diff --git a/src/application/AnalysisProviderEvaluation.ts b/src/application/AnalysisProviderEvaluation.ts
index 08a7a54937..e648a4fd7a 100644
--- a/src/application/AnalysisProviderEvaluation.ts
+++ b/src/application/AnalysisProviderEvaluation.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ export const evaluateAnalysisProviderCandidate = async (
     if (resolution === ABORTED)
       return err(new AnalysisCancelledError("open_binary"));
     resolved = resolution;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return ok(
       rejectedProfile(candidate, status, "Provider profile resolution threw"),
     );
@@ -82,7 +83,8 @@ export const evaluateAnalysisProviderCandidate = async (
         ),
       );
     return ok({ candidate, status, profile, compatibility });
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return ok(
       rejectedProfile(
         candidate,
diff --git a/src/application/ArtifactExtraction.ts b/src/application/ArtifactExtraction.ts
index cbbcfcc73e..7fc20dae94 100644
--- a/src/application/ArtifactExtraction.ts
+++ b/src/application/ArtifactExtraction.ts
@@ -171,7 +171,11 @@ const materializeSelection = async ({
     await output.commit();
     return result;
   } catch (cause: unknown) {
-    if (!readerClosed) await reader.close().catch(() => undefined);
+    if (!readerClosed)
+      await reader.close().catch((cause: unknown) => {
+        // best-effort cleanup: reader close must not mask the extraction failure.
+        void cause;
+      });
     await output.rollback();
     throw cause;
   }
diff --git a/src/application/BinarySessionRecords.ts b/src/application/BinarySessionRecords.ts
index dd2bbfbc61..8faceaf242 100644
--- a/src/application/BinarySessionRecords.ts
+++ b/src/application/BinarySessionRecords.ts
@@ -186,10 +186,14 @@ export abstract class BinarySessionRecords {
       try {
         const notification = listener();
         if (notification !== undefined)
-          void notification.catch(() => undefined);
-      } catch {
+          void notification.catch((cause: unknown) => {
+            // best-effort cleanup: async observer notifications must not reject unhandled.
+            void cause;
+          });
+      } catch (cause: unknown) {
         // External resource observers are best-effort; one callback must not
         // make a committed evidence mutation appear to fail.
+        void cause;
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/application/ClientConfigPath.ts b/src/application/ClientConfigPath.ts
index 34b2cf3496..c28cc800c0 100644
--- a/src/application/ClientConfigPath.ts
+++ b/src/application/ClientConfigPath.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,9 @@ export const resolveClientConfigTransactionPath = async (
     return targetStats.isFile?.() === true && targetStats.uid === currentUid
       ? canonicalPath
       : undefined;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: unreadable or vanishing config paths mean no registration.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/ClientRegistrationStatus.ts b/src/application/ClientRegistrationStatus.ts
index 1c064c6849..b7d05e1bb1 100644
--- a/src/application/ClientRegistrationStatus.ts
+++ b/src/application/ClientRegistrationStatus.ts
@@ -226,7 +226,9 @@ const exists = async (path: string | undefined): Promise<boolean> => {
   try {
     await access(path);
     return true;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional registration probing; absence means unregistered.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/Doctor.ts b/src/application/Doctor.ts
index 2748001a73..3d474eeaec 100644
--- a/src/application/Doctor.ts
+++ b/src/application/Doctor.ts
@@ -353,7 +353,9 @@ export const systemDoctorHost = (
             )
           ).stdout.trim();
           return `${prefix}/Hopper Disassembler.app/Contents/MacOS/hopper`;
-        } catch {
+        } catch (cause: unknown) {
+          // best-effort cleanup: optional Homebrew probing; absence means uninstalled.
+          void cause;
           return undefined;
         }
       });
@@ -373,7 +375,9 @@ export const systemDoctorHost = (
             })
           ).stdout,
         );
-      } catch {
+      } catch (cause: unknown) {
+        // best-effort cleanup: optional version probing; failure means unavailable.
+        void cause;
         return undefined;
       }
     },
@@ -385,7 +389,9 @@ export const systemDoctorHost = (
           (await hostExecFileOutput(command, arguments_, commandEnvironment))
             .stdout,
         );
-      } catch {
+      } catch (cause: unknown) {
+        // best-effort cleanup: optional path probing; failure means none found.
+        void cause;
         return [];
       }
     },
@@ -404,7 +410,9 @@ const readMacosVersion = async (
 ): Promise<string | undefined> => {
   try {
     return (await run("sw_vers", ["-productVersion"], options)).stdout.trim();
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional OS version probing; failure means unknown.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
 };
@@ -420,7 +428,9 @@ const executableAvailable = async (
     if (platform !== "linux") return true;
     const linked = await run("ldd", [path], options);
     return linuxSharedLibrariesAvailable(`${linked.stdout}\n${linked.stderr}`);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional executable probing; failure means unavailable.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
@@ -444,8 +454,9 @@ const manualHopperPaths = async (
         if (entry.isDirectory() && /^Hopper.*\.app$/i.test(entry.name))
           paths.push(join(root, entry.name, "Contents/MacOS/hopper"));
       }
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
       // A missing or unreadable optional application directory is not fatal.
+      void cause;
     }
   }
   return paths;
@@ -471,7 +482,9 @@ const installedSkillIdentity = async (
         /^\s{2}catalog_digest:\s*"([a-f0-9]{64})"\s*$/mu.exec(content)?.[1] ??
         null,
     };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional skill probing; failure means unknown.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactAnalysis.ts b/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactAnalysis.ts
index 4fa873770b..e9bb474457 100644
--- a/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactAnalysis.ts
+++ b/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactAnalysis.ts
@@ -157,7 +157,8 @@ const parsePackage = (
   let value: unknown;
   try {
     value = JSON.parse(file.text.value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return invalidPackage(file, "package.json is not valid JSON.");
   }
   if (!isRecord(value))
@@ -232,7 +233,8 @@ const parseSourceMap = (
   let value: unknown;
   try {
     value = JSON.parse(file.text.value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return invalidSourceMap(file, "Source map is not valid JSON.");
   }
   const maps = flattenSourceMaps(value);
diff --git a/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactFiles.ts b/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactFiles.ts
index 28b5d064d8..72e94c414b 100644
--- a/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactFiles.ts
+++ b/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactFiles.ts
@@ -232,7 +232,9 @@ const readText = async (
       included: true,
       value: new TextDecoder("utf-8", { fatal: true }).decode(bytes),
     };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Non-UTF8 bytes are counted; the fixed reason preserves the schema.
+    void cause;
     context.invalidUtf8 += 1;
     return { included: false, reason: "invalid-utf8" };
   }
diff --git a/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactPathResolution.ts b/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactPathResolution.ts
index f00e3795b4..fc7eba4386 100644
--- a/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactPathResolution.ts
+++ b/src/application/JavaScriptArtifactPathResolution.ts
@@ -430,7 +430,9 @@ const packageEntry = (
     if (entry === undefined) return { status: "missing" };
     const legacy = packagePathValue(entry);
     return legacy.status === "value" ? { ...legacy, source: "legacy" } : legacy;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Reflect-based manifest reads fail closed as invalid.
+    void cause;
     return { status: "invalid" };
   }
 };
@@ -545,7 +547,9 @@ const fileUrlPath = (value: string): string | undefined => {
     const url = new URL(value);
     if (url.protocol !== "file:" || url.hostname !== "") return undefined;
     return decodeURIComponent(url.pathname).replace(/^\/+/, "");
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unparseable file URLs have no path to resolve.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/JavaScriptJsonModules.ts b/src/application/JavaScriptJsonModules.ts
index ed29f07211..284fa99b89 100644
--- a/src/application/JavaScriptJsonModules.ts
+++ b/src/application/JavaScriptJsonModules.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ export const analyzeJavaScriptJsonModule = (
   let value: unknown;
   try {
     value = JSON.parse(file.text.value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return {
       path: file.path,
       sha256: file.sha256,
diff --git a/src/application/JavaScriptModuleRelationships.ts b/src/application/JavaScriptModuleRelationships.ts
index b825e6933f..c16aadc354 100644
--- a/src/application/JavaScriptModuleRelationships.ts
+++ b/src/application/JavaScriptModuleRelationships.ts
@@ -401,7 +401,9 @@ const jsonStatus = (
   try {
     JSON.parse(file.text.value);
     return "included";
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Invalid JSON is classified without further detail.
+    void cause;
     return "invalid";
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/LinuxHopper.ts b/src/application/LinuxHopper.ts
index 3f1beeb882..cc9a83d122 100644
--- a/src/application/LinuxHopper.ts
+++ b/src/application/LinuxHopper.ts
@@ -165,7 +165,9 @@ export const readLinuxDistribution = async (): Promise<
 > => {
   try {
     return parseLinuxDistribution(await readFile("/etc/os-release", "utf8"));
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional host probing; unknown distribution means unsupported.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
 };
@@ -244,7 +246,9 @@ const systemLinuxHopperInstallHost = (): LinuxHopperInstallHost => ({
       return (await linuxHopperBinarySupported(path))
         ? "ready"
         : "unsupported_hopper_build";
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // best-effort cleanup: optional launcher probing; unreadable means missing.
+      void cause;
       return "missing";
     }
   },
@@ -259,7 +263,9 @@ export const linuxHopperBinarySupported = async (
     const hash = createHash("sha256");
     for await (const chunk of createReadStream(path)) hash.update(chunk);
     return hash.digest("hex") === SUPPORTED_HOPPER_SHA256;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional build probing; unreadable means unsupported.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
@@ -280,7 +286,9 @@ const installSystemPackage = async (
     ))
       await execFileAsync(command.executable, command.args);
     return true;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Package-manager failure is reported by the false return.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/MacHopper.ts b/src/application/MacHopper.ts
index 65adfb79bc..6ce195654c 100644
--- a/src/application/MacHopper.ts
+++ b/src/application/MacHopper.ts
@@ -120,7 +120,9 @@ export const installMacHopper = async (
       return { status: "failed", reason: "launcher_missing" };
     await host.openApplication(destination);
     return { status: "installed", launcherPath };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Install-stage failures share the download reason; the stage is cleaned below.
+    void cause;
     return { status: "failed", reason: "download" };
   } finally {
     if (temporary !== undefined) {
@@ -175,7 +177,9 @@ const systemMacHopperInstallHost = (): MacHopperInstallHost => ({
         ])
       ).stdout.trim();
       return identifier === BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER;
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // best-effort cleanup: optional bundle probing; unreadable means invalid.
+      void cause;
       return false;
     }
   },
@@ -183,7 +187,9 @@ const systemMacHopperInstallHost = (): MacHopperInstallHost => ({
     try {
       await access(path);
       return true;
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // best-effort cleanup: optional existence probing; absence means missing.
+      void cause;
       return false;
     }
   },
@@ -199,13 +205,16 @@ const systemMacHopperInstallHost = (): MacHopperInstallHost => ({
       await rename(stage, destination);
       if (replaceExisting) await rm(previous, { recursive: true, force: true });
       return true;
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // Install failure rolls back below; the false return reports it.
+      void cause;
       await rm(stage, { recursive: true, force: true });
       if (replaceExisting) {
         try {
           await rename(previous, destination);
-        } catch {
+        } catch (rollbackCause: unknown) {
           // The original destination was not moved, or rollback is impossible.
+          void rollbackCause;
         }
       }
       return false;
@@ -215,7 +224,9 @@ const systemMacHopperInstallHost = (): MacHopperInstallHost => ({
     try {
       await access(path);
       return true;
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // best-effort cleanup: optional launcher probing; absence means not ready.
+      void cause;
       return false;
     }
   },
@@ -253,7 +264,9 @@ const commandSucceeds = async (
   try {
     await execFileAsync(command, args);
     return true;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional command probing; failure means unavailable.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/ProcessCaptureJournal.ts b/src/application/ProcessCaptureJournal.ts
index 6199022104..a40f11ac36 100644
--- a/src/application/ProcessCaptureJournal.ts
+++ b/src/application/ProcessCaptureJournal.ts
@@ -72,7 +72,9 @@ export const scheduleScenarioInteractions = (
               ),
             );
           } else terminal.kill(event.signal);
-        } catch {
+        } catch (cause: unknown) {
+          // Terminal dispatch failures are recorded as failed outcomes.
+          void cause;
           outcome = "failed";
         }
       }
diff --git a/src/application/ProcessCaptureLifecycle.ts b/src/application/ProcessCaptureLifecycle.ts
index f38661a97f..1ea4b47e97 100644
--- a/src/application/ProcessCaptureLifecycle.ts
+++ b/src/application/ProcessCaptureLifecycle.ts
@@ -362,7 +362,8 @@ export const releaseProcessResources = async (options: {
   let failure: string | undefined;
   try {
     await options.renderer?.dispose();
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     failure ??= "terminal renderer cleanup failed";
   }
   if (options.terminal !== undefined && host.platform !== "win32") {
@@ -377,7 +378,8 @@ export const releaseProcessResources = async (options: {
   }
   try {
     await host.removeTemporaryRoot(options.temporaryRoot);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     failure ??= "temporary process root cleanup failed";
   }
   return failure;
diff --git a/src/application/ProcessCli.ts b/src/application/ProcessCli.ts
index eb5af8c800..82c9c83e59 100644
--- a/src/application/ProcessCli.ts
+++ b/src/application/ProcessCli.ts
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ const parseCaptureEvidence = (input: unknown) => {
   let evidence;
   try {
     evidence = parseEvidence(input);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
     throw invalidCaptureEvidence();
   }
   if (
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ const parseCaptureEvidence = (input: unknown) => {
       capture: parseProcessCapture(evidence.normalized_result),
       locations: evidence.locations,
     };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
     throw invalidCaptureEvidence();
   }
 };
@@ -157,7 +157,8 @@ const readJson = async (path: string): Promise<unknown> => {
   let bytes;
   try {
     bytes = await readFile(path);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     throw new ProcessCliFailure(
       "invalid_input",
       "Process input file could not be read. Check that the path exists and is readable.",
@@ -166,7 +167,8 @@ const readJson = async (path: string): Promise<unknown> => {
   try {
     const parsed: unknown = JSON.parse(bytes.toString("utf8"));
     return parsed;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     throw new ProcessCliFailure(
       "invalid_input",
       "Process input file is not valid JSON. Repair the file, then try again.",
diff --git a/src/application/ProcessSampling.ts b/src/application/ProcessSampling.ts
index 6aa000c4d6..b559a8f7ac 100644
--- a/src/application/ProcessSampling.ts
+++ b/src/application/ProcessSampling.ts
@@ -358,7 +358,9 @@ const inspectInitializedPtyRoot = async (
   let observedRunId: string | undefined;
   try {
     observedRunId = await readProcessRunId(rootPid);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unreadable run identity means the root cannot be attributed.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
   const after = await readRootIdentity(rootPid, signal);
diff --git a/src/application/ReferenceSourceImportPolicy.ts b/src/application/ReferenceSourceImportPolicy.ts
index 48aab577d2..0cb467d666 100644
--- a/src/application/ReferenceSourceImportPolicy.ts
+++ b/src/application/ReferenceSourceImportPolicy.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ const resolveRoot = async (
       );
     const canonicalRoot = await realpath(resolve(requestedRoot));
     return ok(canonicalRoot);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return err(
       failure("invalid-root", "Reference source root could not be resolved"),
     );
@@ -50,8 +51,9 @@ const buildIgnored = async (
   const ignored = ignore();
   try {
     ignored.add(await readFile(join(root, ".gitignore"), "utf8"));
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
     // Missing or unreadable ignore file does not authorize broader access.
+    void cause;
   }
   ignored.add([...DEFAULT_REFERENCE_SOURCE_IGNORE_PATTERNS]);
   for (const path of excludePaths) {
diff --git a/src/application/ReferenceSourceVcsAdapter.ts b/src/application/ReferenceSourceVcsAdapter.ts
index c33f6d2678..8b0d1466be 100644
--- a/src/application/ReferenceSourceVcsAdapter.ts
+++ b/src/application/ReferenceSourceVcsAdapter.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ export const readReferenceSourceVcs = async (
     const head = await resolveRef({ fs, dir: root, ref: "HEAD" });
     if (isAborted(signal)) return { kind: "unknown", head: null, dirty: null };
     return { kind: "git", head, dirty: null };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unresolvable refs mean VCS state is unknown, not absent.
+    void cause;
     return { kind: "unknown", head: null, dirty: null };
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/SetupClientConfiguration.ts b/src/application/SetupClientConfiguration.ts
index 87d13aaa99..04eace6b93 100644
--- a/src/application/SetupClientConfiguration.ts
+++ b/src/application/SetupClientConfiguration.ts
@@ -77,7 +77,9 @@ const configureClientDocument = async (
       original ?? (format === "toml" ? "" : "{}"),
       format,
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Malformed existing configuration fails the readback gate.
+    void cause;
     return { status: "failed", reason: "readback" };
   }
   const { document, servers, serversKey } = parsed;
@@ -120,7 +122,9 @@ const configureClientDocument = async (
         mode: 0o600,
       },
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Write failure is reported by the status reason.
+    void cause;
     return { status: "failed", reason: "write" };
   }
   try {
@@ -137,7 +141,9 @@ const configureClientDocument = async (
       await restoreConfig(transactionPath, original);
       return { status: "failed", reason: "readback" };
     }
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Readback failure restores the transaction before reporting.
+    void cause;
     await restoreConfig(transactionPath, original);
     return { status: "failed", reason: "readback" };
   }
@@ -166,7 +172,9 @@ export const clientConfigurationAligned = async (
       servers[PRODUCT_IDENTITY.mcpServerKey],
       desired,
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unreadable configuration is treated as not aligned so setup repairs it.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
@@ -213,7 +221,9 @@ export const inspectClientConfiguration = async (
       )
     )
       return { status: "already_current" };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Malformed configuration is reported with the invalid remediation.
+    void cause;
     return {
       status: "invalid",
       remediation:
@@ -247,8 +257,9 @@ const restoreConfig = async (
   try {
     if (original === undefined) await rm(path, { force: true });
     else await writeFile(path, original, { encoding: "utf8", mode: 0o600 });
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
     // The backup remains available for the remediation reported by setup.
+    void cause;
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/application/SetupHost.ts b/src/application/SetupHost.ts
index 46cb53a73f..471fc3f194 100644
--- a/src/application/SetupHost.ts
+++ b/src/application/SetupHost.ts
@@ -143,7 +143,9 @@ const exists = async (path: string): Promise<boolean> => {
   try {
     await access(path);
     return true;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional host probing; absence means unavailable.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/SetupSkill.ts b/src/application/SetupSkill.ts
index 6bb880e687..367cb64b3e 100644
--- a/src/application/SetupSkill.ts
+++ b/src/application/SetupSkill.ts
@@ -59,7 +59,9 @@ export const canonicalSkillNeedsInstall = async (
     return (await canonicalSkillFiles(home)).some(
       ({ content, original }) => original !== content,
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unreadable skill state fails open to install so setup can repair it.
+    void cause;
     return true;
   }
 };
@@ -97,11 +99,14 @@ export const installCanonicalSkill = async (
       if ((await readFile(destination, "utf8")) !== content)
         throw new Error(`skill readback mismatch: ${destination}`);
     return "installed";
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Install failure preserves the original error outcome; report cause inline.
+    void cause;
     try {
       await restoreSkillFiles(changed);
-    } catch {
+    } catch (restoreCause: unknown) {
       // Per-file backups remain beside changed files for operator recovery.
+      void restoreCause;
     }
     return "failed";
   }
diff --git a/src/application/StoreFileLock.ts b/src/application/StoreFileLock.ts
index 7d0330f31a..4f79cc060c 100644
--- a/src/application/StoreFileLock.ts
+++ b/src/application/StoreFileLock.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,10 @@ export const createStoreFileLock = async (
     }
     return {
       release: async () => {
-        await removeOwner(path, owner).catch(() => undefined);
+        await removeOwner(path, owner).catch((cause: unknown) => {
+          // best-effort cleanup: lock release must not reject unhandled.
+          void cause;
+        });
       },
     };
   } finally {
@@ -85,7 +88,9 @@ export const removeStaleStoreFileLock = async (
       return false;
     await removeOwner(path, owner);
     return true;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: stale lock probing; failure means the lock stands.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/application/Uninstall.ts b/src/application/Uninstall.ts
index 57fbd3b181..7bad3c6a3f 100644
--- a/src/application/Uninstall.ts
+++ b/src/application/Uninstall.ts
@@ -150,7 +150,8 @@ const removeClient = async (
       servers,
       serversKey: key,
     } = parseClientConfiguration(original, client.format));
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return item(
       client.name,
       "failed",
@@ -172,7 +173,8 @@ const removeClient = async (
   const backupPath = `${client.configPath}.rea.backup`;
   try {
     await fileSystem.copy(transactionPath, backupPath);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return item(
       client.name,
       "failed",
@@ -200,10 +202,13 @@ const removeClient = async (
       "removed",
       `Removed registration from ${client.configPath}.`,
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Update failure attempts a restore before reporting; cause is preserved below.
+    void cause;
     try {
       await fileSystem.writeText(transactionPath, original);
-    } catch {
+    } catch (restoreCause: unknown) {
+      void restoreCause;
       return item(
         client.name,
         "failed",
diff --git a/src/application/UpdateRuntime.ts b/src/application/UpdateRuntime.ts
index e397c493dc..3486078901 100644
--- a/src/application/UpdateRuntime.ts
+++ b/src/application/UpdateRuntime.ts
@@ -85,7 +85,9 @@ export const detectNpmInstallation = async (
   let canonicalPackageRoot: string;
   try {
     canonicalPackageRoot = await host.canonicalPath(packageRoot);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional install-location probing; unknown means not npm-managed.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
   try {
@@ -99,8 +101,9 @@ export const detectNpmInstallation = async (
         ? undefined
         : { prefix, packageRoot: canonicalPackageRoot };
     }
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
     // The curl installer uses a Unix prefix that may differ from npm's current default.
+    void cause;
   }
   const nodeModules = dirname(canonicalPackageRoot);
   const library = dirname(nodeModules);
diff --git a/src/application/WindowsCapabilities.ts b/src/application/WindowsCapabilities.ts
index b675335ac8..df7368c9e6 100644
--- a/src/application/WindowsCapabilities.ts
+++ b/src/application/WindowsCapabilities.ts
@@ -126,9 +126,10 @@ const probeSymlinkCreation = async (): Promise<WindowsCapabilityOutcome> => {
   } finally {
     try {
       await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
       // Cleanup failure must not replace the machine-readable probe outcome.
       // The probe root lives beneath the OS temporary directory and is unique.
+      void cause;
     }
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/browser/BrowserProcessStartup.ts b/src/browser/BrowserProcessStartup.ts
index 1ae95fae72..85eae0553c 100644
--- a/src/browser/BrowserProcessStartup.ts
+++ b/src/browser/BrowserProcessStartup.ts
@@ -141,7 +141,9 @@ const readDevtoolsPort = async (path: string): Promise<number | null> => {
     return Number.isSafeInteger(port) && port > 0 && port <= 65_535
       ? port
       : null;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Missing or unreadable port files mean the port is unknown.
+    void cause;
     return null;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/browser/CdpCaptureDocuments.ts b/src/browser/CdpCaptureDocuments.ts
index 9cceb40a61..baa7eab853 100644
--- a/src/browser/CdpCaptureDocuments.ts
+++ b/src/browser/CdpCaptureDocuments.ts
@@ -433,7 +433,9 @@ const domDestination = (
       url: allowedSanitizedUrl(parsed.href, allowedOrigins)?.url ?? null,
       scope: "approved",
     };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unparseable URLs are out of scope, not failures.
+    void cause;
     return { url: null, scope: "unsupported" };
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/browser/CdpCaptureEventHandlers.ts b/src/browser/CdpCaptureEventHandlers.ts
index 9a5cd1a39d..9d9f3a7dc5 100644
--- a/src/browser/CdpCaptureEventHandlers.ts
+++ b/src/browser/CdpCaptureEventHandlers.ts
@@ -98,7 +98,9 @@ const sourceMapForScript = (
   let rawUrl: string;
   try {
     rawUrl = new URL(declaredUrl, scriptUrl).href;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unparseable URLs are recorded as unsupported, not as failures.
+    void cause;
     state.completeness.exclude("source_maps", "unsupported_url");
     return { sanitized: null, raw: null };
   }
@@ -344,7 +346,9 @@ export const handleWebSocketCreated = (
   let parsed: URL;
   try {
     parsed = new URL(rawUrl);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unparseable URLs are recorded as unsupported, not as failures.
+    void cause;
     state.completeness.exclude("websocket_connections", "unsupported_url");
     return;
   }
diff --git a/src/browser/CdpCaptureValues.ts b/src/browser/CdpCaptureValues.ts
index e0cb122fe4..8eff2034b6 100644
--- a/src/browser/CdpCaptureValues.ts
+++ b/src/browser/CdpCaptureValues.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,9 @@ export const isHttpUrl = (value: string | undefined): boolean => {
   try {
     const protocol = new URL(value).protocol;
     return protocol === "http:" || protocol === "https:";
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Non-URL input is not an HTTP URL.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/browser/CdpEndpoint.ts b/src/browser/CdpEndpoint.ts
index b95711c320..178ebc65b7 100644
--- a/src/browser/CdpEndpoint.ts
+++ b/src/browser/CdpEndpoint.ts
@@ -116,7 +116,9 @@ const sanitizeTargetTitle = (value: string, targetUrl: string): string => {
   let url: URL;
   try {
     url = new URL(value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Non-URL titles fall back to alias redaction.
+    void cause;
     return sanitizeTargetUrlAlias(value, targetUrl);
   }
   return url.protocol === "http:" || url.protocol === "https:"
@@ -128,7 +130,9 @@ const sanitizeTargetUrlAlias = (value: string, targetUrl: string): string => {
   let parsed: URL;
   try {
     parsed = new URL(targetUrl);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Without a parseable target URL there is nothing to redact.
+    void cause;
     return value;
   }
   const markers = [parsed.origin, `//${parsed.host}`, parsed.host];
@@ -150,7 +154,9 @@ const sanitizeSameOriginTitleUrl = (candidate: string, target: URL): string => {
       : candidate.startsWith(target.host)
         ? new URL(`${target.protocol}//${candidate}`)
         : new URL(candidate, target.origin);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unparseable candidates are preserved verbatim.
+    void cause;
     return candidate;
   }
   return parsed.origin === target.origin &&
@@ -273,7 +279,9 @@ const targetWebSocket = (
     return webSocket.scope === "page" && webSocket.targetId === target.id
       ? { webSocket }
       : {};
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Endpoint validation failures mean no validated transport exists.
+    void cause;
     return {};
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/browser/CdpSafeMetadata.ts b/src/browser/CdpSafeMetadata.ts
index ff4b91a209..cb0381b24c 100644
--- a/src/browser/CdpSafeMetadata.ts
+++ b/src/browser/CdpSafeMetadata.ts
@@ -130,7 +130,9 @@ const cspSource = (
     return allowedOrigins.has(parsed.origin)
       ? { kind: "approved_origin", value: parsed.origin }
       : { kind: "external_origin", value: null };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Non-URL tokens are classified as other.
+    void cause;
     return { kind: "other", value: null };
   }
 };
@@ -210,7 +212,9 @@ const safeDestination = (
     if (!allowedOrigins.has(parsed.origin))
       return { url: sanitized, scope: "outside_policy" };
     return { url: sanitized, scope: "approved" };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unparseable link values keep their raw text for the analyst.
+    void cause;
     return { url: value, scope: "unsupported" };
   }
 };
@@ -231,7 +235,9 @@ const wellKnownHint = (url: string): AgentHint[] => {
     return wellKnownAgentPaths.has(path)
       ? [agentHint("well_known_resource", path, sanitizeBrowserUrl(url).url)]
       : [];
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Non-URL input yields no well-known hint.
+    void cause;
     return [];
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/browser/ElectronFileScope.ts b/src/browser/ElectronFileScope.ts
index dc92af930e..63e1737917 100644
--- a/src/browser/ElectronFileScope.ts
+++ b/src/browser/ElectronFileScope.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ export const authorizedElectronFile = async (
   let url: URL;
   try {
     url = new URL(value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Non-URL input cannot authorize a local file.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
   if (
@@ -23,7 +25,9 @@ export const authorizedElectronFile = async (
   let path: string;
   try {
     path = fileURLToPath(url);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unconvertible file URLs cannot authorize a local file.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
   if (!isAbsolute(path) || path.includes("\0")) return undefined;
@@ -31,7 +35,9 @@ export const authorizedElectronFile = async (
   try {
     if (!(await stat(path)).isFile()) return undefined;
     canonical = await realpath(path);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Missing or unreadable files cannot authorize a local file.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
   return canonical;
diff --git a/src/browser/JavaScriptRuntimeScope.ts b/src/browser/JavaScriptRuntimeScope.ts
index 14508b9038..b448a7f27c 100644
--- a/src/browser/JavaScriptRuntimeScope.ts
+++ b/src/browser/JavaScriptRuntimeScope.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ export const authorizeRuntimeLocation = async (
   let url: URL;
   try {
     url = new URL(value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Non-URL input is outside the authorized runtime scope.
+    void cause;
     return { allowed: false, reason: "unsupported_location" };
   }
   if (!["http:", "https:"].includes(url.protocol))
diff --git a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioArtifacts.ts b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioArtifacts.ts
index f0a086e63a..015168824a 100644
--- a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioArtifacts.ts
+++ b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioArtifacts.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ const captureScreenshot = async (page: Page) => {
         data_base64: bytes.toString("base64"),
       },
     };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return missing("screenshot capture failed");
   }
 };
@@ -72,7 +73,8 @@ const captureDom = async (input: {
   const { page, secrets } = input;
   try {
     return textArtifact(secrets.redact(await page.content()));
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return missing("DOM capture failed");
   }
 };
@@ -85,7 +87,8 @@ const captureAccessibility = async (input: {
   try {
     const text = await page.locator("html").ariaSnapshot();
     return textArtifact(secrets.redact(text));
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return missing("accessibility capture failed");
   }
 };
@@ -126,7 +129,8 @@ const captureHistory = async (page: Page, secrets: BrowserScenarioSecrets) => {
       })),
     };
     return { state: "captured" as const, value };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return missing("history capture failed");
   }
 };
@@ -169,7 +173,8 @@ const captureStorage = async (input: {
       })),
     };
     return { state: "captured" as const, value };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return missing("storage capture failed");
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioEvents.ts b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioEvents.ts
index 4fa6237ca5..7861fae700 100644
--- a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioEvents.ts
+++ b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioEvents.ts
@@ -68,9 +68,10 @@ export class PlaywrightScenarioEvents {
         if (this.ownsContext) return true;
         try {
           return this.pages.has(request.frame().page());
-        } catch {
+        } catch (cause: unknown) {
           // Initial popup navigations can lack a frame. Never guess ownership
           // from a URL in a shared context; connect captures are attach-limited.
+          void cause;
           return false;
         }
       };
@@ -314,6 +315,9 @@ export class PlaywrightScenarioEvents {
       suggested_filename: this.secrets.redact(download.suggestedFilename()),
       url: this.safeUrl(download.url()),
     });
-    void download.cancel().catch(() => undefined);
+    void download.cancel().catch((cause: unknown) => {
+      // best-effort cleanup: download cancellation must not reject unhandled.
+      void cause;
+    });
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioSession.ts b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioSession.ts
index 8ca64e0368..567fdd980d 100644
--- a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioSession.ts
+++ b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioSession.ts
@@ -152,7 +152,10 @@ export class PlaywrightScenarioSession implements BrowserScenarioSessionPort {
         .then((lateOpened) =>
           closePlaywrightScenarioBrowser(lateOpened, options.signal),
         )
-        .catch(() => undefined);
+        .catch((cause: unknown) => {
+          // best-effort cleanup: late-open cleanup must not mask the boundary failure.
+          void cause;
+        });
       throw cause;
     }
     try {
diff --git a/src/browser/WebSourceMapFetcher.ts b/src/browser/WebSourceMapFetcher.ts
index 7738d9fb21..94170bf34a 100644
--- a/src/browser/WebSourceMapFetcher.ts
+++ b/src/browser/WebSourceMapFetcher.ts
@@ -199,7 +199,8 @@ const normalizeSourceMap = (
           status: "partial",
           limitation: `Module edges are incomplete: ${modules.incomplete.length} of ${originalSources.filter(({ artifact }) => artifact !== null).length} original sources could not be parsed in full (${modules.incomplete.join(", ")}).`,
         };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     return emptySourceMapItem(
       request,
       "invalid",
@@ -311,7 +312,9 @@ const approvedUrl = (
       parsed.password === "" &&
       allowedOrigins.includes(parsed.origin)
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Non-URL input is not an approved source-map URL.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
@@ -338,7 +341,9 @@ const emptySourceMapItem = (
 const sanitizeSource = (value: string): string => {
   try {
     return sanitizeBrowserUrl(new URL(value).href).url;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Non-URL sources are preserved verbatim.
+    void cause;
     return value;
   }
 };
@@ -349,7 +354,9 @@ const resolveOriginalSource = (
 ): string | null => {
   try {
     return sanitizeSource(new URL(specifier, base).href);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unresolvable source specifiers are represented by null.
+    void cause;
     return null;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/domain/browserObservation.ts b/src/domain/browserObservation.ts
index 9dfe647c14..7be7809698 100644
--- a/src/domain/browserObservation.ts
+++ b/src/domain/browserObservation.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ const parseExactOrigin = (value: string): string | undefined => {
   let url: URL;
   try {
     url = new URL(value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Invalid input is represented by the undefined return.
+    void cause;
     return undefined;
   }
   if (
@@ -55,7 +57,9 @@ export const browserEndpointSchema = z
     let url: URL;
     try {
       url = new URL(value);
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // Invalid input is reported through the zod issue.
+      void cause;
       context.addIssue({ code: "custom", message: "Invalid CDP endpoint URL" });
       return z.NEVER;
     }
@@ -160,7 +164,9 @@ export const sanitizeBrowserUrl = (value: string): SanitizedBrowserUrl => {
   let parsed: URL;
   try {
     parsed = new URL(value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unparseable input is preserved verbatim in the sanitized result.
+    void cause;
     return {
       url: value,
       origin: null,
@@ -203,7 +209,9 @@ const removeUrlUserInfo = (value: string, parsed: URL): string => {
     return candidateUrl.username === "" && candidateUrl.password === ""
       ? candidate
       : credentialFreeHref(parsed);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Fallback to the already-sanitized href when the candidate is invalid.
+    void cause;
     return credentialFreeHref(parsed);
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/domain/browserScenarioValues.ts b/src/domain/browserScenarioValues.ts
index 488b1347c5..37515971e2 100644
--- a/src/domain/browserScenarioValues.ts
+++ b/src/domain/browserScenarioValues.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@ const browserScenarioBaseUrlSchema = z
     let url: URL;
     try {
       url = new URL(value);
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // Invalid input is reported through the zod issue.
+      void cause;
       context.addIssue({ code: "custom", message: "Invalid browser URL" });
       return z.NEVER;
     }
diff --git a/src/domain/electronActiveObservation.ts b/src/domain/electronActiveObservation.ts
index abae1d06bb..02d60b7481 100644
--- a/src/domain/electronActiveObservation.ts
+++ b/src/domain/electronActiveObservation.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ const deepLinkUrlSchema = z
   .refine((value) => {
     try {
       return new URL(value).protocol.length > 0;
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // Invalid input fails the refinement.
+      void cause;
       return false;
     }
   }, "deep-link url must be an absolute URL");
diff --git a/src/domain/interfaceBuilderGraph.ts b/src/domain/interfaceBuilderGraph.ts
index e64a69e466..e0f8555cfd 100644
--- a/src/domain/interfaceBuilderGraph.ts
+++ b/src/domain/interfaceBuilderGraph.ts
@@ -861,7 +861,9 @@ const jsonSafeRecord = (value: Record<string, unknown>) =>
         if (serialized === undefined) return [];
         const parsed = jsonValueSchema.safeParse(JSON.parse(serialized));
         return parsed.success ? [[key, parsed.data]] : [];
-      } catch {
+      } catch (cause: unknown) {
+        // Unserializable entries are omitted from the record.
+        void cause;
         return [];
       }
     }),
diff --git a/src/domain/javascriptRuntimeReconciliationSchemas.ts b/src/domain/javascriptRuntimeReconciliationSchemas.ts
index 61d0c550ec..454fc7c511 100644
--- a/src/domain/javascriptRuntimeReconciliationSchemas.ts
+++ b/src/domain/javascriptRuntimeReconciliationSchemas.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,9 @@ const normalizeRuntimeUrlPrefix = (value: string): string | null => {
   let url: URL;
   try {
     url = new URL(value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Invalid input is represented by the null return.
+    void cause;
     return null;
   }
   if (
diff --git a/src/domain/javascriptRuntimeStaticCandidates.ts b/src/domain/javascriptRuntimeStaticCandidates.ts
index 29714733e0..6f72a66103 100644
--- a/src/domain/javascriptRuntimeStaticCandidates.ts
+++ b/src/domain/javascriptRuntimeStaticCandidates.ts
@@ -240,7 +240,9 @@ const pathBelowUrlPrefix = (prefix: string, value: string): string | null => {
   try {
     base = new URL(prefix);
     candidate = new URL(value);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Invalid input is represented by the null return.
+    void cause;
     return null;
   }
   if (
@@ -252,7 +254,9 @@ const pathBelowUrlPrefix = (prefix: string, value: string): string | null => {
     return normalizeArtifactPath(
       decodeURIComponent(candidate.pathname.slice(base.pathname.length)),
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Undecodable path segments are represented by the null return.
+    void cause;
     return null;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/domain/javascriptSourceParser.ts b/src/domain/javascriptSourceParser.ts
index 656273cce6..64983775b0 100644
--- a/src/domain/javascriptSourceParser.ts
+++ b/src/domain/javascriptSourceParser.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@ export const parseJavaScriptSource = (
       // recovered syntax, which loses every fact derived from that source.
       plugins: ["decorators-legacy", "jsx", "typescript"],
     });
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unparseable source is represented by the null return.
+    void cause;
     return null;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/domain/jsonShape.ts b/src/domain/jsonShape.ts
index bc6f388b7f..4dce47e43f 100644
--- a/src/domain/jsonShape.ts
+++ b/src/domain/jsonShape.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@ export const inferJsonShape = (text: string): JsonShape | null => {
   let root: unknown;
   try {
     root = JSON.parse(text);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Invalid JSON is represented by the null return.
+    void cause;
     return null;
   }
   const properties = new Map<
diff --git a/src/domain/webBundleAnalyzerAst.ts b/src/domain/webBundleAnalyzerAst.ts
index b0a16c4df1..9b8704e635 100644
--- a/src/domain/webBundleAnalyzerAst.ts
+++ b/src/domain/webBundleAnalyzerAst.ts
@@ -53,7 +53,9 @@ export const resolveSpecifier = (
     if (resolved.protocol !== "http:" && resolved.protocol !== "https:")
       return null;
     return sanitizeBrowserUrl(resolved.href).url;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unresolvable specifiers are represented by the null return.
+    void cause;
     return null;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/domain/webBundleAnalyzerInspection.ts b/src/domain/webBundleAnalyzerInspection.ts
index aada76ea7b..ed45f8948c 100644
--- a/src/domain/webBundleAnalyzerInspection.ts
+++ b/src/domain/webBundleAnalyzerInspection.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,9 @@ export const analyzeScript = (
       errorRecovery: true,
       plugins: ["jsx", "typescript"],
     });
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Unparseable scripts are counted; the failure needs no extra detail.
+    void cause;
     accumulator.parseFailures += 1;
     return;
   }
diff --git a/src/dotnet/ManagedMetadataHeaps.ts b/src/dotnet/ManagedMetadataHeaps.ts
index 532e9b6371..7bd6c760fe 100644
--- a/src/dotnet/ManagedMetadataHeaps.ts
+++ b/src/dotnet/ManagedMetadataHeaps.ts
@@ -134,7 +134,8 @@ export const readMetadataString = (
     return new TextDecoder("utf-8", { fatal: true }).decode(
       bytes.subarray(start, end),
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    void cause;
     throw managedFailure(
       "invalid-string",
       "metadata.#Strings",
diff --git a/src/dotnet/ManagedMetadataInventoryRows.ts b/src/dotnet/ManagedMetadataInventoryRows.ts
index e8fdb5c44c..f228495260 100644
--- a/src/dotnet/ManagedMetadataInventoryRows.ts
+++ b/src/dotnet/ManagedMetadataInventoryRows.ts
@@ -348,7 +348,9 @@ const decodeFixedString = (blob: Buffer): string | null => {
     return new TextDecoder("utf-8", { fatal: true }).decode(
       blob.subarray(start, start + length.length),
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Invalid UTF-8 blobs decode as null.
+    void cause;
     return null;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/ghidra/GhidraInstallation.ts b/src/ghidra/GhidraInstallation.ts
index 23e4479522..200ad71720 100644
--- a/src/ghidra/GhidraInstallation.ts
+++ b/src/ghidra/GhidraInstallation.ts
@@ -468,7 +468,9 @@ const systemGhidraInstallationHost = (): GhidraInstallationHost => ({
   readText(path) {
     try {
       return readFileSync(path, "utf8");
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // best-effort cleanup: optional install probing; unreadable means unknown.
+      void cause;
       return undefined;
     }
   },
@@ -476,7 +478,9 @@ const systemGhidraInstallationHost = (): GhidraInstallationHost => ({
     try {
       accessSync(path, constants.X_OK);
       return true;
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // best-effort cleanup: optional executable probing; failure means missing.
+      void cause;
       return false;
     }
   },
@@ -523,7 +527,9 @@ const executablePath = (path: string): boolean => {
   try {
     accessSync(path, constants.X_OK);
     return true;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional executable probing; failure means missing.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/ghidra/GhidraLauncher.ts b/src/ghidra/GhidraLauncher.ts
index 5f3f54b324..913cc5705b 100644
--- a/src/ghidra/GhidraLauncher.ts
+++ b/src/ghidra/GhidraLauncher.ts
@@ -163,7 +163,12 @@ export class GhidraHeadlessLauncher implements GhidraLauncher {
       });
     } catch (cause: unknown) {
       if (started !== undefined)
-        await cleanupStartedProcess(started, platform).catch(() => undefined);
+        await cleanupStartedProcess(started, platform).catch(
+          (cause: unknown) => {
+            // best-effort cleanup: started-process cleanup must not mask the launch failure.
+            void cause;
+          },
+        );
       return isAborted(options.signal)
         ? err(new AnalysisCancelledError("open_binary"))
         : err(
diff --git a/src/ghidra/GhidraTargetSnapshot.ts b/src/ghidra/GhidraTargetSnapshot.ts
index e2b6786008..ee847cfa40 100644
--- a/src/ghidra/GhidraTargetSnapshot.ts
+++ b/src/ghidra/GhidraTargetSnapshot.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,10 @@ export const createGhidraTargetSnapshot = async (
       );
     return { path: snapshotPath, sha256: observedSha256 };
   } catch (cause: unknown) {
-    await rm(snapshotPath, { force: true }).catch(() => undefined);
+    await rm(snapshotPath, { force: true }).catch((cause: unknown) => {
+      // best-effort cleanup: snapshot removal must not mask the copy failure.
+      void cause;
+    });
     throw cause;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/hopper/BridgeLauncher.ts b/src/hopper/BridgeLauncher.ts
index 78a6a7c41a..efa5563f5e 100644
--- a/src/hopper/BridgeLauncher.ts
+++ b/src/hopper/BridgeLauncher.ts
@@ -449,7 +449,9 @@ const processIsRunning = async (executablePath: string): Promise<boolean> => {
     return processes.stdout
       .split("\n")
       .some((command) => command.trim() === executablePath);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional process probing; failure means not running.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/hopper/HopperAnalysisProfile.ts b/src/hopper/HopperAnalysisProfile.ts
index 506105dffa..c2eb0ea83c 100644
--- a/src/hopper/HopperAnalysisProfile.ts
+++ b/src/hopper/HopperAnalysisProfile.ts
@@ -125,7 +125,9 @@ const sha256File = async (
     return signalIsAborted(signal)
       ? err(new AnalysisCancelledError("open_binary"))
       : ok(hash.digest("hex"));
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: unreadable targets mean no digest; abort still cancels.
+    void cause;
     return signalIsAborted(signal)
       ? err(new AnalysisCancelledError("open_binary"))
       : ok(undefined);
diff --git a/src/hopper/HopperCleanup.ts b/src/hopper/HopperCleanup.ts
index 588c25afa8..e73e800791 100644
--- a/src/hopper/HopperCleanup.ts
+++ b/src/hopper/HopperCleanup.ts
@@ -166,8 +166,9 @@ const stopProcess = async (
   );
   try {
     input.onDiagnostic?.(diagnostic);
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
     // Diagnostic consumers cannot change the already-observed cleanup result.
+    void cause;
   }
   input.logger.info(diagnostic, "Owned Hopper launcher shutdown completed");
   if (stopped.status !== "incomplete") {
diff --git a/src/hopper/HopperClient.ts b/src/hopper/HopperClient.ts
index d259389f41..05f951e200 100644
--- a/src/hopper/HopperClient.ts
+++ b/src/hopper/HopperClient.ts
@@ -397,7 +397,9 @@ export class HopperClient {
         );
       try {
         await access(socketPath);
-      } catch {
+      } catch (cause: unknown) {
+        // best-effort cleanup: socket polling; absence means keep waiting.
+        void cause;
         if ((await deadline.wait(50)) === "aborted")
           return err(startupInterruption(deadline));
         continue;
@@ -476,7 +478,9 @@ export class HopperClient {
         category: message.event.error.type,
         message: message.event.error.message,
       });
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // best-effort cleanup: diagnostic consumers must not break the client.
+      void cause;
       this.#logger.warn(
         { requestId: message.id },
         "Hopper bridge diagnostic consumer rejected an event",
diff --git a/src/hopper/HopperProvider.ts b/src/hopper/HopperProvider.ts
index 439287fc93..a096309eeb 100644
--- a/src/hopper/HopperProvider.ts
+++ b/src/hopper/HopperProvider.ts
@@ -124,7 +124,9 @@ export class HopperProvider implements AnalysisProviderCandidate {
         reason: null,
         diagnostics,
       };
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // best-effort cleanup: optional launcher probing; failure means unavailable.
+      void cause;
       return {
         status: "unavailable",
         code: "executable_missing",
diff --git a/src/hopper/HopperRequestQueue.ts b/src/hopper/HopperRequestQueue.ts
index 0ae4c22fb9..97e9b7d2fa 100644
--- a/src/hopper/HopperRequestQueue.ts
+++ b/src/hopper/HopperRequestQueue.ts
@@ -274,10 +274,14 @@ export class HopperRequestQueue {
   #reportUpdate(entry: QueuedRequest, update: ProgressUpdate): void {
     try {
       void Promise.resolve(entry.progress?.report(update)).catch(
-        () => undefined,
+        (cause: unknown) => {
+          // best-effort cleanup: progress rejection bookkeeping only.
+          void cause;
+        },
       );
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
       // Progress observation cannot change the request outcome.
+      void cause;
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/hopper/LinuxPrivateDisplayProbe.ts b/src/hopper/LinuxPrivateDisplayProbe.ts
index 526c7be068..26d081189f 100644
--- a/src/hopper/LinuxPrivateDisplayProbe.ts
+++ b/src/hopper/LinuxPrivateDisplayProbe.ts
@@ -112,7 +112,9 @@ export const runLinuxPrivateDisplayProbe: LinuxPrivateDisplayProbeRunner =
         runId: randomUUID(),
         expectedCommand: null,
       });
-    } catch {
+    } catch (cause: unknown) {
+      // best-effort cleanup: probe spawn failure is reported as launch-failed.
+      void cause;
       return emptyProcessResult("launch-failed");
     }
     const launch: ProviderProcessLaunch = {
@@ -198,7 +200,9 @@ const evaluatedProbe = async (
       timeoutMs,
       ...(options.signal === undefined ? {} : { signal: options.signal }),
     });
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // Runner failure is reported with the synthetic probe_failed diagnostic.
+    void cause;
     return {
       ok: false,
       diagnostic: syntheticDiagnostic(strategy, "probe_failed"),
diff --git a/src/native/AppleDispatchMetadata.ts b/src/native/AppleDispatchMetadata.ts
index 3bd301c6d4..c485bfc438 100644
--- a/src/native/AppleDispatchMetadata.ts
+++ b/src/native/AppleDispatchMetadata.ts
@@ -162,8 +162,9 @@ export const decodeAppleDispatchMetadata = (
         let fileOffset: number | null = null;
         try {
           fileOffset = offset(target);
-        } catch {
-          /* serialized target remains unresolved */
+        } catch (cause: unknown) {
+          // best-effort cleanup: serialized target remains unresolved.
+          void cause;
         }
         if (admit())
           result.relative_pointers.push({
@@ -204,8 +205,9 @@ export const decodeAppleDispatchMetadata = (
             "Method implementation is not in an executable segment",
           );
         implementationLocation = location(implementation);
-      } catch {
-        /* external/chained pointers remain unresolved */
+      } catch (cause: unknown) {
+        // best-effort cleanup: external/chained pointers remain unresolved.
+        void cause;
       }
       result.objc_dispatch_implementations.push({
         class_name: className,
@@ -269,7 +271,9 @@ export const decodeAppleDispatchMetadata = (
         superclassName = string(
           pointer((pointer(superclass + 32n) & ~7n) + 24n),
         );
-      } catch {
+      } catch (cause: unknown) {
+        // Superclass resolution failure is recorded; the cause adds no identity.
+        void cause;
         failures.push(
           `Superclass pointer ${hex(superclass)} of ${name} requires unsupported binding/fixup resolution`,
         );
@@ -294,7 +298,9 @@ export const decodeAppleDispatchMetadata = (
         let value: number | null = null;
         try {
           value = u32(encodedOffset);
-        } catch {
+        } catch (cause: unknown) {
+          // Unresolved offsets are recorded; the cause adds no identity.
+          void cause;
           failures.push(`Unresolved ivar offset pointer ${hex(encodedOffset)}`);
         }
         result.objc_ivars.push({
diff --git a/src/native/NativeUiObservation.ts b/src/native/NativeUiObservation.ts
index b58964d11b..f788075c3c 100644
--- a/src/native/NativeUiObservation.ts
+++ b/src/native/NativeUiObservation.ts
@@ -190,7 +190,9 @@ const observeWithHelper = async (
           signal.addEventListener("abort", abort, { once: true });
           if (signal.aborted) abort();
         });
-      } catch {
+      } catch (cause: unknown) {
+        // Cancellation is recorded as a cancelled outcome.
+        void cause;
         results.push({
           index,
           kind: step.kind,
diff --git a/src/process/ProcessOwnership.ts b/src/process/ProcessOwnership.ts
index 9b00dd3fd8..d74961401c 100644
--- a/src/process/ProcessOwnership.ts
+++ b/src/process/ProcessOwnership.ts
@@ -116,7 +116,10 @@ export const cleanupWindowsProcessTree = async (
   try {
     const result = await host.terminateTree(rootPid);
     return { cleaned: true, signaled: result === "terminated" };
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // The reason string is a pinned validation contract; keep it stable and
+    // do not interpolate the cause into caller-visible diagnostics here.
+    void cause;
     return {
       cleaned: false,
       reason:
diff --git a/src/process/ProcessOwnershipObservation.ts b/src/process/ProcessOwnershipObservation.ts
index f1cd15e731..ee835dcb9b 100644
--- a/src/process/ProcessOwnershipObservation.ts
+++ b/src/process/ProcessOwnershipObservation.ts
@@ -221,7 +221,9 @@ const processIsGone = async (
     return !liveProcesses(await host.listProcesses()).some(
       (process) => process.pid === pid,
     );
-  } catch {
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    // best-effort cleanup: optional liveness probing; failure means not gone.
+    void cause;
     return false;
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/server/mcpProgress.ts b/src/server/mcpProgress.ts
index 1b2aa09a40..0cbe0a1946 100644
--- a/src/server/mcpProgress.ts
+++ b/src/server/mcpProgress.ts
@@ -27,8 +27,9 @@ export const mcpProgressReporter = (
             message: `${update.phase}: ${update.message}`,
           },
         });
-      } catch {
+      } catch (cause: unknown) {
         // Progress is observational; transport failure cannot change tool truth.
+        void cause;
       }
     },
     { minimumIntervalMs: 100 },