BE

Domain: Coding

Difficulty: Beginner

Description:
The actorSearch() function in src/controllers/actorsController.ts lacks error handling. It needs:

• Better error messages for missing or empty name parameter
• Try-catch blocks to handle Wikidata API failures gracefully
• Proper HTTP status codes (400 for bad request, 500 for server error, 204 for no results)
• Validation to ensure the name parameter is not just whitespace
• Logging for debugging failed requests

Expected Outcome:

• Robust error handling in all endpoints
• Informative error messages returned to the frontend
• Proper HTTP status codes
• No unhandled promise rejections
• Server doesn't crash on invalid requests

Setup Steps:

1. Clone https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/toolforge-repos/wdtmcollab-api
2. Navigate to src/controllers/actorsController.ts.
3. Review the actorSearch() function
4. Add parameter validation (non-null, non-empty, trim whitespace)
5. Enhance error messages to be more specific
6. Test with curl or Postman:
   • Missing name parameter
   • Empty name parameter
   • Valid actor name
7. Check the console for proper logging

Links/References:

• File: src/controllers/actorsController.ts
• Related service: src/services/actorsService.ts.
• Frontend integration: endpoints.ts in frontend
• Testing tools: Postman, curl, VS Code REST Client