The error nobody saw
Sign-ups halved this week. No alert, no error on your screen. Then a customer writes: 'your form just says Something went wrong'.
This answers: Why don't I see errors my users see? No coding needed. 3 quick decisions.
- Keeping it running
- Debugging without panic
Step 1 of 3
This is the sign-up form's code. Click the line where the real error disappears.
Click the line that causes it.
Why don't I see errors my users see?
Many AI-built apps catch errors and show a generic message without recording the real error anywhere. Errors in the visitor's browser never reach your server logs on their own. Add an error tracking tool such as Sentry to both the browser and the server, with alerts, so you hear about failures before customers write in.
Breaks at Browser: Error caught, shown vaguely, then lost
Why AI tools write this bug
AI tools wrap code in try/catch to stop crashes and fill the catch with a friendly toast, which keeps the page working but throws the real error away.
How to fix it
- Find every catch block and check where the error goes.
- Add an error tracker to the browser and the server.
- Turn on alerts for new errors.
- Keep the friendly message for users, but record the real error.
Check your own app
Paste this into Lovable, Cursor or Claude Code:
Without changing anything, list every try/catch and .catch() in this project. For each one, tell me what happens to the error: is it shown to the user, logged on the server, sent to an error tracker, or dropped? Also tell me whether this project has any error tracking set up for the browser and for the server.
Common questions
- Are console.log errors enough?
- Only for errors on your server. Errors logged in a visitor's browser stay on their device unless an error tracker sends them to you.