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Api Error Handling

Checked
aj-geddes·vlatest·backend·MIT

Provides API guidance and assistance for developing backend services and APIs.

Repository

Install on your platform

Showing Claude Code. One command installs this skill into any of the agents below.

  1. 1

    Run this in your project

    terminal
    $ npx skills add aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill api-error-handling -a claude-code

  2. Uses the open-source skills CLI and needs Node.js. Add -g to install it for your user instead of this project.

What we know about this skill

Publisher

aj-geddes

Taken from the source listing. We haven't verified who controls this account.

Install target

Live repository

Not pinned. Installing fetches whatever the repository holds at the time you run the command.

No human has reviewed this code. The checks below are a static scan of the files at one commit — nobody has run this skill or judged whether it works. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent, so read the source before you install it.

Automated safety checks

scanned

This skill passed all 6 checks. We read its files at one commit and looked for the things that make a skill dangerous to run — not for whether it works.

  • Declares what it does: passed

    SKILL.md parses and declares a name and a description.

    SKILL.md exists, its frontmatter parses, and it declares a name and a description.

  • No undeclared network calls: passed

    Makes no network calls.

    Every host the skill dials — from its scripts, its config endpoints or the commands it tells the agent to run — is either well-known package and API infrastructure or declared in its own frontmatter. Links in documentation are not counted.

  • No obfuscated payloads: passed

    No encoded or obfuscated payloads.

    No base64, hex or compressed blob is decoded and then executed, and no encoded shell commands.

  • No credential access: passed

    Reads no keys, tokens, keychains or credential files.

    Neither the code nor the SKILL.md instructions read SSH keys, cloud credentials, keychains, token stores, browser cookie databases or dotfiles that hold secrets.

  • No pipe-to-shell installers: passed

    No pipe-to-shell or download-and-run installers.

    No `curl … | sh` pattern, in the code or in the instructions, that runs code fetched at run time.

  • Pinned to a commit: passed

    Scanned aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts at 3f5182cfd7.

    The exact upstream commit SHA that was scanned is recorded, so the result refers to specific bytes.

Commit
3f5182cfd7
Manifest
skills/api-error-handling/SKILL.md
Scanned
5 files, 667 lines
This is a static scan, not a review. It reads the skill's files; it does not run them, and it cannot tell you whether the skill is any good or whether the code does what its description says. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent.
What each check looks for →

About this skill

api-error-handling

What it does

This skill enables AI agents to automatically detect, categorize, and resolve API failures during execution. It transforms raw error codes into actionable insights, allowing the agent to retry requests with adjusted parameters or switch to fallback strategies without human intervention.

When to use it

  • Retry Logic: Automatically re-attempt failed network requests after a transient timeout or rate limit error.
  • Fallback Activation: Trigger alternative data sources when primary API endpoints return 503 Service Unavailable errors.
  • Error Reporting: Format unstructured API error messages into structured logs for debugging complex backend issues.
  • Graceful Degradation: Adjust response quality or skip non-critical steps when an external service returns a 429 Too Many Requests status.

Key capabilities

  • Parses HTTP status codes and standard error payloads.
  • Implements exponential backoff strategies for retry attempts.
  • Maps specific error types to predefined recovery actions.
  • Logs detailed context including request IDs and response bodies.

Example prompts

  • "Execute this data fetch sequence, but if you receive a 500 Internal Server Error, wait 10 seconds and try again up to three times."
  • "If the payment API returns an error code indicating insufficient funds, switch to the backup wallet provider instead of failing the transaction."
  • "Log all API errors encountered during this workflow with their specific status codes and the exact timestamp they occurred."

Tips & gotchas

Ensure your agent has access to a retry mechanism or fallback configuration; otherwise, it may loop indefinitely on persistent failures. Always define clear thresholds for how many times an error should be retried before escalating to a human operator.