lowercase-error-messages

name	lowercase-error-messages
description	Use when writing or editing a Rust error message, panic/assert string, or MASM `ERR_*` constant — follow the Rust convention for error-message casing and punctuation.
metadata	{"author":"0xMiden"}

Lowercase Error Messages, No Trailing Punctuation

Rule

Error messages (in Error enum #[error("...")] attributes, panic!, assert! messages, MASM ERR_* constant strings) follow Rust's convention:

• Start with a lowercase letter (unless beginning with a proper noun or acronym).
• No trailing period, exclamation, or other punctuation.
• Imperative or descriptive, not "ERROR: ..." or "Failed to ...".

Examples of correct shape: "invalid account id length", "note not found", "failed to deserialize storage".

Why

Error messages get composed into chains and contexts, where a capital letter or trailing period mid-chain makes them read like disconnected sentences. Lowercase-with-no-punctuation is the convention std, thiserror, and most crates already follow.

Examples

// Good
#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
pub enum AccountError {
    #[error("invalid account id length, expected {expected} bytes, got {got}")]
    InvalidLength { expected: usize, got: usize },
    #[error("account not found")]
    NotFound,
}

// Bad
#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
pub enum AccountError {
    #[error("Invalid account id length: expected {expected} bytes, got {got}.")]
    InvalidLength { ... },
    #[error("Account not found!")]
    NotFound,
}

# Good
const ERR_NOTE_NOT_FOUND = "note not found"

# Bad
const ERR_NOTE_NOT_FOUND = "Note not found!"

---

Source: 0xMiden/protocol — distributed by TomeVault.