# Error Handling Analysis
## Error Standardization
❌ **No Problem+JSON** - Uses standard Python ValueError exceptions
✅ **Descriptive error messages** - Clear, actionable error messages
## Error Handling Locations
### smart_mcp.py:27-36 - File Loading Errors
- `FileNotFoundError` → stderr message, returns empty dict
- `JSONDecodeError` → stderr message with parse error, returns empty dict
### smart_mcp.py:88-106 - Tool Call Validation
- Line 88: Unknown tool → `ValueError("Unknown tool: {name}")`
- Line 91: Missing arguments → `ValueError("Missing arguments")`
- Line 97: Missing shortcut → `ValueError("Missing required argument: shortcut")`
- Line 104: Unknown shortcut → `ValueError("Unknown shortcut: '{shortcut_name}'. Available shortcuts: {available}")`
## Retries/Backoff
❌ **No retry logic** - Single-shot file reads, no retry on failure
❌ **No backoff** - N/A for this use case (MCP stdio server)
✅ **Appropriate for use case** - Simple MCP server doesn't need retries
## Idempotency
✅ **Fully idempotent** - Same input always produces same output
✅ **No side effects** - Read-only operations
✅ **Stateless** - No state mutations
## Inconsistencies
1. **Mixed error handling** - File errors print to stderr and return empty dict, validation errors raise ValueError
2. **No structured errors** - Plain ValueError instead of Problem+JSON (acceptable for MCP server)
3. **Silent failure mode** - File loading errors return empty dict instead of raising (could hide issues)
## Assessment
⚠️ **Basic error handling** - Adequate for simple MCP server but inconsistent approach
✅ **Clear error messages** - Good developer experience
✅ **Appropriate for scope** - No need for retries/backoff in this context
