Error Handling

When your controller methods throw an error (or reject a promise), @electron-ipc-bridge ensures the error is propagated back to the renderer process.

Default Behaviour

If a controller method throws an Error:

@IpcHandle()
async getUser(id: string) {
  if (!id) {
    throw new Error("ID is required");
  }
}

The renderer will reject with an Error object that has the same message.

try {
  await window.ipc.users.getUser("");
} catch (err) {
  console.log(err.message); // "ID is required"
}

warning

Standard Error objects lose their custom properties (like code or status) when passing through Electron's IPC serialization. Only the message property is reliably preserved by default.

Structured Errors

To pass structured error data (like error codes or validation details) to the renderer, you should serialize your error into a plain object or JSON string, or rely on the message string as your contract.

Example: JSON in Message

A simple pattern is to JSON-serialize your error details into the message.

throw new Error(JSON.stringify({ code: "USER_NOT_FOUND", id }));

try {
  await window.ipc.users.getUser("123");
} catch (err) {
  const error = JSON.parse(err.message);
  if (error.code === "USER_NOT_FOUND") {
    // handle specific case
  }
}