refactor(sova): audit and narrow 326 bare exception handlers

[xsovad06]

Objective

Audit the 326 except Exception: handlers across the codebase, replace with specific exception types where possible, and ensure all catch-all boundaries log with exc_info=True.

Findings

[P2] 326 bare except Exception: handlers

• Location: Across all sova/ packages
• Issue: Broad exception catching masks bugs and catches KeyboardInterrupt/SystemExit via chaining. Many are justified for non-fatal side effects, but the count makes it impossible to distinguish intentional from lazy handling.
• Recommendation: Audit top 50 by file concentration. Replace with specific types (httpx.HTTPError, json.JSONDecodeError, etc.) where failure mode is known. Keep except Exception only for true catch-all boundaries.

Files to Modify

• Top 50 files by except Exception: concentration (run grep -rc "except Exception:" sova/ | sort -t: -k2 -rn | head 50)

Estimated Effort

4 hours

Dependencies

#638 (Observability foundation)

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Source: docs/HEALTH-AUDIT.md -- Health Audit 2026-08-12

Triage Assessment

Title: refactor(sova): audit and narrow 326 bare exception handlers
Has description: yes
Suitability: ready
Confidence: 85%
Complexity: complex
Missing context: none
Labels: type: task, area: sova

Issue has structured sections indicating clear scope; ready for research.