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_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY, 5), q: query })}

What it means

Thrown by the Perplexity (Sonar) search provider when a POST to the Perplexity API returns a non-OK status. Authentication uses AGENT_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY as a Bearer token. The request body includes query, max_results, and max_tokens_per_page. The error captures status, statusText, a truncated key, and the query. Unlike other providers, the multi-line formatting makes the error object span more lines.

Source

Thrown at server/utils/agents/aibitat/plugins/web-browsing.js:1137

            const { response, error } = await fetch(
              "https://api.perplexity.ai/search",
              {
                method: "POST",
                headers: {
                  "Content-Type": "application/json",
                  Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.AGENT_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}`,
                },
                body: JSON.stringify({
                  query: query,
                  max_results: 5,
                  max_tokens_per_page: 2048,
                }),
              }
            )
              .then((res) => {
                if (res.ok) return res.json();
                throw new Error(
                  `${res.status} - ${res.statusText}. params: ${JSON.stringify({
                    auth: this.middleTruncate(
                      process.env.AGENT_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY,
                      5
                    ),
                    q: query,
                  })}`
                );
              })
              .then((data) => {
                return { response: data, error: null };
              })
              .catch((e) => {
                this.super.handlerProps.log(
                  `Perplexity Search Error: ${e.message}`
                );
                return { response: null, error: e.message };
              });

View on GitHub (pinned to 526360e320)

Solutions

Confirm AGENT_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY is set to a valid key from perplexity.ai settings.
A 401 means the Bearer token is wrong — check the truncated value.
A 429 means the rate limit is exceeded — upgrade the plan or space out requests.
For 400 errors, verify the request body and endpoint match Perplexity's current API documentation — the search endpoint and parameters may have changed.

Example fix

// before
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.AGENT_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}`, ... },
body: JSON.stringify({ query, max_results: 5, max_tokens_per_page: 2048 }),
// throw on non-OK

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

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

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

Try / catch

try {
  const results = await perplexitySearch(query);
  return results;
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith("401")) {
    return "Perplexity API key invalid. Check AGENT_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY.";
  }
  if (e.message.startsWith("429")) {
    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 5000));
    return await perplexitySearch(query);
  }
  if (e.message.startsWith("400")) {
    // API schema mismatch — check Perplexity docs for current parameters
    return "Perplexity API rejected the request. The endpoint or parameters may have changed.";
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Verify AGENT_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY is set and the account has active credits.
Check Perplexity's current API documentation for endpoint and parameter changes.
Handle 429 with backoff — Perplexity enforces strict per-minute limits.
Distinguish 400 (schema error) from 401 (auth) for correct remediation.

When it happens

Trigger: Perplexity returns 401 (invalid/missing Bearer token), 429 (rate limit — Perplexity enforces per-minute caps by plan), 400 (malformed body — wrong endpoint or unsupported parameters like max_tokens_per_page on a model that doesn't support it), 402 (billing issue), or 5xx.

Common situations: AGENT_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY not set; key from a free trial that expired; API credits depleted; using the wrong endpoint (search vs chat vs sonar); Perplexity API schema changed and max_results/max_tokens_per_page are no longer valid parameters.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@526360e320 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fc9d4d4d6bc788a6. Report an issue: GitHub.