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ADR-0009: Minimal Error Handling with Silent Recovery

Date2025-12-15
StatusAccepted
DecidersAdrian Birlogeanu

Context​

PoC needs a consistent error handling strategy that doesn't over-engineer edge cases but keeps the system running.

Decision​

Adopt "guard-and-swallow" pattern: features gated by config flags return empty/default results when disabled. Exceptions in non-critical paths are logged at DEBUG level and swallowed.

Rationale​

  • New pillar features should never break existing functionality
  • Config flags enable gradual rollout
  • DEBUG-level logging preserves diagnostics without noise
  • Appropriate for PoC -- production would add structured error reporting

Consequences​

  • Silent failures possible if logging is not monitored
  • Must upgrade to structured error handling before production