling.html
• thiserror crate: https://docs.rs/thiserror/latest/thiserror/
• anyhow crate (for error context): https://docs.rs/anyhow/latest/anyhow/
• Panic Hook: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/panic/fn.set_hook.html
• CLI Coloring with ansi_term: https://docs.rs/ansi_term/latest/ansi_term/
• Example Rust CLI error handling project:
  https://github.com/cli/cli/blob/trunk/docs/error-handling.md
• svmai-cli repository: https://github.com/larp0/svmai-cli
• Rust Testing: https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/ch11-00-testing.html

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This implementation is a critical step toward making svmai-cli a reliable, user-friendly CLI wallet tool that users can trust to handle sensitive operations securely and transparently. Let’s architect this with the precision and care that Solana wallet users deserve! 🚀🦀

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Tasks Checklist

• Audit current codebase for error handling gaps
• Design error architecture and user feedback patterns
• Implement custom error types with thiserror
• Refactor code to propagate errors properly
• Add global panic hook
• Develop CLI user-friendly error output with colors
• Implement logging infrastructure with verbosity control
• Write unit and integration tests for error handling
• Update documentation and CLI help messages
• Conduct code review and merge

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Assigned to:
Labels: enhancement, error-handling, priority: high, size: medium