{
  "title": "Errors",
  "path": "/patterns/errors",
  "url": "https://design.werklist.com/patterns/errors",
  "text": "https://design.werklist.com/agent/patterns/errors",
  "summary": "Where a failure is reported and how it is worded: what did not happen, and what to do now.",
  "version": "2.1.2",
  "kind": "pattern",
  "name": "Errors",
  "purpose": "Places each failure where it happened and words it as what did not happen and what to do now, without blame and without losing the reader's input.",
  "use": [
    "A field the form cannot accept: an error under the field",
    "An action that did not go through: an error toast with Try again",
    "A page or a list that did not load: the error in place of the content",
    "Part of a list that did not load: a warning band above the part that loaded",
    "A condition that stops the page: an error inline message at the top, with the fix",
    "A failure inside an open dialog: an inline message at the top of the dialog"
  ],
  "avoid": [
    "An error sent as a notification",
    "An error behind the scrim of a dialog",
    "Try again when trying again cannot work",
    "A confirmation dialog for a loss that Undo can reverse"
  ],
  "rules": [
    "Say what did not happen, naming the thing, then what to do.",
    "Give the cause only in the reader's words, and only when it helps them act.",
    "Write about the thing, not the person.",
    "Keep the reader's input. A failed save leaves the form filled, and an offer that was not sent keeps what you wrote.",
    "Offer Try again only when trying again can work. Otherwise name what can.",
    "No apology, exclamation mark or code in the sentence. A support reference goes on its own line after it, where it can be copied.",
    "The error in place is laid out as an empty state: the sentence in --text and a secondary Try again button. The toolbar stays.",
    "The error ink --error-ink is for error toasts and error inline messages.",
    "A page that did not load says 'This page did not load.' at page size, with Try again and no icon.",
    "After a failed submit, focus moves to the message at the top of the form, which links to each field."
  ],
  "accessibility": [
    "An error raised by the reader's action is an alert, heard once.",
    "An error present when the page loads is read in its place.",
    "Color is never the only signal: the sentence names the problem."
  ],
  "content": [
    "'The offer was not sent. Try again.'",
    "'Could not reach the server. Nothing was sent.'",
    "'The job board did not answer. Try again in a moment.'",
    "Not 'Something went wrong.', not 'Invalid input', not 'Oops'"
  ],
  "tokens": [
    "--text",
    "--error-ink",
    "--warning-ink",
    "--surface-control"
  ]
}