Troubleshooting Guide Overview
Create structured troubleshooting documentation that helps users and support teams quickly diagnose and resolve common issues.
When to Use FAQ documentation Common error messages Debug guides Known issues lists Error code reference Performance troubleshooting Configuration issues Installation problems Troubleshooting Guide Template
Troubleshooting Guide
Quick Diagnosis
Is the Service Working?
Check our Status Page first.
Quick Health Checks
```bash
1. Check service is running
curl https://api.example.com/health
2. Check your API key
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ https://api.example.com/api/v1/status
3. Check network connectivity
ping api.example.com
4. Check DNS resolution
nslookup api.example.com
Common Issues Issue: "Authentication Failed"
Error Code: 401 Unauthorized
Error Message:
{ "error": "Authentication failed", "code": "AUTH_001", "message": "Invalid or expired API key" }
Possible Causes:
Invalid API key Expired API key API key not included in request Wrong authentication method
Solution:
Step 1: Verify API Key Format
API keys should be 32 characters, alphanumeric
Format: ak_1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef
Check your key
echo $API_KEY | wc -c # Should be 32
Step 2: Test API Key
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \ https://api.example.com/api/v1/auth/verify
Expected response:
{"valid": true, "expires": "2025-12-31T23:59:59Z"}
Step 3: Generate New Key (if needed)
Log in to Dashboard Navigate to Settings > API Keys Click "Generate New Key" Copy and save the key securely Update your application configuration
Step 4: Verify Configuration
// ✅ Correct
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/api/v1/data', {
headers: {
'Authorization': Bearer ${apiKey},
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}
});
// ❌ Incorrect - missing Bearer prefix headers: { 'Authorization': apiKey }
// ❌ Incorrect - wrong header name headers: { 'X-API-Key': apiKey }
Still Not Working?
Check if API key has required permissions Verify account is active and not suspended Check if IP whitelist is configured correctly Contact support with request ID from error response Issue: "Rate Limit Exceeded"
Error Code: 429 Too Many Requests
Error Message:
{ "error": "Rate limit exceeded", "code": "RATE_001", "message": "You have exceeded the rate limit", "limit": 100, "remaining": 0, "reset": 1642694400 }
Understanding Rate Limits:
Plan Rate Limit Burst Reset Period Free 100/hour 10/second 1 hour Pro 1000/hour 50/second 1 hour Enterprise 10000/hour 100/second 1 hour
Solutions:
Option 1: Implement Exponential Backoff
async function fetchWithRetry(url, options = {}, maxRetries = 3) { for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) { try { const response = await fetch(url, options);
if (response.status === 429) {
const resetTime = response.headers.get('X-RateLimit-Reset');
const waitTime = resetTime
? (resetTime * 1000) - Date.now()
: Math.pow(2, i) * 1000;
console.log(`Rate limited. Waiting ${waitTime}ms...`);
await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, waitTime));
continue;
}
return response;
} catch (error) {
if (i === maxRetries - 1) throw error;
}
} }
Option 2: Check Rate Limit Headers
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/api/v1/data', {
headers: { 'Authorization': Bearer ${apiKey} }
});
console.log('Limit:', response.headers.get('X-RateLimit-Limit')); console.log('Remaining:', response.headers.get('X-RateLimit-Remaining')); console.log('Reset:', response.headers.get('X-RateLimit-Reset'));
Option 3: Batch Requests
// ❌ Don't do this - 100 separate requests for (const id of userIds) { await fetchUser(id); }
// ✅ Do this - 1 batch request await fetchUsers(userIds); // API supports bulk fetch
Option 4: Upgrade Plan
Visit Pricing Upgrade to higher tier for increased limits Issue: "Connection Timeout"
Error Message:
Error: connect ETIMEDOUT Error: socket hang up
Possible Causes:
Network connectivity issues Firewall blocking outbound connections DNS resolution failure Service temporarily unavailable Incorrect endpoint URL
Diagnostic Steps:
- Check Network Connectivity
Test basic connectivity
ping api.example.com
Test HTTPS connectivity
curl -v https://api.example.com
Test with timeout
curl --max-time 10 https://api.example.com/health
- Check DNS Resolution
Check DNS
nslookup api.example.com
Expected output:
Name: api.example.com
Address: 93.184.216.34
Try alternative DNS
nslookup api.example.com 8.8.8.8
- Check Firewall/Proxy
Test if using proxy
curl -v --proxy http://proxy.example.com:8080 \ https://api.example.com
Check if port 443 is open
nc -zv api.example.com 443
- Test from Different Network
Test from different network to isolate issue
Try mobile hotspot, different WiFi, etc.
Solutions:
Solution 1: Increase Timeout
// ✅ Set reasonable timeout const controller = new AbortController(); const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 30000); // 30 seconds
try {
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/api/v1/data', {
signal: controller.signal,
headers: { 'Authorization': Bearer ${apiKey} }
});
} finally {
clearTimeout(timeout);
}
Solution 2: Configure Proxy
// Node.js with proxy const HttpsProxyAgent = require('https-proxy-agent');
const agent = new HttpsProxyAgent('http://proxy.example.com:8080');
fetch('https://api.example.com', { agent });
Solution 3: Use Alternative Endpoint
If primary endpoint fails, try alternative
curl https://api-backup.example.com/health
Issue: "Invalid JSON Response"
Error Message:
SyntaxError: Unexpected token < in JSON at position 0
Possible Causes:
Server returned HTML error page instead of JSON Response is not valid JSON Empty response body Content-Type mismatch
Diagnostic Steps:
- Inspect Raw Response
curl -v https://api.example.com/api/v1/data \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"
Look at:
- Status code
- Content-Type header
- Response body
- Check Content-Type
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/api/v1/data'); console.log('Content-Type:', response.headers.get('Content-Type')); // Expected: "application/json"
- Check Response Body
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/api/v1/data'); const text = await response.text(); console.log('Raw response:', text);
// Then try to parse try { const data = JSON.parse(text); } catch (error) { console.error('Invalid JSON:', error.message); }
Solutions:
Solution 1: Validate Before Parsing
async function fetchJSON(url, options) { const response = await fetch(url, options);
// Check status
if (!response.ok) {
throw new Error(HTTP ${response.status}: ${response.statusText});
}
// Check content type
const contentType = response.headers.get('Content-Type');
if (!contentType || !contentType.includes('application/json')) {
const text = await response.text();
throw new Error(Expected JSON but got: ${text.substring(0, 100)});
}
// Parse JSON return response.json(); }
Solution 2: Handle Empty Responses
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/api/v1/data'); const text = await response.text();
// Handle empty response if (!text || text.trim() === '') { return null; }
return JSON.parse(text);
Issue: "Slow Performance"
Symptoms:
API requests taking > 5 seconds Timeouts Application feels sluggish
Diagnostic Steps:
- Measure Request Time
Using curl
time curl https://api.example.com/api/v1/data
Detailed timing
curl -w "@curl-format.txt" -o /dev/null -s \ https://api.example.com/api/v1/data
curl-format.txt:
time_namelookup: %{time_namelookup}s\n
time_connect: %{time_connect}s\n
time_appconnect: %{time_appconnect}s\n
time_pretransfer: %{time_pretransfer}s\n
time_redirect: %{time_redirect}s\n
time_starttransfer: %{time_starttransfer}s\n
----------\n
time_total: %{time_total}s\n
- Check Response Size
curl -I https://api.example.com/api/v1/data
Look at Content-Length header
- Test from Different Locations
Use online tools to test from different regions
- https://www.dotcom-tools.com/website-speed-test.aspx
- https://tools.pingdom.com/
Solutions:
Solution 1: Use Pagination
// ❌ Fetching all data at once const response = await fetch('/api/v1/users'); const users = await response.json(); // 10,000 users!
// ✅ Fetch paginated data const response = await fetch('/api/v1/users?page=1&limit=50'); const { data, pagination } = await response.json();
Solution 2: Use Field Selection
// ❌ Fetching all fields const response = await fetch('/api/v1/users/123');
// ✅ Select only needed fields const response = await fetch('/api/v1/users/123?fields=id,name,email');
Solution 3: Implement Caching
const cache = new Map(); const CACHE_TTL = 5 * 60 * 1000; // 5 minutes
async function fetchWithCache(url) { const cached = cache.get(url); if (cached && Date.now() - cached.timestamp < CACHE_TTL) { return cached.data; }
const response = await fetch(url); const data = await response.json();
cache.set(url, { data, timestamp: Date.now() });
return data; }
Solution 4: Use CDN
// Use CDN endpoint for static assets const cdnUrl = 'https://cdn.example.com/api/v1/data';
Error Code Reference Code HTTP Description Solution AUTH_001 401 Invalid API key Regenerate API key AUTH_002 401 Expired API key Generate new key AUTH_003 403 Insufficient permissions Check API key scopes RATE_001 429 Rate limit exceeded Wait or upgrade plan RATE_002 429 Concurrent request limit Reduce parallelism VAL_001 400 Missing required field Check request body VAL_002 400 Invalid field format Validate input RES_001 404 Resource not found Check resource ID RES_002 409 Resource already exists Use update instead SRV_001 500 Internal server error Contact support SRV_002 503 Service unavailable Retry with backoff Getting Help Before Contacting Support Check Status Page Search Documentation Check Community Forum Review this troubleshooting guide When Contacting Support
Include the following:
Error message and error code Request ID (from response headers) Timestamp of the issue API endpoint being called Code snippet (without credentials!) Steps to reproduce
Example Support Request:
Subject: Error 429 on /api/v1/users endpoint
Hi,
I'm getting a 429 error when calling the /api/v1/users endpoint.
Error message: { "error": "Rate limit exceeded", "code": "RATE_001", "request_id": "req_abc123" }
Details: - Timestamp: 2025-01-15T14:30:00Z - Request ID: req_abc123 - Endpoint: GET /api/v1/users - Account: user@example.com - Plan: Pro
I'm only making ~50 requests per hour, which should be within the limit. Can you help investigate?
Thanks!
Useful Links Documentation: https://docs.example.com Status Page: https://status.example.com Community: https://community.example.com Support: support@example.com GitHub Issues: https://github.com/example/repo/issues
Best Practices
✅ DO
- Start with most common issues
- Include error messages verbatim
- Provide step-by-step diagnostics
- Show expected vs actual output
- Include code examples
- Document error codes
- Add screenshots/videos
- Link to related documentation
- Keep solutions up-to-date
- Include workarounds
- Test all solutions
❌ DON'T
- Use vague descriptions
- Skip diagnostic steps
- Forget to show examples
- Assume technical knowledge
- Skip verification steps
- Forget edge cases