Error Handling and Rate Limits
Handle common API errors including rate limit exceptions, authentication errors, and timeouts with retry logic and exponential backoff patterns.
Why API Errors Happen
Lots can go wrong on an API call: overload, low quota, dropped network, a bad request. Treating calls as infallible guarantees fragile code — know the error types first.
OpenAI Error Types Overview
The SDK raises specific exceptions like RateLimitError and AuthenticationError. Only transient ones, such as rate limits and network drops, are worth retrying — the rest won't fix themselves.
All lessons in this course
- Setting Up Your Python Environment
- The Chat Completions Endpoint
- Controlling Model Behavior with Parameters
- Error Handling and Rate Limits