From 1b30c9a0f7f77a16e16c238c324b6c6bf4f3b1d4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Camila Belo <camilaibs@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2023 19:59:51 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] feat(search): improve router query errors

Signed-off-by: Camila Belo <camilaibs@gmail.com>
---
 .changeset/hip-onions-tan.md                    |  5 +++++
 .../search-backend/src/service/router.test.ts   | 17 +++++++++++++++++
 plugins/search-backend/src/service/router.ts    |  2 +-
 3 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 .changeset/hip-onions-tan.md

diff --git a/.changeset/hip-onions-tan.md b/.changeset/hip-onions-tan.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..01be0d4867
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/hip-onions-tan.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-search-backend': patch
+---
+
+Change the router's response to include the error message instead of its object type in case it fails during a search query because the messages have more info.
diff --git a/plugins/search-backend/src/service/router.test.ts b/plugins/search-backend/src/service/router.test.ts
index 1dbd145bce..b4772dd62d 100644
--- a/plugins/search-backend/src/service/router.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/search-backend/src/service/router.test.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,23 @@ describe('createRouter', () => {
   });
 
   describe('GET /query', () => {
+    it('throws meaningful query errors', async () => {
+      const error = new Error('Query error message');
+      mockSearchEngine.query.mockRejectedValueOnce(error);
+
+      const response = await request(app).get('/query');
+
+      expect(response.status).toEqual(500);
+      expect(response.body).toMatchObject(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          error: {
+            name: 'Error',
+            message: `There was a problem performing the search query: ${error.message}`,
+          },
+        }),
+      );
+    });
+
     it('returns empty results array', async () => {
       const response = await request(app).get('/query');
 
diff --git a/plugins/search-backend/src/service/router.ts b/plugins/search-backend/src/service/router.ts
index b51dcead14..10f47d180f 100644
--- a/plugins/search-backend/src/service/router.ts
+++ b/plugins/search-backend/src/service/router.ts
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ export async function createRouter(
         }
 
         throw new Error(
-          `There was a problem performing the search query. ${error}`,
+          `There was a problem performing the search query: ${error.message}`,
         );
       }
     },