Errors

Whenever an error occurs API uses the appropriate HTTP response status code and returns a JSON error message giving further detail on why the error occurred.

HTTP Status codes

Error messages

While the HTTP status code is usually enough to determine the nature of the error, some additional information may be needed from time to time to explain why a certain error occurred.

A typical error message looks like this (accompanied by an appropriate HTTP status code).

{
    "id": "account_limit",
    "description": "Account limit reached."
}

Note: To localize the error messages use Accept-Language header and set the preferred language order (de, en for example). If the preferred localization is not found the, or if the header is not sent, all error messages will be returned in English.

Create/Update errors

While creating or updating a resource some fields can have input errors. In this case the error message includes an additional response id and parameter.

{
    "id": "input_error",
    "description": "Could not insert expense.",
    "fields": [
        {
            "field": "amount",
            "error": "Amount cannot be zero."
        },
        {
            "field": "category",
            "error": "Please select at least one category."
        }
    ]
}