> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sunbird.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Error Handling

> Best practices for handling API errors

The Sunbird AI API uses standard HTTP status codes to indicate the success or failure of requests.

## Common Status Codes

| Code  | Description                                              | Action                                                                |
| :---- | :------------------------------------------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `200` | **OK**. The request was successful.                      | Process the response body.                                            |
| `400` | **Bad Request**. Invalid parameters or malformed JSON.   | Check your request payload and parameters.                            |
| `401` | **Unauthorized**. Missing or invalid API token.          | Verify your `Authorization` header.                                   |
| `404` | **Not Found**. The endpoint or resource does not exist.  | Check the URL path.                                                   |
| `429` | **Too Many Requests**. Rate limit exceeded.              | Implement backoff and retry (see [Rate Limits](/guides/rate-limits)). |
| `500` | **Server Error**. Internal system issue.                 | Retry the request later.                                              |
| `503` | **Service Unavailable**. Model is loading or overloaded. | Retry with exponential backoff.                                       |

## Timeouts

Some AI models, particularly large ones like Sunflower or Whisper, may take time to process requests. Server-side timeouts (e.g., `408`, `504`) can occur if the request takes too long.

<Tip>
  For large operations (like long audio files), consider using the **asynchronous workflows** or **signed URL** upload methods where available to avoid timeouts.
</Tip>

## Deprecation Headers

Several legacy endpoints (e.g. `/tasks/stt`, `/tasks/tts`, `/tasks/sunflower_inference`) still work but are **deprecated**. When you call one, the API returns `Deprecation` and `Sunset` response headers indicating that the route will be removed in a future release.

<Tip>
  Inspect these headers in your client and migrate to the unified endpoints — `/tasks/audio/transcriptions`, `/tasks/audio/speech`, and `/tasks/chat/completions` — before the sunset date.
</Tip>

## Python Example

Here is a robust way to handle errors in Python:

```python theme={null}
import requests
import time

def call_api_robustly(url, headers, data, max_retries=3):
    for attempt in range(max_retries):
        response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=data)
        
        if response.status_code == 200:
            return response.json()
            
        if response.status_code in [429, 503]:
            wait_time = (2 ** attempt)  # Exponential backoff
            print(f"Rate limited. Retrying in {wait_time}s...")
            time.sleep(wait_time)
            continue
            
        # Non-retryable error
        print(f"Error {response.status_code}: {response.text}")
        break
        
    return None
```