Errors, and what each one charged

What does each status mean, and did it cost me anything?

Checked against the code on 15 Sept 2026

Errors use standard HTTP status codes and the OpenAI error envelope. The column that matters most is the last one: some failures happen after the model has already run, and those are charged.

Envelope

{ "error": { "message": "Not enough credits. This request needs about 12. Add credits at https://heyaskr.ai/wallet", "type": "insufficient_quota", "param": null, "code": null } }

Before the model runs

None of these charge anything. The reservation, if one was made, is released.

Status	Type	Message	What to do
400	invalid_request_error	`messages is required and must be a non-empty array.`	Send a `messages` array.
400	invalid_request_error	`Unsupported message role: X`	Use system, user or assistant.
400	invalid_request_error	`No usable messages were provided.`	Send at least one message with string content.
400	invalid_request_error	`The conversation is too long.`	Trim below 120,000 characters.
400	invalid_request_error	`That model has no published rate and cannot be billed.`	Pick a model from the catalog.
401	authentication_error	`Missing or invalid API key.`	Check the header; make a new key if in doubt.
402	insufficient_quota	`Not enough credits. This request needs about N. ...`	Add credits. N is the worst case for this request, so a smaller `max_tokens` can get it through.
404	invalid_request_error	`The model 'x' does not exist.`	Ids are exact. Copy from the catalog.
429	rate_limit_error	`This key's daily cap of N credits would be exceeded. ...`	Raise the cap in the wallet or wait for the window to roll.
429	(plain body)	`{"statusCode":429,"error":"Too Many Requests","message":"Rate limit exceeded, retry in 1 minute"}`	120 per minute per IP. This one is not in the OpenAI envelope. Back off and retry.
503	api_error	`Model access is temporarily unavailable. Nothing was charged.`	Retry shortly.
502	api_error	`The model gateway is unavailable.`	Retry with backoff.

After the model has run

Status	Type	Message	Charged?	What to do
429	rate_limit_error	`The upstream gateway is busy. Retry shortly.`	No	Retry after a short delay.
502 or 400	api_error	`The model gateway rejected the request.`	No	502 when the provider failed, 400 when it refused the request. Check the prompt and the model.
502	api_error	`The model returned no content. Nothing was charged.`	No	A request that returns nothing is an error, not an empty answer. Retry or change the prompt.
502	api_error	`The gateway sent an unreadable response. It was billed upstream, so the reserved credits were charged.`	Yes, the reservation	Do not retry blindly. Check your activity first.
504	api_error	`The model took longer than the gateway deadline. It was generated and billed upstream, so the reserved credits were charged.`	Yes, the reservation	Lower `max_tokens` or pick a faster model. Do not retry blindly.

A retry loop that treats every 5xx as free will double-spend on the two charged cases. Retry 503, 502 with unavailable or rejected, and 429. Log 504 and the unreadable 502 and look before retrying.

Backoff that behaves

Python

import time, requests

RETRY = {429, 503}

def call(payload, tries=4):
    for attempt in range(tries):
        r = requests.post("https://heyaskr.ai/v1/chat/completions", json=payload,
                          headers={"Authorization": "Bearer askr_live_..."}, timeout=130)
        if r.status_code == 200:
            return r.json()
        body = r.json().get("error", {})
        charged = "reserved credits were charged" in body.get("message", "")
        if r.status_code in RETRY or (r.status_code == 502 and not charged):
            time.sleep(2 ** attempt)
            continue
        raise RuntimeError(f"{r.status_code}: {body.get('message')}")