Errors

Every error has the same shape and a message written to be read by a person. The status code says what kind of problem it is; the message says what to do about it.

The envelope

Whatever goes wrong, the body is the same object. There is no error code to switch on — branch on the HTTP status, and show the message.

{
  "error": {
    "message": "Recipe not found."
  }
}

An unmatched path answers 404 with the same envelope: No such endpoint. See /docs for the available routes.

Bad requests

A parameter the API cannot use is rejected rather than ignored, so a typo shows up as an error instead of an empty page. The message names the parameter, the value it was given, and where the allowed values are listed.

400
The query parameter is required.
The `query` parameter was missing or empty.
400
Unknown cuisine "italien". The allowed values are listed by GET /vocabularies.
A parameter was not a value the API accepts. The message names the parameter, the value it was given and where the allowed values are listed.
400
The "limit" parameter must be a whole number of at least 1; got "many".
A parameter was not a value the API accepts. The message names the parameter, the value it was given and where the allowed values are listed.
400
The "language" parameter must be a two-letter code such as "en" or "sv"; got "english".
A parameter was not a value the API accepts. The message names the parameter, the value it was given and where the allowed values are listed.
400
The "category" parameter must be a slug such as "main-course" or "chicken-thigh"; got "Main Course".
A parameter was not a value the API accepts. The message names the parameter, the value it was given and where the allowed values are listed.

The closed vocabularies are on filtering and vocabularies, and served live by GET /vocabularies.

Keys

401
An API key is required. Pass it as an Authorization: Bearer header.
No key was sent, and this deployment requires one. Keys are optional today and will become required.
401
Invalid API key.
The key does not exist. Check for a truncated copy, or create a new one on your dashboard.
401
This API key has been disabled.
The key was revoked. Create a new one on your dashboard.
401
This API key has expired.
The key was created with an expiry that has passed. Create a new one.
429
Rate limit exceeded for this API key. Try again later.
The account has used its 500 requests for the day. The allowance is per account, so another key will not help. It resets at midnight UTC.

See authentication for how a key is sent, and rate limits for the 429.

Missing things

404
Recipe not found.
No recipe has that id. Ids are opaque strings from a list or search response, not slugs.

Our fault

500
Something went wrong. Please try again.
The API could not answer. The request was not your fault; retry it, and report it if it keeps happening.

A 500 is never caused by the request. Retrying is reasonable — once, after a short pause. If it keeps happening, the request was fine and we want to hear about it.