fix: replace panic with error handling for cluster extension failure

[CAICAIIs]

What does this PR do?

Replaces panic with proper error handling when cluster extension fails. This prevents the application from crashing and allows errors to be handled gracefully.

Why is it needed?

Using error handling instead of panic improves system stability and reliability.

Related to #3008

[codecov-commenter]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 0% with 37 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 39.59%. Comparing base (53b4f39) to head (8f27792).
⚠️ Report is 2 commits behind head on develop.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
config/reference_config.go	0.00%	17 Missing ⚠️
registry/directory/directory.go	0.00%	11 Missing and 1 partial ⚠️
registry/protocol/protocol.go	0.00%	7 Missing and 1 partial ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@             Coverage Diff             @@
##           develop    #3021      +/-   ##
===========================================
- Coverage    39.62%   39.59%   -0.03%     
===========================================
  Files          457      457              
  Lines        38878    38901      +23     
===========================================
- Hits         15406    15404       -2     
- Misses       22214    22237      +23     
- Partials      1258     1260       +2     

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[No-SilverBullet]

Because no error is returned here, if it is adjusted to return nil, is there a risk of panic in other referenced places? If so, including unit tests, they also need to be adjusted.

[CAICAIIs]

Because no error is returned here, if it is adjusted to return nil, is there a risk of panic in other referenced places? If so, including unit tests, they also need to be adjusted.

got it. I'll look for other places that reference it.

[marsevilspirit]

I prefer to use panic to deal with these serious and irreverable problems.

[sonarqubecloud]

Quality Gate passed

Issues
0 New issues
0 Accepted issues

Measures
0 Security Hotspots
0.0% Coverage on New Code
0.0% Duplication on New Code

See analysis details on SonarQube Cloud