Properly update an error's message.

In V8 (Chrome, Node.js, Deno, etc.), error.stack includes error.message. However, if error.message is modified, error.stack might not be updated and still contain the previous message.

This library fixes it by setting error.message while updating error.stack accordingly. This works on any JavaScript engine.

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Example

Without set-error-message:

const error = new Error('one')
console.log(error.message) // 'one'
console.log(error.stack) // 'Error: one ...'

error.message = 'two'
console.log(error.message) // 'two'
console.log(error.stack) // 'Error: one ...'

With set-error-message:

import setErrorMessage from 'set-error-message'

const error = new Error('one')
console.log(error.message) // 'one'
console.log(error.stack) // 'Error: one ...'

setErrorMessage(error, 'two')
console.log(error.message) // 'two'
console.log(error.stack) // 'Error: two ...'

Install

npm install set-error-message

This package works in both Node.js >=18.18.0 and browsers.

This is an ES module. It must be loaded using an import or import() statement, not require(). If TypeScript is used, it must be configured to output ES modules, not CommonJS.

API

setErrorMessage(error, newMessage)

error Error | any
newMessage string
Return value: Error

Sets error.message = newMessage.

Returns error. If error is not an Error instance, it is converted to one.

Related projects

• modern-errors: Handle errors in a simple, stable, consistent way
• error-custom-class: Create one error class
• error-class-utils: Utilities to properly create error classes
• error-serializer: Convert errors to/from plain objects
• normalize-exception: Normalize exceptions/errors
• is-error-instance: Check if a value is an Error instance
• merge-error-cause: Merge an error with its cause
• set-error-class: Properly update an error's class
• wrap-error-message: Properly wrap an error's message
• set-error-props: Properly update an error's properties
• set-error-stack: Properly update an error's stack
• error-cause-polyfill: Polyfill error.cause
• handle-cli-error: 💣 Error handler for CLI applications 💥
• log-process-errors: Show some ❤ to Node.js process errors
• error-http-response: Create HTTP error responses
• winston-error-format: Log errors with Winston

Support

For any question, don't hesitate to submit an issue on GitHub.

Everyone is welcome regardless of personal background. We enforce a Code of conduct in order to promote a positive and inclusive environment.

Contributing

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If the documentation is unclear or has a typo, please click on the page's Edit button (pencil icon) and suggest a correction.

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