feat: add WithPlatformCode for domain-level error identity (v0.10.0) (#2)

feat: add WithPlatformCode for domain-level error identity

Adds an optional PlatformCode field to *Err, decoupled from the
transport-level Code. Code drives HTTP/gRPC status mapping;
PlatformCode is a stable domain identifier for consuming applications
(e.g. a frontend performing i18n) to map errors to localised messages.

Platform codes are optional — errors without a user-actionable meaning
(500s, infrastructure failures, auth rejections) carry none.

Fully backwards-compatible: no existing signatures or JSON output changed
for errors without a platform code.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Reviewed-on: #2
Reviewed-by: Rene Nochebuena <rene@noreply.nochebuena.dev>
Co-authored-by: Claude Code <claude@nochebuena.dev>
Co-committed-by: Claude Code <claude@nochebuena.dev>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,22 @@ All notable changes to this module will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this module adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.10.0] - 2026-03-25
+
+### Added
+
+- `(*Err).WithPlatformCode(code string) *Err` — chainable builder method to attach a platform-level error code; returns the receiver for chaining
+- `(*Err).PlatformCode() string` — getter that returns the platform code, or an empty string if none was set
+- `platformCode` field in `MarshalJSON` output — serialised as `"platformCode"` and omitted when empty (`omitempty`)
+
+### Design Notes
+
+- Platform codes operate at the domain/system layer and are intentionally decoupled from the transport-level `Code`. `Code` drives HTTP status mapping and gRPC status codes; `PlatformCode` is a stable semantic identifier for the consuming application (e.g. a frontend performing i18n).
+- Platform codes are **optional**. Errors that do not have a user-actionable meaning (500 internal errors, infrastructure failures, authentication rejections) should not carry one.
+- No existing behaviour changed — `Code`, `Error`, `Unwrap`, `WithContext`, `MarshalJSON` (for errors without a platform code) are all backwards-compatible.
+
+[0.10.0]: https://code.nochebuena.dev/go/xerrors/compare/v0.9.0...v0.10.0
+
 ## [0.9.0] - 2026-03-18
 
 ### Added

xerrors.go

@@ -13,18 +13,22 @@ import (
 // interfaces that logz uses internally to enrich log records — without either
 // package importing the other.
 //
-// Use the builder methods [Err.WithContext] and [Err.WithError] to attach
+// Use the builder methods [Err.WithContext], [Err.WithError], and
-// additional information after construction:
+// [Err.WithPlatformCode] to attach additional information after construction:
 //
 //	err := xerrors.New(xerrors.ErrInvalidInput, "validation failed").
 //	    WithContext("field", "email").
 //	    WithContext("rule", "required").
 //	    WithError(cause)
+//
+//	err := xerrors.New(xerrors.ErrNotFound, "employee not found").
+//	    WithPlatformCode("EMPLOYEE_NOT_FOUND")
 type Err struct {
 	code         Code
 	message      string
 	err          error
 	fields       map[string]any
+	platformCode string
 }
 
 // New creates an Err with the given code and message. No cause is set.
@@ -80,6 +84,27 @@ func (e *Err) WithError(err error) *Err {
 	return e
 }
 
+// WithPlatformCode sets a platform-level error code and returns the receiver
+// for chaining. Platform codes are domain-specific identifiers (e.g.
+// "EMPLOYEE_NOT_FOUND") that operate independently of the transport-level
+// [Code]. They are intended for consuming applications — such as a frontend —
+// that need to map errors to localised user-facing messages without relying on
+// the generic transport code.
+//
+// Platform codes are optional. Errors that do not have a user-actionable
+// meaning (e.g. 500 internal errors, infrastructure failures) should not carry
+// one; the consuming application renders a generic fallback in those cases.
+func (e *Err) WithPlatformCode(code string) *Err {
+	e.platformCode = code
+	return e
+}
+
+// PlatformCode returns the platform-level error code, or an empty string if
+// none was set.
+func (e *Err) PlatformCode() string {
+	return e.platformCode
+}
+
 // Error implements the error interface.
 // Format: "INVALID_ARGUMENT: username is required → original cause"
 func (e *Err) Error() string {
@@ -151,14 +176,17 @@ func (e *Err) ErrorContext() map[string]any {
 }
 
 // MarshalJSON implements [json.Marshaler].
-// Output: {"code":"NOT_FOUND","message":"user not found","fields":{"id":"42"}}
+// Output: {"code":"NOT_FOUND","platformCode":"EMPLOYEE_NOT_FOUND","message":"...","fields":{...}}
+// platformCode and fields are omitted when empty.
 func (e *Err) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	return json.Marshal(struct {
 		Code         string         `json:"code"`
+		PlatformCode string         `json:"platformCode,omitempty"`
 		Message      string         `json:"message"`
 		Fields       map[string]any `json:"fields,omitempty"`
 	}{
 		Code:         string(e.code),
+		PlatformCode: e.platformCode,
 		Message:      e.message,
 		Fields:       e.fields,
 	})

xerrors_test.go

@@ -243,6 +243,72 @@ func TestErr_DuckTyping_ErrorContext_Nil(t *testing.T) {
 	_ = err.ErrorContext()
 }
 
+func TestErr_WithPlatformCode(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("set and get", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := New(ErrNotFound, "employee not found").
+			WithPlatformCode("EMPLOYEE_NOT_FOUND")
+		if err.PlatformCode() != "EMPLOYEE_NOT_FOUND" {
+			t.Errorf("PlatformCode() = %q, want EMPLOYEE_NOT_FOUND", err.PlatformCode())
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("empty by default", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := New(ErrNotFound, "something not found")
+		if err.PlatformCode() != "" {
+			t.Errorf("PlatformCode() = %q, want empty string", err.PlatformCode())
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("chaining with WithContext", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := New(ErrAlreadyExists, "email taken").
+			WithPlatformCode("EMAIL_ALREADY_EXISTS").
+			WithContext("field", "email")
+		if err.PlatformCode() != "EMAIL_ALREADY_EXISTS" {
+			t.Errorf("PlatformCode() = %q, want EMAIL_ALREADY_EXISTS", err.PlatformCode())
+		}
+		if err.Fields()["field"] != "email" {
+			t.Errorf("Fields()[field] = %v, want email", err.Fields()["field"])
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("chaining preserves transport code", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := New(ErrPermissionDenied, "protected").
+			WithPlatformCode("ROLE_SYSTEM_PROTECTED")
+		if err.Code() != ErrPermissionDenied {
+			t.Errorf("Code() = %s, want %s", err.Code(), ErrPermissionDenied)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func TestErr_MarshalJSON_PlatformCode(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("included when set", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := New(ErrNotFound, "employee not found").
+			WithPlatformCode("EMPLOYEE_NOT_FOUND")
+		b, jsonErr := json.Marshal(err)
+		if jsonErr != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("MarshalJSON error: %v", jsonErr)
+		}
+		var out map[string]any
+		if jsonErr = json.Unmarshal(b, &out); jsonErr != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unmarshal error: %v", jsonErr)
+		}
+		if out["platformCode"] != "EMPLOYEE_NOT_FOUND" {
+			t.Errorf("json platformCode = %v, want EMPLOYEE_NOT_FOUND", out["platformCode"])
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("omitted when not set", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := New(ErrInternal, "unexpected error")
+		b, jsonErr := json.Marshal(err)
+		if jsonErr != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("MarshalJSON error: %v", jsonErr)
+		}
+		if strings.Contains(string(b), "platformCode") {
+			t.Errorf("json should omit platformCode when empty, got: %s", b)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
 func TestCode_Description(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		code Code