Handling API Errors

CodeGPT can help you analyze and improve how your application handles API errors by providing better error-handling strategies and examples.

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Example Scenario

Suppose you're developing an application that consumes an API to fetch weather data. Occasionally, the API response fails due to network issues, invalid requests, or server errors. Here’s an example of the JSON error response from the API:

{
  "error": {
    "code": 404,
    "message": "City not found"
  }
}

Your current error-handling logic is minimal, and you want to improve it to handle different types of errors more effectively.

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Example Prompt

How can I handle API errors more effectively when receiving responses like this one?

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Example Response

CodeGPT might suggest the following enhanced error-handling strategy:

1. Check for Common Error Codes: Use the code field in the error response to determine the type of error.
2. Provide User-Friendly Messages: Translate error messages into language that end users can understand.
3. Implement Retry Logic: For transient issues (e.g., network errors), retry the request with exponential backoff.

Here’s an example of how your application’s error-handling logic might look after improvements:

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Improved Error Handling Logic

def handle_api_error(response):
    """Handle errors from the weather API."""
    error_code = response.get('error', {}).get('code')
    error_message = response.get('error', {}).get('message')

    if error_code == 404:
        print("Error: The requested city was not found. Please check the city name and try again.")
    elif error_code == 500:
        print("Error: The server encountered an issue. Please try again later.")
    elif error_code == 403:
        print("Error: Access denied. Check your API key or permissions.")
    else:
        print(f"An unknown error occurred: {error_message or 'No details provided'}")

# Example Usage
api_response = {
    "error": {
        "code": 404,
        "message": "City not found"
    }
}

handle_api_error(api_response)

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Why This Matters

1. Resilience: Your application can respond gracefully to API failures without crashing.
2. User Experience: Clear, actionable error messages help users resolve issues quickly.
3. Scalability: By centralizing error handling, you can easily adapt to new API error types or codes.

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Benefits of Using CodeGPT

• Error Insights: CodeGPT can help you understand complex error responses and suggest ways to handle them effectively.
• Customization: Provides tailored suggestions based on the specific API or error scenarios you’re dealing with.
• Efficiency: Saves time by automating the creation of robust error-handling strategies.