> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://secndai.manicule.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
> For every page in one file, fetch https://secndai.manicule.dev/llms-full.txt (large).
> To search and read these docs as tools, connect the MCP server at https://secndai.manicule.dev/api/mcp.
> Every agent surface: https://secndai.manicule.dev/.well-known/llms-manifest.json

# Errors (/errors)

<!-- agent-signals: reading_time_min: 1 · est_tokens: 559 · updated: 2026-11-12 -->
Related: [Introduction](/index.md), [Quickstart](/quickstart.md), [Authentication](/authentication.md), [Models](/models.md), [Changelog](/changelog.md), [Confidence and the gate](/confidence.md)

> Use the HTTP status and the shared JSON error envelope.

API errors use one JSON shape:

```json
{"code": "invalid_key", "message": "A valid API key is required."}
```

Branch on the HTTP status and stable `code`, not the prose in `message`. Intermediaries can still return non-JSON failures; treat those as transport failures rather than successful decisions.

| Status | Meaning                                                           | Your next step                              |
| ------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| `400`  | Malformed JSON, compression, or request rules                     | Fix the body or headers                     |
| `401`  | Missing, invalid, or revoked bearer key                           | Fix credentials; do not blindly retry       |
| `413`  | Body, formatted token count, or option count too large            | Reduce the request; no automatic truncation |
| `415`  | Unsupported content type or content encoding                      | Use JSON and a supported single encoding    |
| `422`  | Wrong fields, duplicate IDs, invalid levels, or unavailable model | Fix the schema or model ID                  |
| `429`  | Key or account rate limit reached                                 | Honor `Retry-After` and back off            |
| `502`  | Invalid or unavailable inference response                         | Retry within a bounded budget               |
| `503`  | Gateway temporarily unavailable                                   | Retry within a bounded budget               |
| `504`  | Inference timed out                                               | Retry within a bounded budget               |
| `529`  | Inference overloaded                                              | Back off and reduce concurrency             |

If inference fails, do not manufacture an answer or proceed as if the gate passed. Queue review or return a temporary failure from your own application.

The SDKs retry `429` and server errors with bounded backoff. Apply a separate application timeout and avoid wrapping SDK retries in an unbounded retry loop. Authentication and validation errors need corrected input.