@error

When writing mixins and functions that take arguments, you usually want to ensure that those arguments have the types and formats your API expects. If they aren’t, the user needs to be notified and your mixin/function needs to stop running.

Sass makes this easy with the @error rule, which is written @error <expression>. It prints the value of the expression (usually a string) along with a stack trace indicating how the current mixin or function was called. Once the error is printed, Sass stops compiling the stylesheet and tells whatever system is running it that an error occurred.

Playground

SCSS Syntax

@mixin reflexive-position($property, $value) {
  @if $property != left and $property != right {
    @error "Property #{$property} must be either left or right.";
  }

  $left-value: if($property == right, initial, $value);
  $right-value: if($property == right, $value, initial);

  left: $left-value;
  right: $right-value;
  [dir=rtl] & {
    left: $right-value;
    right: $left-value;
  }
}

.sidebar {
  @include reflexive-position(top, 12px);
  //       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  // Error: Property top must be either left or right.
}
Playground

Sass Syntax

@mixin reflexive-position($property, $value)
  @if $property != left and $property != right
    @error "Property #{$property} must be either left or right."


  $left-value: if($property == right, initial, $value)
  $right-value: if($property == right, $value, initial)

  left: $left-value
  right: $right-value
  [dir=rtl] &
    left: $right-value
    right: $left-value



.sidebar
  @include reflexive-position(top, 12px)
  //       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  // Error: Property top must be either left or right.

The exact format of the error and stack trace varies from implementation to implementation, and can also depend on your build system. This is what it looks like in Dart Sass when run from the command line:

Error: "Property top must be either left or right."
  ╷
3 │     @error "Property #{$property} must be either left or right.";
  │     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  ╵
  example.scss 3:5   reflexive-position()
  example.scss 19:3  root stylesheet