---
title: 'Handling exceptions and errors'
metaTitle: 'Handling exceptions and errors (Reference)'
metaDescription: 'This page covers how to handle exceptions and errors'
hide_table_of_contents: true
---

<TopBlock>

In order to handle different types of errors you can use `instanceof` to check what the error is and handle it accordingly.

The following example tries to create a user with an already existing email record. This will throw an error because the `email` field has the `@unique` attribute applied to it.

```prisma file=schema.prisma showLineNumbers
model User {
  id    Int     @id @default(autoincrement())
  email String  @unique
  name  String?
}
```

Use the `Prisma` namespace to access the error type. The [error code](/orm/reference/error-reference#error-codes) can then be checked and a message can be printed.

```ts
import { PrismaClient, Prisma } from '@prisma/client'

const client = new PrismaClient()

try {
  await client.user.create({ data: { email: 'alreadyexisting@mail.com' } })
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Prisma.PrismaClientKnownRequestError) {
    // The .code property can be accessed in a type-safe manner
    if (e.code === 'P2002') {
      console.log(
        'There is a unique constraint violation, a new user cannot be created with this email'
      )
    }
  }
  throw e
}
```

See [Errors reference](/orm/reference/error-reference) for a detailed breakdown of the different error types and their codes.

</TopBlock>
