---
id: META-3
family: RT-META
level: extended
profiles: [runtime, editor-client]
posture: normative-target
added: "1.0"
changed: "1.0"
source: https://flowdrop.io/spec/rules/rt-meta/meta-3
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# META-3 — A failed read answers a fixed message and reports the real one

*RT-META (Part II) · level: extended · profiles: runtime, editor-client · added in 1.0*

The category door was the counter-example: it returned whatever the storage layer said and logged nothing, so a class name or a failed query was published to any caller who could read the list.

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. Where a read fails, the response body carries a fixed message naming what failed and nothing more; the underlying error is reported through the implementation's own error channel, never published to the caller.
>
> 2. This binds cacheable responses exactly as it binds every other kind: an error shape is not exempt because it is served from a different response path.

## Related rules

- Names: META-1

---

Rule identifiers are permanent and are never renumbered. This specification carries
no implementation status: each implementation publishes its own standing against
these rules. Licensed CC BY 4.0.