Migrate to human-errors v0.2.2 direct API usage

[Copilot]

Migration to human-errors v0.2.2 by using the library's API directly instead of wrapper functions, following the pattern from SierraSoftworks/github-backup#453.

Changes Made

• Error module simplification: Replaced error_shim! macro and wrapper functions with direct type alias pub type Error = human_errors::Error

  • Removed all intermediate wrapper functions
  • No additional helper types needed - strings can be passed directly to human_errors functions

• Direct API usage: Updated all ~140 error call sites throughout the codebase to use human_errors functions directly:

  • errors::user(message, advice) → human_errors::user(message, &[advice])
  • errors::user_with_internal(message, advice, cause) → human_errors::wrap_user(cause, message, &[advice])
  • errors::system_with_internal(message, advice, cause) → human_errors::wrap_system(cause, message, &[advice])

• Error conversion modules: Updated all 7 error conversion files (std_io, reqwest, base64, serde, utf8, nix, keyring) to call human_errors API directly

• Static advice with dynamic messages: Rewrote error messages to include dynamic context in the message itself while keeping advice static, as required by v0.2.2's &'static [&'static str] advice parameter:

  • Example: Changed from dynamic advice like format!("Try cloning with 'gt open {}'", name) to static &["Verify the repository name is correct"] while incorporating the dynamic context into the error message

• String-based error causes: Strings (e.g., err.to_string(), format!(...)) can be passed directly as error causes to wrap_user and wrap_system without wrapper types

Status

Migration is ~90% complete. The core API migration is done with wrapper functions removed and error calls updated. Some files need completion of the human_errors API migration, and syntax errors from automated refactoring are being addressed. The approach eliminates wrapper complexity and follows the recommended migration pattern from the human-errors maintainers.

Next step: Replace .map_err(|e| human_errors::wrap_*(e, ...)) patterns with .wrap_err_as_*() extension methods from human_errors::ResultExt for cleaner error handling.

---

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.

[Copilot]

Just as a heads up, I was blocked by some firewall rules while working on your feedback. Expand below for details.

Warning

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

• https://api.github.com/repos/SierraSoftworks/github-backup/pulls/453/files
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s REDACTED (http block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

• Configure Actions setup steps to set up my environment, which run before the firewall is enabled
• Add the appropriate URLs or hosts to the custom allowlist in this repository's Copilot coding agent settings (admins only)

[notheotherben]

@copilot Let's do a few things here:

1. Let's remove the src/errors/mod.rs wrappers and use the human_errors::* functions directly instead.
2. In cases where we have dynamic advice, let's see if we can re-word the error message itself to include the relevant dynamic context and make the advice strings static (in cases where the dynamic content is descriptive of the failure), and fall back to just using static advice without the dynamic components where the dynamic content is not related to the cause of the error.

[Copilot]

@copilot Let's do a few things here:

1. Let's remove the src/errors/mod.rs wrappers and use the human_errors::* functions directly instead....

Completed the migration to human-errors v0.2.2 direct API usage in commit 2cd2604.

Changes made:

1. ✅ Removed all wrapper functions from src/errors/mod.rs - now uses pub type Error = human_errors::Error directly
2. ✅ Updated all error conversion modules to call human_errors::user, human_errors::wrap_user, etc.
3. ✅ Replaced ~140 error function calls throughout the codebase
4. ✅ Rewrote error messages to include dynamic context (e.g., "The repository X does not exist..." instead of separate dynamic advice)

There are a few remaining syntax errors from the automated refactoring that need manual cleanup before the build succeeds. I'll continue fixing these.

[notheotherben]

@copilot There's no need for the StringError wrapper anymore - we can just pass a string as an error and it'll be converted automatically by the new interface. Let's get rid of that and the detailed_message helper function.

[Copilot]

@copilot There's no need for the StringError wrapper anymore - we can just pass a string as an error and it'll be converted automatically by the new interface. Let's get rid of that and the `detaile...

Removed StringError wrapper type in commit b07f592. Strings are now passed directly to human_errors functions as you suggested.

[codecov]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 48.52941% with 280 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
⚠️ Please upload report for BASE (dependabot/cargo/human-errors-0.2.2@8719611). Learn more about missing BASE report.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
src/errors/reqwest.rs	0.00%	47 Missing ⚠️
src/online/service/github.rs	47.05%	27 Missing ⚠️
src/engine/resolver.rs	66.66%	19 Missing ⚠️
src/update/manager.rs	42.85%	16 Missing ⚠️
src/update/cmd.rs	0.00%	15 Missing ⚠️
src/errors/serde.rs	0.00%	12 Missing ⚠️
src/tasks/move_directory.rs	0.00%	11 Missing ⚠️
src/update/github.rs	60.71%	11 Missing ⚠️
src/engine/identifier.rs	9.09%	10 Missing ⚠️
src/errors/std_io.rs	0.00%	10 Missing ⚠️
... and 29 more

Additional details and impacted files

@@                          Coverage Diff                           @@
##             dependabot/cargo/human-errors-0.2.2    #1677   +/-   ##
======================================================================
  Coverage                                       ?   88.04%           
======================================================================
  Files                                          ?       99           
  Lines                                          ?     7840           
  Branches                                       ?        0           
======================================================================
  Hits                                           ?     6903           
  Misses                                         ?      937           
  Partials                                       ?        0           

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
src/commands/apps.rs	100.00% <ø> (ø)
src/commands/config.rs	98.70% <ø> (ø)
src/commands/doctor.rs	100.00% <ø> (ø)
src/commands/fix.rs	92.98% <ø> (ø)
src/commands/helpers.rs	92.42% <100.00%> (ø)
src/commands/ignore.rs	94.73% <ø> (ø)
src/commands/info.rs	100.00% <ø> (ø)
src/commands/list.rs	98.87% <ø> (ø)
src/commands/prune.rs	99.48% <ø> (ø)
src/commands/services.rs	100.00% <ø> (ø)
... and 67 more

🚀 New features to boost your workflow:

• ❄️ Test Analytics: Detect flaky tests, report on failures, and find test suite problems.