Errors

HTTP Errors

When interacting with Planet APIs, you may encounter standard HTTP errors. These errors are categorized by their status codes:

• 4xx (Client Errors): These indicate an issue with the request. Common examples include:

  • 400 Bad Request - The request was malformed or contained invalid parameters.
  • 401 Unauthorized - Authentication is missing or incorrect.
  • 403 Forbidden - You do not have permission to access the requested resource.
  • 404 Not Found - The requested resource does not exist.
  • 429 Too Many Requests - You have exceeded the allowed rate limits

• 5xx (Server Errors): These indicate an issue on the server-side. Common examples include:

  • 500 Internal Server Error - A general error occurred on the server.
  • 502 Bad Gateway - The API gateway received an invalid response from an upstream server.
  • 503 Service Unavailable - The API service is temporarily unavailable, often due to maintenance or high load.
  • 504 Gateway Timeout - The API request took too long to complete.

If you are experiencing 500s, check the status page for the API you are using to see if there are any known issues. If the issue persists, contact Planet Support.

Handling Rate Limiting (429 Too Many Requests)

If you receive a 429 Too Many Requests error, it means you have exceeded the allowed request rate for a given API. To avoid being blocked, follow the best practices outlined in our Rate Limiting Documentation for strategies to handle and mitigate rate limit issues.

API-Specific Error Messages

In addition to standard HTTP error codes, many Planet APIs return specific error messages in the response body. These messages provide more detailed information about the issue, including error codes, descriptions, and potential resolutions.

For more details on API-specific error formats, refer to the documentation for the individual API you are working with.