fix(frontend): readable API errors and no more silent action failures (#284, #286)

#286: request() now throws C2ApiError — message is FastAPI's `detail` or a
plain sentence for the status (401/403/404/429/5xx), with toString() so the
many String(e) call sites read cleanly. status/body stay on the error; the
Discord parsers rebuild the legacy "C2 API error N: body" text via
legacyErrorText(), so their invite/code parsing is unchanged.

#284: Resolve, Regenerate summary, alert-rule toggle/delete/load,
Acknowledge, trip deletes, system delete and Restart OP25 now surface
failures (ErrorBanner where the page has one, alert() where the page
already uses it). Rules tab no longer says "No alert rules configured"
when the load failed. Confirms added for Resolve (no reopen path exists),
rule delete and trip delete. Reopen deliberately not built — manual
resolve doesn't set resolved_at, so reopening is a lifecycle change.

Frontend unverified: no Node on the authoring box (#207).

Closes #286

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

drb-frontend/app/alerts/page.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import { useAuth } from "@/components/AuthProvider";
 import { useAlerts } from "@/lib/useAlerts";
 import { MachineOutputNotice } from "@/components/ui/MachineOutputNotice";
 import { c2api } from "@/lib/c2api";
+import { errorMessage } from "@/lib/c2error";
+import { ErrorBanner } from "@/components/ui/EmptyState";
 import type { AlertRule } from "@/lib/types";
 
 function fmtTime(iso: string) {
@@ -20,6 +22,10 @@ function RulesTab({ isAdmin }: { isAdmin: boolean }) {
   const [webhook, setWebhook] = useState("");
   const [saving, setSaving] = useState(false);
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  // Load and toggle/delete failures (server-26#284) — separate from the create
+  // form's own `error`, and it keeps the list from claiming "no rules" when
+  // the fetch actually failed.
+  const [listError, setListError] = useState<string | null>(null);
 
   async function load() {
     if (loaded) return;
@@ -27,8 +33,9 @@ function RulesTab({ isAdmin }: { isAdmin: boolean }) {
       const data = await c2api.getAlertRules() as AlertRule[];
       setRules(data);
       setLoaded(true);
+      setListError(null);
     } catch (e) {
-      console.error(e);
+      setListError(`Couldn't load alert rules: ${errorMessage(e)}`);
     }
   }
 
@@ -50,8 +57,8 @@ function RulesTab({ isAdmin }: { isAdmin: boolean }) {
       const created = await c2api.createAlertRule(body) as AlertRule;
       setRules((prev) => [created, ...prev]);
       setName(""); setKeywords(""); setTgIds(""); setWebhook("");
-    } catch {
+    } catch (e) {
-      setError("Failed to create rule.");
+      setError(`Failed to create rule: ${errorMessage(e)}`);
     } finally {
       setSaving(false);
     }
@@ -61,14 +68,17 @@ function RulesTab({ isAdmin }: { isAdmin: boolean }) {
     try {
       await c2api.updateAlertRule(rule.rule_id, { enabled: !rule.enabled });
       setRules((prev) => prev.map((r) => r.rule_id === rule.rule_id ? { ...r, enabled: !r.enabled } : r));
-    } catch (e) { console.error(e); }
+      setListError(null);
+    } catch (e) { setListError(`Couldn't update "${rule.name}": ${errorMessage(e)}`); }
   }
 
   async function handleDelete(id: string) {
+    if (!window.confirm("Delete this alert rule?")) return;
     try {
       await c2api.deleteAlertRule(id);
       setRules((prev) => prev.filter((r) => r.rule_id !== id));
-    } catch (e) { console.error(e); }
+      setListError(null);
+    } catch (e) { setListError(`Couldn't delete the rule: ${errorMessage(e)}`); }
   }
 
   return (
@@ -120,8 +130,12 @@ function RulesTab({ isAdmin }: { isAdmin: boolean }) {
         </form>
       )}
 
+      {listError && <ErrorBanner message={listError} />}
+
       <div className="bg-surface border border-line rounded-xl overflow-hidden">
-        {rules.length === 0 ? (
+        {!loaded ? (
+          <p className="text-ink-muted text-sm font-mono p-4">{listError ? "Rules unavailable." : "Loading…"}</p>
+        ) : rules.length === 0 ? (
           <p className="text-ink-muted text-sm font-mono p-4">No alert rules configured.</p>
         ) : (
           <table className="w-full text-left">
@@ -188,11 +202,13 @@ export default function AlertsPage() {
   const { isAdmin } = useAuth();
   const { alerts, loading, error } = useAlerts();
   const [tab, setTab] = useState<"events" | "rules">("events");
+  const [ackError, setAckError] = useState<string | null>(null);
 
   async function handleAcknowledge(id: string) {
+    setAckError(null);
     try {
       await c2api.acknowledgeAlert(id);
-    } catch (e) { console.error(e); }
+    } catch (e) { setAckError(`Couldn't acknowledge: ${errorMessage(e)}`); }
   }
 
   const unacked = alerts.filter((a) => !a.acknowledged);
@@ -223,6 +239,8 @@ export default function AlertsPage() {
         ))}
       </div>
 
+      {tab === "events" && ackError && <ErrorBanner message={ackError} />}
+
       {tab === "events" && (
         loading ? (
           <p className="text-ink-muted text-sm font-mono">Loading…</p>

drb-frontend/app/incidents/[id]/page.tsx

@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import { SeverityMark } from "@/components/marks/SeverityMark";
 import { isKnownSeverity } from "@/lib/severity";
 import { Button } from "@/components/ui/Button";
 import { MachineOutputNotice } from "@/components/ui/MachineOutputNotice";
+import { ErrorBanner } from "@/components/ui/EmptyState";
+import { errorMessage } from "@/lib/c2error";
 import { MAY_BE_MERGED_KM, pathStops, stopNumbers } from "@/lib/liveWall";
 
 const MapView = dynamic(() => import("@/components/MapView"), { ssr: false });
@@ -39,6 +41,7 @@ export default function IncidentDetailPage() {
 
   const [summarizing, setSummarizing] = useState(false);
   const [resolving, setResolving] = useState(false);
+  const [actionError, setActionError] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [earlierShown, setEarlierShown] = useState(EARLIER_PAGE_SIZE);
 
   // Stop numbers and path length come from the same liveWall.pathStops() the
@@ -54,16 +57,20 @@ export default function IncidentDetailPage() {
   );
 
   async function handleResolve() {
+    // No reopen path exists (server-26#284), so resolving is final from the UI.
+    if (!window.confirm("Mark this incident resolved? This can't be undone from the app.")) return;
     setResolving(true);
+    setActionError(null);
     try { await c2api.updateIncident(id, { status: "resolved" }); }
-    catch (e) { console.error(e); }
+    catch (e) { setActionError(`Couldn't resolve: ${errorMessage(e)}`); }
     finally { setResolving(false); }
   }
 
   async function handleSummarize() {
     setSummarizing(true);
+    setActionError(null);
     try { await c2api.summarizeIncident(id); }
-    catch (e) { console.error(e); }
+    catch (e) { setActionError(`Couldn't regenerate the summary: ${errorMessage(e)}`); }
     finally { setSummarizing(false); }
   }
 
@@ -126,6 +133,8 @@ export default function IncidentDetailPage() {
         )}
       </div>
 
+      {actionError && <ErrorBanner message={actionError} />}
+
       {displayTags.length > 0 && (
         <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-1">
           {displayTags.map((t) => (

drb-frontend/app/incidents/page.tsx

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { useAuth } from "@/components/AuthProvider";
 import { useIncidents } from "@/lib/useIncidents";
 import { useActiveCalls } from "@/lib/useCalls";
 import { c2api } from "@/lib/c2api";
+import { errorMessage } from "@/lib/c2error";
 import type { IncidentRecord } from "@/lib/types";
 import { PageHeader } from "@/components/ui/PageHeader";
 import { Button } from "@/components/ui/Button";
@@ -204,6 +205,7 @@ export default function IncidentsPage() {
   const { incidents, loading, error, hasMore } = useIncidents(pageLimit, rangeFrom, rangeTo);
   const activeCalls = useActiveCalls();
   const [showCreate, setShowCreate] = useState(false);
+  const [actionError, setActionError] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [severityFilter, setSeverityFilter] = useState<SeverityFilter>("all");
   const [sortMode, setSortMode] = useState<SortMode>("recent");
   const [statusFilter, setStatusFilter] = useState<StatusFilter>("any");
@@ -257,8 +259,11 @@ export default function IncidentsPage() {
   }, [filtered]);
 
   async function handleResolve(id: string) {
+    // No reopen path exists (server-26#284), so resolving is final from the UI.
+    if (!window.confirm("Mark this incident resolved? This can't be undone from the app.")) return;
+    setActionError(null);
     try { await c2api.updateIncident(id, { status: "resolved" }); }
-    catch (e) { console.error(e); }
+    catch (e) { setActionError(`Couldn't resolve: ${errorMessage(e)}`); }
   }
 
   return (
@@ -273,6 +278,8 @@ export default function IncidentsPage() {
           chips are pipeline output, so the notice rides with the list. */}
       <MachineOutputNotice variant="inline" />
 
+      {actionError && <ErrorBanner message={actionError} />}
+
       <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center justify-between gap-3">
         <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-1 bg-surface border border-line rounded-lg p-1 w-fit">
           {SEVERITY_FILTERS.map(({ key, label }) => (

drb-frontend/app/nodes/[id]/page.tsx

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { CallRow } from "@/components/CallRow";
 import { MachineOutputNotice } from "@/components/ui/MachineOutputNotice";
 import { useAuth } from "@/components/AuthProvider";
 import { c2api } from "@/lib/c2api";
+import { errorMessage } from "@/lib/c2error";
 import type { NodeRecord } from "@/lib/types";
 
 function ApprovalBadge({ status }: { status: string | null }) {
@@ -54,10 +55,14 @@ export default function NodeDetailPage() {
     return unsub;
   }, [id]);
 
-  async function sendCommand(action: string) {
+  async function sendCommand(action: string, label: string) {
     setSending(true);
     try {
       await c2api.sendCommand(id, { action });
+      alert(`${label} sent to the node.`);
+    } catch (e) {
+      // Was try/finally only: an unhandled rejection and no feedback (server-26#284).
+      alert(`Couldn't send ${label.toLowerCase()}: ${errorMessage(e)}`);
     } finally {
       setSending(false);
     }
@@ -249,7 +254,7 @@ export default function NodeDetailPage() {
         </button>
         <button
           disabled={sending}
-          onClick={() => sendCommand("op25_restart")}
+          onClick={() => sendCommand("op25_restart", "Restart OP25")}
           className="px-4 py-2 bg-raised hover:bg-gray-700 text-ink-2 rounded-lg text-sm font-mono transition-colors disabled:opacity-50"
         >
           Restart OP25

drb-frontend/app/systems/page.tsx

@@ -1930,7 +1930,8 @@ export default function SystemsPage() {
   if (authLoading || (!isAdmin && !isOperator)) return null;
   async function handleDelete(id: string) {
     if (!confirm("Delete this system?")) return;
-    await c2api.deleteSystem(id);
+    try { await c2api.deleteSystem(id); }
+    catch (e) { alert(`Couldn't delete the system: ${e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)}`); }
   }
 
   function openEdit(s: SystemRecord) {

drb-frontend/app/trips/[id]/page.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import ReactMarkdown from "react-markdown";
 import { useParams, useRouter } from "next/navigation";
 import { useAuth } from "@/components/AuthProvider";
 import { c2api } from "@/lib/c2api";
+import { errorMessage } from "@/lib/c2error";
 import type { TripEvent, TripRecord, PlaceResult } from "@/lib/types";
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -955,7 +956,7 @@ export default function TripDetailPage() {
   async function handleDeleteTrip() {
     if (!trip) return;
     try { await c2api.deleteTrip(trip.trip_id); router.push("/trips"); }
-    catch (e) { console.error(e); }
+    catch (e) { alert(`Couldn't delete the trip: ${errorMessage(e)}`); }
   }
 
   async function handleDeleteEvent(eventId: string) {
@@ -963,7 +964,7 @@ export default function TripDetailPage() {
     try {
       await c2api.deleteTripEvent(trip.trip_id, eventId);
       setTrip((prev) => prev ? { ...prev, events: prev.events.filter((e) => e.event_id !== eventId) } : prev);
-    } catch (e) { console.error(e); }
+    } catch (e) { alert(`Couldn't delete the event: ${errorMessage(e)}`); }
   }
 
   async function handleUpdateEvent(body: object) {

drb-frontend/app/trips/page.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { useRouter } from "next/navigation";
 import { useAuth } from "@/components/AuthProvider";
 import { useTrips } from "@/lib/useTrips";
 import { c2api } from "@/lib/c2api";
+import { errorMessage } from "@/lib/c2error";
 import type { TripRecord } from "@/lib/types";
 
 function fmtDate(iso: string) {
@@ -179,8 +180,9 @@ export default function TripsPage() {
   const past     = trips.filter((t) => t.end_date < today);
 
   async function handleDelete(id: string) {
+    if (!confirm("Delete this trip?")) return;
     try { await c2api.deleteTrip(id); }
-    catch (e) { console.error(e); }
+    catch (e) { alert(`Couldn't delete the trip: ${errorMessage(e)}`); }
   }
 
   return (

drb-frontend/lib/c2api.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { auth } from "@/lib/firebase";
+import { C2ApiError } from "@/lib/c2error";
 import type {
   AreaContext, CameraProviderAdmin, CamerasResponse, Ny511Response, OutageProviderAdmin, OutagesResponse, TalkgroupPending,
   WeatherAlertsResponse, WindResponse,
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ async function request<T>(path: string, options?: RequestInit): Promise<T> {
       ...(options?.headers as Record<string, string> | undefined),
     },
   });
-  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`C2 API error ${res.status}: ${await res.text()}`);
+  if (!res.ok) throw new C2ApiError(res.status, await res.text());
   if (res.status === 204) return undefined as T;
   return res.json();
 }

drb-frontend/lib/c2error.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/**
+ * Error thrown by every C2 API request (server-26#286).
+ *
+ * `message` is a sentence a user can read — FastAPI's `detail` when the
+ * server sent one, otherwise a plain mapping of the status. The raw status
+ * and body stay on the error for callers that need the structured parts
+ * (the Discord parsers read `invite`/`code` out of `body`).
+ */
+export class C2ApiError extends Error {
+  readonly status: number;
+  readonly body: string;
+
+  constructor(status: number, body: string) {
+    super(humanMessage(status, body));
+    this.name = "C2ApiError";
+    this.status = status;
+    this.body = body;
+  }
+
+  // Call sites render String(e); without this it reads "C2ApiError: …".
+  toString(): string {
+    return this.message;
+  }
+}
+
+function detailOf(body: string): string | null {
+  try {
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(body);
+    const d = parsed?.detail;
+    if (typeof d === "string" && d.trim()) return d;
+    // pydantic validation errors: [{loc, msg, type}, ...]
+    if (Array.isArray(d)) {
+      const msgs = d.map((x: { msg?: unknown }) => (typeof x?.msg === "string" ? x.msg : null)).filter(Boolean);
+      if (msgs.length) return msgs.join("; ");
+    }
+  } catch {
+    /* not JSON */
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+function humanMessage(status: number, body: string): string {
+  const detail = detailOf(body);
+  if (status === 401) return "Your session has expired. Sign in again.";
+  if (status === 403) return detail ? `Not allowed: ${detail}` : "You don't have permission to do that.";
+  if (detail) return detail;
+  if (status === 404) return "Not found. It may have been deleted.";
+  if (status === 429) return "Too many requests. Wait a moment and try again.";
+  if (status >= 500) return "The server hit an error. Try again in a moment.";
+  return `Request failed (${status}).`;
+}
+
+/** Message for any caught value — use in catch blocks instead of String(e). */
+export function errorMessage(e: unknown): string {
+  if (e instanceof Error) return e.message;
+  return String(e);
+}
+
+/** Rebuilds the legacy `C2 API error <status>: <body>` string for the
+ *  Discord parsers, which predate C2ApiError and match on that shape. */
+export function legacyErrorText(err: unknown): string {
+  if (err instanceof C2ApiError) return `C2 API error ${err.status}: ${err.body}`;
+  return err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+}

drb-frontend/lib/discord.ts

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 // (routers/discord.py GET /discord/admin/overview, routers/tokens.py), and
 // small helpers shared by /settings/discord and /tokens (server-26#213).
 
+import { legacyErrorText } from "@/lib/c2error";
+
 export interface RadioBotLease {
   node_id: string;
   lease_id?: string;
@@ -160,7 +162,7 @@ export const SNOWFLAKE = /^\d{15,21}$/;
  * so "no bot in this server" can render its invite links.
  */
 export function parseC2Error(err: unknown): { message: string; invite: { name: string; invite_url: string | null }[] } {
-  const raw = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+  const raw = legacyErrorText(err);
   const m = raw.match(/^C2 API error (\d+): ([\s\S]*)$/);
   if (m) {
     try {

drb-frontend/lib/discordOAuth.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 // browser: the code exchange happens in c2-core.
 
 import { auth } from "@/lib/firebase";
+import { C2ApiError } from "@/lib/c2error";
 
 const BASE = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_C2_URL ?? "http://localhost:8000";
 
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ async function send<T>(method: "POST" | "PUT" | "DELETE", path: string, body?: o
     },
     ...(body ? { body: JSON.stringify(body) } : {}),
   });
-  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`C2 API error ${res.status}: ${await res.text()}`);
+  if (!res.ok) throw new C2ApiError(res.status, await res.text());
   if (res.status === 204) return undefined as T;
   return res.json();
 }
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ export async function startDiscordOAuth(req: OAuthStartRequest): Promise<OAuthSt
   try {
     raw = await post("/discord/oauth/start", req);
   } catch (err) {
-    if (err instanceof Error && /^C2 API error 404:/.test(err.message)) throw new OAuthNotConfigured(err.message);
+    if (err instanceof C2ApiError && err.status === 404) throw new OAuthNotConfigured(err.message);
     throw err;
   }
   const url = raw.url ?? raw.authorize_url ?? "";

drb-frontend/lib/discordPicker.ts

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 // Shapes returned by c2-core app/routers/discord_web.py. No token strings —
 // the server never sends them to the browser.
 
+import { legacyErrorText } from "@/lib/c2error";
+
 export type StreamState =
   | "pending"
   | "connecting"
@@ -131,7 +133,7 @@ function reasonOf(b: Record<string, unknown>): string | null {
 /** c2api's request() throws `C2 API error <status>: <body>`. Pull the
  *  detail, code and invite links back out of a JSON body. */
 export function parseC2Error(err: unknown): ParsedC2Error {
-  const raw = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+  const raw = legacyErrorText(err);
   const m = raw.match(/^C2 API error (\d+): ([\s\S]*)$/);
   const status = m ? Number(m[1]) : null;
   const idx = raw.indexOf(": ");