Error Messages
Expert skill for designing and implementing high-quality compiler error messages
npx skills add a5c-ai/babysitter --skill error-messages --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Error Messages Skill ## Overview Expert skill for designing and implementing high-quality compiler error messages. ## Capabilities - Design clear, actionable error message templates - Implement source context display with underlines - Generate fix suggestions and quick fixes - Handle error cascades and suppression - Implement multi-span error annotations - Support machine-readable error output (JSON) - Implement color/styled terminal output - Design error recovery strategies for better diagnostics ## Target Processes - error-message-enhancement.js - parser-development.js - type-system-implementation.js - semantic-analysis.js - lsp-server-implementation.js ## Dependencies Elm/Rust error message guidelines ## Usage Guidelines 1. **Clarity**: Make error messages clear and actionable 2. **Context**: Show relevant source code context with precise location 3. **Suggestions**: Provide fix suggestions when possible 4. **Cascades**: Suppress cascading errors to avoid overwhelming users 5. **Machine-Readable**: Support JSON output for tooling integration ## Output Schema ```json { "type": "object", "properties": { "errorFormat": { "type": "string", "enum": ["human", "json", "sarif"] }, "fe
- Overview
- Capabilities
- Target Processes
- Dependencies
- Usage Guidelines
- Output Schema
What does the Error Messages skill do?
Expert skill for designing and implementing high-quality compiler error messages
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add a5c-ai/babysitter --skill error-messages --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From a5c-ai/babysitter, a repository with 1,642 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.