Freeze Your Error Taxonomy Before AI Agents Generate Code, Case Study Shows

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A software engineering case study demonstrates how AI coding agents produce inconsistent HTTP error mappings when given no predefined error taxonomy to work from. Without a frozen contract, an agent assigned the same failure mode may return different HTTP status codes and incorrect retry semantics across separate generations. The proposed fix involves committing a machine-readable JSON file that defines each error code's HTTP status, retry behavior, message key, and log level before any code generation begins. A SHA-256 hash of that contract file is stored in the repository and verified in CI, preventing silent modifications during automated regeneration passes. This approach keeps the generated mapper as a pure function of an immutable contract, removing the agent's ability to invent or drift on policy decisions.

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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