Question 1

How do I send errors over gRPC with cockroachdb/errors?

Accepted Answer

Use errors.EncodeError() to convert the error to a protobuf-encodable EncodedError, include it in your gRPC message, and decode on the other side with errors.DecodeError(). This preserves error identity and structure across the network.

Question 2

cockroachdb/errors vs pkg/errors: which should I use for a new microservice?

Accepted Answer

Choose cockroachdb/errors if you need network portability, PII handling, or Sentry integration, as it extends pkg/errors with these features. For simpler, single-service apps, pkg/errors might be lighter and sufficient.

Question 3

How to migrate from standard Go errors to cockroachdb/errors?

Accepted Answer

Replace imports and use the library as a drop-in replacement for errors.New and similar functions. For custom error types, follow the README's guide on building your own types, including encoder/decoder registration.

Question 4

Does cockroachdb/errors work with context cancellation errors?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can wrap context errors like context.Canceled using errors.Wrap() or errors.WithContextTags() to attach context details, and errors.Is() will recognize them even after network transmission.

Question 5

What's the performance impact of using cockroachdb/errors?

Accepted Answer

There is overhead from stack trace capture and protobuf encoding, but for most distributed systems, the debuggability and network portability benefits outweigh the cost. Profile if performance is critical.

Question 6

How to add custom error types that survive network transmission?

Accepted Answer

Implement the error interface, register encode/decode functions with errors.RegisterLeafEncoder or similar, and implement Format() redirecting to errors.FormatError. See the Building your own error types section for examples.

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