API reference

Everything below is exported from the package root. There are no subpath exports other than ./package.json.

import {
  ExtendedError,
  isExtendedError,
  defineError,
  causeChain,
  rootCause,
  findCause,
  findCauseOf,
  hasCauseOf,
  serializeError,
  deserializeError,
  toError,
  isErrorLike,
  describeValue,
} from "ts-extended-errors";

Exports

Export	Kind	What it does
ExtendedError	class	Base class: name, code, context, cause, stack, toJSON()
isExtendedError	function	value instanceof ExtendedError, as a type guard
defineError	function	Returns a new error class
causeChain	function	[error, error.cause, …], outermost first
rootCause	function	The last value in the chain
findCause	function	The first value in the chain a predicate accepts
findCauseOf	function	The first instance of a class in the chain, typed as that class
hasCauseOf	function	Whether the chain contains an instance of a class
serializeError	function	A JSON-safe object for any thrown value
deserializeError	function	Rebuilds serializeError output as instances of the original classes
toError	function	An Error for any value; errors are returned unchanged
isErrorLike	function	Whether a value is an object with a string message
describeValue	function	A one-line string for any value

The exported types are listed separately in Types.

ExtendedError

class ExtendedError<Context extends ErrorContext = ErrorContext> extends Error {
  static readonly code: string | undefined;
  constructor(message: string, options?: ExtendedErrorOptions<Context>);
}

Option	Type	Sets
cause	unknown	error.cause, the native Error cause
context	Context	error.context, typed by the class’s Context

Member	Value
name	The name of the class that was constructed
code	The constructed class’s static code, or undefined. An own property only when set
context	options.context, or undefined. An own property only when set
cause	options.cause. The property exists only when a cause was passed
stack	Starts at the line that created the error, not inside the constructor
toJSON()	serializeError(this), so JSON.stringify(error) includes every field

Declare code as a static override readonly field in a subclass. See Subclassing Error for what the constructor does and why.

isExtendedError(value)

function isExtendedError(value: unknown): value is ExtendedError;

instanceof, so it is false across two copies of the package in one process, and false for a class built on a base that is not an ExtendedError.

defineError(name, options?)

function defineError<Context extends ErrorContext = ErrorContext>(
  name: string,
  options?: DefineErrorOptions<Context>,
): ExtendedErrorConstructor<Context>;

Option	Type	Effect
code	string	The class’s code. Omitted, it inherits the base’s
base	an error class	The class to extend. Defaults to ExtendedError
message	(context: Context) => string	Writes the message from context; the throw site passes only options

Four overloads cover the combinations: with and without message, on an ExtendedError base and on any other error class. With message, the returned class is a MessageErrorConstructor — new Class({ context }), and still new Class(message, options) when a string comes first.

Each call returns a new class. Call it at module scope, once per class.

See Defining errors for worked examples of each shape.

Cause chain

function causeChain(error: unknown): unknown[];
function rootCause(error: unknown): unknown;
function findCause<T>(
  error: unknown,
  predicate: (candidate: unknown) => candidate is T,
): T | undefined;
function findCause(error: unknown, predicate: (candidate: unknown) => boolean): unknown;
function findCauseOf<T>(
  error: unknown,
  constructor: abstract new (...args: never[]) => T,
): T | undefined;
function hasCauseOf(
  error: unknown,
  constructor: abstract new (...args: never[]) => unknown,
): boolean;

causeChain yields error first, stops at a primitive, and stops on a value already in the chain, so a cycle terminates. Everything else is built on it. See Cause chains.

serializeError(value, options?)

function serializeError(
  value: unknown,
  options: SerializeErrorOptions & { includeOwnProperties: true },
): SerializedErrorWithProperties;
function serializeError(value: unknown, options?: SerializeErrorOptions): SerializedError;

Option	Type	Default	Effect
includeStack	boolean	true	Include stack
maxDepth	number	8	How far down the cause chain to walk
maxAggregatedErrors	number	10	AggregateError errors kept, across the whole output
includeOwnProperties	boolean	false	Also copy the error’s own enumerable fields

Accepts any value. A non-error is returned as { name: typeof value, message: describeValue(value) }. context is copied through a JSON round trip. See Serialization.

deserializeError(value, options?)

function deserializeError(value: unknown, options?: DeserializeErrorOptions): Error;

Option	Type	Default	Effect
classes	readonly ErrorClass[]	[]	Classes to rebuild by name, plus the built-ins
maxDepth	number	8	How far down the chain to rebuild

A real Error is returned untouched; a value that is not error-shaped goes through toError. An unmatched name becomes an ExtendedError keeping that name.

toError(value)

function toError(value: unknown): Error;

isErrorLike(value)

function isErrorLike(value: unknown): value is Error;

describeValue(value)

function describeValue(value: unknown): string;

All three are covered in Working with unknown values.