/**
 * Extract a human-readable error message from any thrown value.
 * Handles Error objects, strings, and plain objects with message/error fields.
 * @param {*} error — caught exception value
 * @returns {string} best-effort error description
 */
export function describeError(error) {
  if (!error) return 'Unknown initialization error';
  if (error instanceof Error) {
    if (error.message && error.message.trim()) return error.message.trim();
    return error.name || 'Initialization error';
  }
  if (typeof error === 'string' && error.trim()) return error.trim();
  if (typeof error === 'object') {
    const maybeMessage = String(error.message || error.error || '').trim();
    if (maybeMessage) return maybeMessage;
    try {
      const serialized = JSON.stringify(error);
      if (serialized && serialized !== '{}') return serialized;
    } catch {
      // ignore serialization error
    }
  }
  return String(error);
}