Read the error, then take the next useful action.
Use the status code and response message together. Do not repeat an unchanged request when the signal points to a key, model, balance, or rate-limit issue.
Common signals
The public route and quickstart were checked on 2026-09-21.
| Signal | Meaning | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| 401 | Key is missing, malformed, revoked, or not loaded. | Load AIWAVE_API_KEY on the server and check the Authorization header without printing the value. |
| 403 | Permission, group, or quota policy rejected the request. | Read the response body, confirm model access and account group, then adjust the request within policy. |
| 404 | The route or model ID was not found. | Check the URL and copy an exact current model ID from Models. |
| 429 | The request hit a rate limit. | Honor Retry-After when present and use bounded backoff. |
| Insufficient balance | Account balance or billing state blocks the request. | Open Console, inspect balance and effective group, then fund the account before retrying unchanged traffic. |
Keep the evidence
Save the request ID, status, model ID, and redacted response body. Use the dated pricing JSON for rate checks and Status for route-wide incidents.