Should I use error toast to show error codes?

Question

I'm trying to understand if it's a good practice to use error toast to show the error code/number (like error -XXX) besides the error message. Something like this:

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There was a problem fetching the data. Please try again. Error -XXX

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This was a feedback from the operations team, that always feel lost about some error tickets they receive. And somehow that would help them to identify the problem.

Answer 1

Toasts are temporarily visible. They disappear after a few seconds or can be manually dismissed by the user. (If this is not the case, they are possibly an annoyance to your users). So you can't rely on toasts and should have something more permanent. This can be a page where log messages are stored for a longer period. The scenario is like this:

1. The user performs the action
2. He/she does other stuff while the action is in progress
3. The toast appears with the clear message the action failed
4. Still concentrated on the current task the user notices the message briefly before it disappeared
5. The user calls support for help
6. Support guides the user to the log page and asks for the error message and code

This has a few advantages:

1. Users aren't bothered with strange messages with error codes
2. Users don't have to remember the messages or codes
3. While toasts can be missed, this allows for a more permanent notification: The link to the log page can be used to notify about occurred errors or important messages. Like a badge with a number or icon that disappears after the page was visited (and the messages were read).

Answer 2

The main question is what you're designing for. Is it for a staging release? if yes, then it could be faster for you dev to catch the error. I think an end user of a digital product (b2b or b2c) wouldn't benefits of this messages.