Description

This issue tracks the need to improve error messages in CLP package utility scripts to be more user-friendly and actionable for end users.

Background

While working on PR #1173 to fix traceback issues in archive manager scripts, it was identified that error messages could be more helpful to users. For example, when database connection fails, instead of just showing:

2025-08-11T17:54:22.390 ERROR [archive_manager] Archive manager failed.

A more user-friendly message could be:

2025-08-11T17:54:22.390 ERROR [archive_manager] Archive manager failed. Is the package running?

Affected Scripts

The following utility scripts in components/clp-package-utils/clp_package_utils/scripts/ could benefit from more user-friendly error messages:

• archive_manager.py
• compress.py
• search.py
• decompress.py

Scope

• Review error handling patterns across utility scripts
• Identify common failure scenarios (database connection, container issues, etc.)
• Implement contextual error messages that guide users toward resolution
• Consider creating helper functions for consistent error messaging

Context

• Original PR: feat(package): Add verbose logging option to archive_manager and improve error handling. #1173
• Discussion: feat(package): Add verbose logging option to archive_manager and improve error handling. #1173 (comment)
• Requested by: @haiqi96