Error Boundaries

Kind: pattern

Layer: Correctness Core

Record: architecture:error-boundaries

Severity: recommended

Scope: component, UI, service boundary

Canonical: Ontology

A design pattern that catches failures at a component boundary, so a failing part renders or returns an error while the rest keeps running.

Listed in Architecture principles, after Error Handling and before Fallback Pattern.

Requires

• Failure Isolation

Reinforces

• Resilience

Enables

• Localized Recovery

Conflicts with

• Failure Propagation

In tension with

• Hidden Errors

Tensions

• Error Boundaries / Hidden Errors

Violated by

• Failure Propagation

Refactored by

• Bulkhead Pattern

Severity

• recommended

Category

• Error Handling / Resilience

Refactors

• Unobservable Failure
• Inconsistent Error Model

Linked from

• Anti-patterns
• Error Handling / Resilience
• Error Handling / Resilience
• Severity levels
• The resolutions