typescript.empty_catch

Correctness High Common in Incidents

Detects empty catch blocks that silently swallow errors.

Why It Matters

Empty catch blocks hide real problems:

Silent failures — Operations fail with no indication
Debugging nightmare — Errors vanish without trace
Masked bugs — Logic errors become invisible
Data corruption — Failures occur but code continues

Every swallowed error is a bug waiting to surprise you.

Example

// ❌ Before
try {
    riskyOperation();
} catch (e) {
}

If riskyOperation fails, you’ll never know.

// ✅ After
try {
    riskyOperation();
} catch (error) {
    console.error('Unhandled error:', error);
    // Or re-throw, or handle specifically
}

What Unfault Detects

Empty catch blocks catch (e) {}
Catch with only comments
Catch that ignores the error parameter

Auto-Fix

Unfault can add error logging to empty catch blocks when there’s no explicit suppression comment.

Handling Patterns

// Log and continue (non-critical)
try {
    sendAnalytics(event);
} catch (error) {
    console.error('Analytics failed:', error);
    // Non-critical, continue execution
}

// Log and re-throw (preserve stack)
try {
    critical();
} catch (error) {
    logger.error('Critical operation failed', { error });
    throw error;
}

// Handle specific errors
try {
    await fetchData();
} catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof NetworkError) {
        return cachedData;
    }
    throw error;
}

// Explicit ignore (document why)
try {
    optionalCleanup();
} catch {
    // Intentionally ignored: cleanup is best-effort
}