pkg/errors is a Go error handling library that provides simple primitives for adding context to errors while preserving the original error value.
Go's traditional error handling pattern propagates errors up the call stack without context, making debugging difficult. The errors package solves this by offering the Wrap function, which adds contextual information to an error without destroying the underlying error value. Developers can then use the Cause function to retrieve the original error from a wrapped stack, allowing inspection of the root cause while maintaining the full error chain.
The tool suits any Go project where error context and debugging information matter. It is particularly valuable in applications where errors pass through multiple layers and you need to understand both what went wrong at the source and what was happening when the error occurred at each level. The package is straightforward to adopt: wrap errors with context as they propagate upward, and unwrap them when you need to inspect the original cause.
The project is in maintenance mode following Go's error handling proposals. Pull requests for bug fixes and issue reports are welcome, but the maintainers are not accepting proposals for new functionality. The roadmap indicates a planned final release, with the package moving toward stability rather than active feature development.
