API referenceReference / 09

Errors & limits

Status codes, retry guidance, and platform limits.

Standard OpenAI-style error responses:

Status	Meaning	Retry?
`401`	Missing or invalid API key	no — fix the key
`400`	Malformed request, unsupported parameter, or insufficient prepaid balance	no — fix the request or top up
`429`	Edge, per-key, or provider rate limit; some gateway spend-limit failures may also use this status	yes for rate limits, no for a reached spend limit
`5xx`	Upstream provider issue	yes

Error bodies follow the OpenAI shape:

json

{
  "error": {
    "message": "...",
    "type": "invalid_request_error",
    "code": "..."
  }
}

When a request is rejected by a key budget or your available balance, read the returned error.message and error.code before retrying. A retry cannot raise a hard budget or restore a zero balance; create a new key budget or top up first.

Platform limits #

Requests are limited to 60/s per IP at the edge. This is separate from optional per-key RPM/TPM limits and the tighter limits on promotional accounts.
Request bodies up to 50 MB (plenty for base64 vision payloads).
Streams stay open for up to 10 minutes.