java-exception-robustnesslisted

# Skill: java-exception-robustness ## Activation Contract Use this skill when reviewing or designing Java exception handling, resource cleanup, checked/unchecked exception choices, failure boundaries, retry/fallback policy, and robust service behavior. Do **not** use this skill for logging-only changes, security-only auditing, non-Java error models, or framework-specific exception mapping with no Java design question. ## Responsibility This skill teaches Java failure-handling design. It does not call other skills, hide failures by default, or invent business recovery policies. ## Required Context - Operation being protected. - Who can recover from failures. - Resource ownership and cleanup needs. - Whether this is library, application, batch, or long-running service code. - Sensitive-data constraints in messages/logs. ## Context Budget - Keep this `SKILL.md` focused on error boundaries. - Use `references/java-exception-guidance.md` for detailed choices. ## Hard Rules - Do not swallow exceptions silently. - Release resources deterministically with try-with-resources or `finally`. - Catch exceptions only where you can add context, recover, translate boundary errors, or enforce cleanup. - Preserve stack traces when wrapping unless there is a deliberate boundary sanitization. - Do not expose sensitive internal data in exception messages returned to users. - Define boundary policy for long-running services: discard unit of work, log safely, cleanup, and continue or stop