Errors
When something goes wrong with an API request, our server generates an error. The error message contains an appropriate HTTP status code in the header and a JSON response in the body.
Errors share the same common attributes as other API resources. They have a sys
property, where sys.type
is always "Error"
and a sys.id
that identifies the exact error code (see table below) that occurred. They always have a message
property which will be a short description of what went wrong.
Errors resulting from bad input (such as ValidationFailed
errors) contain a details
property. This property is structured data that indicates more precisely what was wrong with the input.
Error types
HTTP status code | Error code | Description |
---|---|---|
400 Bad Request | BadRequest | The request was malformed or missing a required parameter. |
400 Bad Request | InvalidQuery | The request contained invalid or unknown query parameters. |
401 Unauthorized | AccessTokenInvalid | The authorization token was invalid. |
403 Forbidden | AccessDenied | The user tried to access a resource they do not have access to. This could include a missing role. |
404 Not Found | NotFound | The requested resource or endpoint could not be found. |
409 Conflict | VersionMismatch | This error occurs when you're trying to update an existing asset, entry or content type, and you didn't specify the current version of the object or specified an outdated version. |
422 Unprocessable Entity | ValidationFailed | The request payload was valid JSON, but something was wrong with the data. The error details should provide more specific information about the error. |
422 Unprocessable Entity | UnknownField | The triggered query references an unknown field. |
422 Unprocessable Entity | InvalidEntry | The entered value is invalid. |
429 Too Many Requests | RateLimitExceeded | The user sent too many requests in a given timeframe. See API Rate limits for details. |
500 Internal Server Error | ServerError | Something went wrong on the Contentful servers. |
502 Bad Gateway | Hibernated | The space has not been accessed for a long time and has been "hibernated" in a saved state. This error should resolve on its own in a few moments, once the space has been successfully awakened. |
Next steps
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