Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error · Error

${res.status} - ${res.statusText}. params: ${JSON.stringify(

Error message

${res.status} - ${res.statusText}. params: ${JSON.stringify({ auth: this.middleTruncate(process.env.AGENT_EXA_API_KEY, 5), q: query })}

What it means

Thrown by the Exa (formerly Metaphor) search provider when a POST to the Exa API returns a non-OK status. Authentication uses AGENT_EXA_API_KEY as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. The request body specifies query, type, numResults, and contents. The error captures status, statusText, a truncated key, and the query.

Source

Thrown at server/utils/agents/aibitat/plugins/web-browsing.js:1069

            const url = "https://api.exa.ai/search";
            const { response, error } = await fetch(url, {
              method: "POST",
              headers: {
                "Content-Type": "application/json",
                "x-api-key": process.env.AGENT_EXA_API_KEY,
              },
              body: JSON.stringify({
                query: query,
                type: "auto",
                numResults: 10,
                contents: {
                  text: true,
                },
              }),
            })
              .then((res) => {
                if (res.ok) return res.json();
                throw new Error(
                  `${res.status} - ${res.statusText}. params: ${JSON.stringify({ auth: this.middleTruncate(process.env.AGENT_EXA_API_KEY, 5), q: query })}`
                );
              })
              .then((data) => {
                return { response: data, error: null };
              })
              .catch((e) => {
                this.super.handlerProps.log(`Exa Search Error: ${e.message}`);
                return { response: null, error: e.message };
              });

            if (error)
              return `There was an error searching for content. ${error}`;

            const data = [];
            response.results?.forEach((searchResult) => {
              const { title, url, text, publishedDate } = searchResult;
              data.push({

View on GitHub (pinned to 526360e320)

Solutions

  1. Verify AGENT_EXA_API_KEY is set to a valid key from dashboard.exa.ai.
  2. A 401 means the Bearer token is wrong — check the truncated value in the error.
  3. A 429 means the plan rate limit is hit — upgrade or reduce search frequency.
  4. For 400 errors, verify the request body fields match Exa's current API spec (type, numResults, contents).

Example fix

// before
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.AGENT_EXA_API_KEY}`, ... },
body: JSON.stringify({ query, type: "auto", numResults: 10, contents: { text: true } }),
// throw on non-OK

// caller-side fix
if (!process.env.AGENT_EXA_API_KEY) {
  return "AGENT_EXA_API_KEY is not configured.";
}
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (!process.env.AGENT_EXA_API_KEY) {
  throw new Error("AGENT_EXA_API_KEY is not set. Configure it to use Exa search.");
}

Try / catch

try {
  const results = await exaSearch(query);
  return results;
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith("401")) {
    return "Exa API key invalid. Check AGENT_EXA_API_KEY.";
  }
  if (e.message.startsWith("429")) {
    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 3000));
    return await exaSearch(query); // retry once
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Exa returns 401 (invalid or missing Bearer token), 429 (rate limit per plan), 400 (malformed request — wrong type value, unsupported contents config), or 5xx. An unset AGENT_EXA_API_KEY sends an empty Bearer token, always triggering 401.

Common situations: AGENT_EXA_API_KEY not configured; key from a free plan exhausted; API schema change (Exa renamed from Metaphor, endpoint/field names may have changed); concurrent requests exceeding the plan's requests-per-minute limit.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@526360e320 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3fc0738d2ccdb968. Report an issue: GitHub.