Error Responses

Error Response Structure

All API errors follow a consistent JSON structure:

{
  "Error": "ErrorCode",
  "Message": "Human-readable error message",
  "StatusCode": 400,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "Optional additional details"
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`Error`	String	Error code enum value (see table below)
`Message`	String	Human-readable message explaining the error
`StatusCode`	Integer	HTTP status code
`Context`	Object	Additional contextual information (optional)
`Description`	String	Extra details about the error (optional)

Error Codes Reference

Error Code	HTTP Status	Message	Common Causes
`AuthenticationFailed`	401	Your authentication material was not accepted.	Invalid credentials, Missing authentication headers, Expired token, Malformed bearer token
`AuthorizationFailed`	401	Your authentication material was accepted, but you are not authorized to perform this request.	Valid credentials but insufficient permissions, Attempting admin operations without admin token, Accessing resources in wrong tenant
`BadRequest`	400	We were unable to discern your request. Please check your URL, query, and request body.	Malformed JSON, Missing required fields, Invalid URL parameters, Incorrect HTTP method
`Conflict`	409	Operation failed as it would create a conflict with an existing resource.	Creating resource with duplicate GUID, Unique constraint violation, Resource already exists
`DeserializationError`	400	Your request body was invalid and could not be deserialized.	Invalid JSON syntax, Type mismatch in request body, Unexpected fields in payload
`Inactive`	401	Your account, credentials, or the requested resource are marked as inactive.	User account disabled, Credential deactivated, Tenant marked inactive
`InternalError`	500	An internal error has been encountered.	Database connection failure, Unexpected server exception, Configuration error
`InvalidRange`	400	An invalid range has been supplied and cannot be fulfilled.	Invalid pagination parameters, Out of bounds array indices, Invalid date ranges
`InUse`	409	The requested resource is in use.	Attempting to delete referenced node, Removing user with active sessions, Deleting tenant with resources
`NotEmpty`	400	The requested resource is not empty.	Deleting graph with nodes/edges, Removing tenant with users, Deleting non-empty directory
`NotFound`	404	The requested resource was not found.	Invalid GUID, Resource doesn't exist, Wrong tenant context, Deleted resource
`TooLarge`	413	The size of your request exceeds the maximum allowed by this server.	Request body too large, Too many nodes/edges in batch, File upload exceeds limit

Common Error Scenarios

Authentication Errors

Invalid Credentials

Request:

curl -H "x-email: [email protected]" \
     -H "x-password: wrongpassword" \
     -H "x-tenant-guid: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" \
     http://localhost:8701/v1.0/tenants/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/graphs

Response:

{
  "Error": "AuthenticationFailed",
  "Message": "Your authentication material was not accepted.",
  "StatusCode": 401,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "Invalid email or password"
}

Expired Token

Request:

curl -H "x-token: expired-token-here" \
     http://localhost:8701/v1.0/tenants/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/graphs

Response:

{
  "Error": "AuthenticationFailed",
  "Message": "Your authentication material was not accepted.",
  "StatusCode": 401,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "Token has expired"
}

Authorization Errors

Insufficient Permissions

Request:

# Regular user attempting admin operation
curl -X PUT \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer user-token" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"Name": "New Tenant"}' \
     http://localhost:8701/v1.0/tenants

Response:

{
  "Error": "AuthorizationFailed",
  "Message": "Your authentication material was accepted, but you are not authorized to perform this request.",
  "StatusCode": 401,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "Admin privileges required"
}

Bad Request Errors

Invalid JSON

Request:

curl -X PUT \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer default" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"Name": "Test", invalid json}' \
     http://localhost:8701/v1.0/tenants/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/graphs

Response:

{
  "Error": "DeserializationError",
  "Message": "Your request body was invalid and could not be deserialized.",
  "StatusCode": 400,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "Invalid JSON at position 18"
}

Missing Required Fields

Request:

curl -X PUT \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer default" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{}' \
     http://localhost:8701/v1.0/tenants/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/graphs/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/edges

Response:

{
  "Error": "BadRequest",
  "Message": "We were unable to discern your request. Please check your URL, query, and request body.",
  "StatusCode": 400,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "Required fields are missing"
}

Conflict Errors

Duplicate Resource

Request:

curl -X PUT \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer default" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"GUID": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000", "Name": "Duplicate"}' \
     http://localhost:8701/v1.0/tenants/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/graphs

Response:

{
  "Error": "Conflict",
  "Message": "Operation failed as it would create a conflict with an existing resource.",
  "StatusCode": 409,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "A graph with this GUID already exists"
}

Not Found Errors

Invalid Resource GUID

Request:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer default" \
     http://localhost:8701/v1.0/tenants/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/graphs/invalid-guid-here

Response:

{
  "Error": "NotFound",
  "Message": "The requested resource was not found.",
  "StatusCode": 404,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "Graph not found"
}

Resource In Use Errors

Deleting Referenced Node

Request:

curl -X DELETE \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer default" \
     http://localhost:8701/v1.0/tenants/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/graphs/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/nodes/node-with-edges

Response:

{
  "Error": "InUse",
  "Message": "The requested resource is in use.",
  "StatusCode": 409,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "Cannot delete node with existing edges"
}

Not Empty Errors

Deleting Non-Empty Graph

Request:

curl -X DELETE \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer default" \
     http://localhost:8701/v1.0/tenants/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/graphs/graph-with-nodes

Response:

{
  "Error": "NotEmpty",
  "Message": "The requested resource is not empty.",
  "StatusCode": 400,
  "Context": null,
  "Description": "Graph contains nodes and edges. Use ?force to delete"
}

HTTP Status Code Summary

Status Code	Error Types	Meaning
400	BadRequest, DeserializationError, InvalidRange, NotEmpty	Client error - bad request
401	AuthenticationFailed, AuthorizationFailed, Inactive	Authentication/authorization required
404	NotFound	Resource doesn't exist
409	Conflict, InUse	Operation conflicts with current state
413	TooLarge	Request entity too large
500	InternalError	Server error

Debugging Tips

Check the Description field - Often contains specific details about what went wrong
Examine the Context object - May include additional information like conflicting GUIDs or counts
Review HTTP status codes - Quickly identify the error category
Enable debug logging - Set Debug.Exceptions to true in litegraph.json for detailed server logs
Validate JSON - Use a JSON validator before sending requests
Check authentication - Ensure tokens haven't expired and credentials are correct
Verify GUIDs - Confirm all GUIDs in the request path and body are valid
Test with curl - Eliminate client-side issues by testing with curl first

Rate Limiting and Throttling

While not explicitly defined in the error enum, be aware that the server may return:

429 Too Many Requests - If rate limiting is implemented
503 Service Unavailable - If the server is overloaded

Always implement appropriate backoff strategies for these scenarios.