Apply PR #8000: Refactor error handling to use getErrorMessage helper

[Copilot]

PR #8000 had merge conflicts preventing it from being merged into main. The conflicts arose from overlapping changes in check_permissions_utils.cjs between PR #8000's error handling refactor and PR #8007's TypeScript compilation fixes.

Changes

• Resolved merge conflict in check_permissions_utils.cjs by applying the getErrorMessage() helper pattern
• Applied all 71 file changes from PR Refactor error message extraction to use getErrorMessage helper #8000 to main-based branch
• Standardized error message extraction across all affected .cjs files

Implementation

Replaced manual error message extraction pattern:

// Before
const errorMessage = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);

With consistent helper usage:

// After
const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
// ...
const errorMessage = getErrorMessage(error);

This consolidates error handling logic into a single reusable helper, improving maintainability and consistency across 65+ JavaScript files in the codebase.

Original prompt

Apply changes from #8000 to main to resolve merge conflicts.

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