Refactor core for better readability

**Problem**
When working with helpers, the error messages could be more descriptive.

**Suggestion**
Improve error handling and add detailed error messages.

**Context**
This would help with debugging and maintenance.

Start by locating the core helpers and their current error-handling paths, then review how existing errors are constructed and reported. Done means the relevant helper failures provide more descriptive error messages without changing their intended behavior; add or update tests if the project has coverage for these paths.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.