refactor: Remove error returns from ui.* functions

[osterman]

what

• Changed ui.Success, ui.Error, ui.Warning, ui.Info, ui.Write, ui.Markdown, and related functions to not return errors
• Eliminated 210+ instances of the "dog sled" pattern (_ = ui.*) across the codebase
• Functions now log write errors internally via log.Debug() instead of returning them

why

Errors from stderr writes are not meaningful for callers to handle. The io/Write API may fail for reasons beyond the caller's control (terminal buffering, redirect failures, etc.), but there's nothing actionable the caller can do. This matches the log.* pattern which already doesn't return errors.

references

Removes unnecessary error handling noise while maintaining the same output behavior.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Refactor

  • UI messaging made more resilient: status, warnings, and formatted output now log write failures internally instead of propagating errors, ensuring consistent user-facing messages.

• Chores

  • Updated example build image version and underlying formatter/dependency updates.

_{✏️ Tip: You can customize this high-level summary in your review settings.}

[mergify]

Warning

This PR exceeds the recommended limit of 1,000 lines.

Large PRs are difficult to review and may be rejected due to their size.

Please verify that this PR does not address multiple issues.
Consider refactoring it into smaller, more focused PRs to facilitate a smoother review process.

[mergify]

💥 This pull request now has conflicts. Could you fix it @osterman? 🙏

[mergify]

Important

Cloud Posse Engineering Team Review Required

This pull request modifies files that require Cloud Posse's review. Please be patient, and a core maintainer will review your changes.

To expedite this process, reach out to us on Slack in the #pr-reviews channel.

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The PR converts core UI output functions to void (removing error returns) and updates ~60+ call sites to stop assigning discarded return values, replacing _ = ui.X(...) with ui.X(...) or adjusting success-path returns accordingly.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Core UI API Changes pkg/ui/formatter.go, pkg/ui/formatter_test.go, pkg/ui/output_test.go	Changed many UI APIs (Markdown, Success, Error, Warning, Info, Toast, Hint, Write, ClearLine, etc.) from returning error to void; adjusted internal error logging and updated tests to match no-return semantics.
Command handlers & CLI cmd/... (e.g., cmd/about/about.go, cmd/root.go, cmd/auth_*.go, cmd/list/*, cmd/theme/*, cmd/toolchain/registry/*)	Replaced _ = ui.*(...) patterns with direct ui.*(...) calls; in a few success paths functions now return nil instead of propagating prior UI errors.
Terraform & Workdir cmd/terraform/*, pkg/terraform/* (e.g., workdir/*, clean/*, generate/*, output/spinner.go)	Updated UI callsites in generation, cleaning, spinner/output and workdir flows to new no-error UI API and adjusted returns where previously returned UI errors.
Toolchain & Installer toolchain/*.go, toolchain/*_helpers.go, toolchain/installer/*	Converted UI call patterns across toolchain commands (add, install, get, list, clean, set, uninstall, progress) to direct calls and adjusted success return semantics where applicable.
Provisioner & Source pkg/provisioner/*, pkg/provisioner/source/*	Removed blank-identifier discards for UI messages in provisioning and source/vendor flows; warnings/success/info now invoked with void UI functions.
Devcontainer & Containers pkg/devcontainer/*, pkg/config/utils.go	Replaced _ = ui.* with ui.* in lifecycle, start/stop/rebuild/list routines and version-constraint warnings.
Auth & Credentials pkg/auth/* (e.g., identities/aws/credential_prompt.go, integrations/aws/ecr.go)	Updated credential prompt and ECR flows to call void UI functions directly.
Internal exec & workflow utils internal/exec/*	Adjusted logging/write calls to match the new UI API (removed blank-identifier assignments).
Others / Misc pkg/flags/interactive.go, pkg/list/*, pkg/ui/spinner/*, pkg/version/reexec.go, pkg/provisioner/workdir/*, pkg/terraform/generate/*, examples/*, go.mod, NOTICE	Widespread callsite updates to reflect formatter signature changes; small module dependency bumps and Dockerfile ATMOS version bump included.

Sequence Diagram(s)

(omitted)

Estimated code review effort

🎯 4 (Complex) | ⏱️ ~45 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• Fix markdown rendering offset bug in toast messages #1968 — Modifies pkg/ui/formatter rendering paths and markdown/toast behavior; overlaps with formatter changes here.
• Add list affected command with spinner UI improvements #1874 — Touches spinner/formatter code and formatting helpers that intersect this API overhaul.
• feat: Add ui.Toast() pattern for status notifications #1794 — Adds/adjusts Toast/Toastf and related UI surface; strongly related to the signature and callsite changes in this PR.

Suggested labels

no-release

Suggested reviewers

• osterman

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 2 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 57.69% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately describes the main change: removing error returns from UI functions throughout the codebase. It's concise, specific, and clearly conveys the refactoring intent.

_{✏️ Tip: You can configure your own custom pre-merge checks in the settings.}

✨ Finishing touches

• 📝 Generate docstrings

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment
• Commit unit tests in branch osterman/relax-lint-errcheck

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[github-actions]

Dependency Review

✅ No vulnerabilities or license issues found.

Scanned Files

• go.mod

[codecov]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 72.13622% with 90 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 74.72%. Comparing base (994635c) to head (7937ce1).
⚠️ Report is 1 commits behind head on main.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
pkg/ui/formatter.go	66.66%	16 Missing and 16 partials ⚠️
cmd/toolchain/registry/list.go	11.11%	8 Missing ⚠️
toolchain/uninstall.go	57.14%	6 Missing ⚠️
cmd/list/themes.go	0.00%	4 Missing ⚠️
toolchain/info.go	75.00%	4 Missing ⚠️
toolchain/install_helpers.go	33.33%	4 Missing ⚠️
cmd/list/values.go	50.00%	2 Missing ⚠️
pkg/auth/identities/aws/credential_prompt.go	60.00%	2 Missing ⚠️
pkg/flags/interactive.go	0.00%	2 Missing ⚠️
pkg/ui/spinner/spinner.go	71.42%	2 Missing ⚠️
... and 22 more

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main    #1980      +/-   ##
==========================================
- Coverage   74.75%   74.72%   -0.03%     
==========================================
  Files         777      777              
  Lines       71176    71213      +37     
==========================================
+ Hits        53205    53216      +11     
- Misses      14511    14524      +13     
- Partials     3460     3473      +13     

Flag	Coverage Δ
unittests	74.72% <72.13%> (-0.03%)	⬇️

Flags with carried forward coverage won't be shown. Click here to find out more.

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
cmd/about/about.go	72.72% <100.00%> (+1.29%)	⬆️
cmd/auth_exec.go	85.32% <100.00%> (ø)
cmd/auth_whoami.go	71.05% <100.00%> (ø)
cmd/list/settings.go	38.88% <100.00%> (ø)
cmd/root.go	68.45% <100.00%> (ø)
cmd/terraform/workdir/workdir_clean.go	36.36% <100.00%> (ø)
cmd/terraform/workdir/workdir_list.go	56.09% <100.00%> (ø)
cmd/terraform/workdir/workdir_show.go	57.37% <100.00%> (ø)
cmd/theme/list.go	86.66% <100.00%> (+11.66%)	⬆️
cmd/theme/show.go	78.18% <100.00%> (+0.40%)	⬆️
... and 55 more

... and 2 files with indirect coverage changes

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 0

Caution

Some comments are outside the diff and can’t be posted inline due to platform limitations.

⚠️ Outside diff range comments (1)

pkg/terraform/clean/deleter.go (1)

27-29: Add user-facing error message for symlink rejection.

The symlink error path returns an error but doesn't notify the user via ui.Errorf, unlike the other error paths (lines 24 and 33). This creates an inconsistent experience.

🔧 Suggested fix

 	if fileInfo.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink != 0 {
+		ui.Errorf("Cannot delete %s: refusing to delete symbolic link", normalizedObjectName)
 		return fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", errUtils.ErrRefuseDeleteSymbolicLink, normalizedObjectName)
 	}

[github-actions]

These changes were released in v1.204.1-rc.2.