Error Codes

:::info Source Sourced from docs/standards/ERROR_CODES.md in the documentation repo. :::

Machine-readable, stable, string-valued. Use these exact codes in the error.code field of API error responses (see docs/05-api-design.md + rule 30-api.mdc).

Never invent new codes in a PR without adding them here.

Format

{domain}.{kind} — two dot-separated segments, snake_case.

Validation (422)

Code	When
validation.field_required	Required field missing
validation.field_invalid	Field type/format invalid
validation.field_out_of_range	Numeric/length out of allowed range
validation.conflict	Business rule conflict (non-concurrency)
validation.unknown_field	Field not in schema

Auth (401 / 403)

Code	HTTP	When
auth.invalid_token	401	JWT missing, malformed, expired, or bad signature
auth.unauthenticated	401	No credentials supplied
auth.mfa_required	401	Step-up MFA needed
auth.email_unverified	403	Email verification required
authz.forbidden	403	Authenticated but not permitted
authz.insufficient_scope	403	JWT scope missing required grant
authz.tenant_not_a_member	403	X-Tenant-Id not in user's tids

Resource (404 / 409 / 410 / 423)

Code	HTTP	When
resource.not_found	404	Not found (or RLS-hidden)
resource.gone	410	Previously existed, now erased
resource.conflict	409	Create conflict (e.g., unique constraint)
resource.locked	423	Locked by another process

Precondition (412 / 428)

Code	HTTP	When
precondition.failed	412	If-Match version mismatch
precondition.required	428	If-Match missing on optimistic-concurrency write

Idempotency (428 / 409)

Code	HTTP	When
idempotency.key_missing	428	Idempotency-Key missing on write
idempotency.key_conflict	409	Same key, different body

Rate limiting (429)

Code	HTTP	When
rate.limited	429	Request rate exceeded; includes Retry-After

Sync (409 / 410)

Code	HTTP	When
sync.conflict.detected	409	Offline mutation conflicts with server state
sync.mutation.rejected	409	Mutation rejected (invariant violation)
sync.cursor.out_of_range	410	Sync cursor too old (full rebase required)

AI (various)

Code	HTTP	When
ai.refused.safety	422	Pre-call or post-call safety blocked
ai.refused.budget	429	Tenant/purpose budget exceeded
ai.refused.provider	502	Upstream provider failure
ai.refused.policy	403	Feature flag off or tenant not opted in
ai.invalid_output	502	Structured output failed schema + repair

Upstream / service (5xx)

Code	HTTP	When
internal.unhandled	500	Uncaught error (log + alert)
upstream.unavailable	502	Dependent service down
service.unavailable	503	This service shedding load / maintenance
upstream.timeout	504	Dependent call timed out

Error response template

{
  "error": {
    "type": "https://errors.ghasi.io/{domain}/{kind}",
    "code": "{domain}.{kind}",
    "title": "<short human summary>",
    "status": <http status>,
    "detail": "<specific explanation, safe to show to user>",
    "instance": "<request path>",
    "errors": [ { "field": "<optional field>", "code": "<optional sub-code>" } ],
    "traceId": "<W3C trace id>",
    "requestId": "<ULID>",
    "retriable": <bool>,
    "retryAfter": <seconds or null>,
    "docUrl": "https://docs.ghasi.io/errors/{domain}/{kind}"
  }
}

Rules

• Never reuse a code across domains.
• Never change the HTTP status for an existing code.
• Never include stack traces or internal pointers in detail.
• Always set traceId + requestId.
• Always set retriable + retryAfter where a retry is sensible.
• Never expose whether a resource exists across tenants (return resource.not_found, not a 403, for cross-tenant access attempts).