OpenBB-finance/OpenBB · error · OpenBBError

An error occurred during the HTTP request: {url} -> {e} -> {

Error message

An error occurred during the HTTP request: {url} -> {e} -> {res_content}

What it means

fetch_data raises OpenBBError when requests raises a RequestException while GETting the SDMX XML (network fault or raise_for_status() converting a 4xx/5xx into an exception). The message includes the URL, the exception, and the response body, which usually contains the server's XML error detail.

Source

Thrown at openbb_platform/providers/imf/openbb_imf/utils/query_builder.py:364

            self.validate_dimension_constraints(
                dataflow, start_date=start_date, end_date=end_date, **kwargs
            )

        url = self.build_url(dataflow, start_date, end_date, limit=limit, **kwargs)
        headers = {
            "Accept": "application/xml",
            "Cache-Control": "no-cache",
            "User-Agent": "Open Data Platform - IMF Data Fetcher",
        }
        response = None

        try:
            response = make_request(url, headers=headers)
            response.raise_for_status()
            xml_content = response.text
        except RequestException as e:
            res_content = response.text if response else ""
            raise OpenBBError(
                f"An error occurred during the HTTP request: {url} -> {e} -> {res_content}"
            ) from e

        # Parse XML
        try:
            import defusedxml.ElementTree as DefusedET

            root = DefusedET.fromstring(xml_content)
        except Exception as e:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
            raise OpenBBError(f"Failed to parse XML response: {url} -> {e}") from e

        # Define namespaces used in IMF SDMX responses
        namespaces = {
            "message": "http://www.sdmx.org/resources/sdmxml/schemas/v3_0/message",
            "ss": "http://www.sdmx.org/resources/sdmxml/schemas/v3_0/data/structurespecific",
            "common": "http://www.sdmx.org/resources/sdmxml/schemas/v3_0/common",
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 3e071fcc2c)

Solutions

1. Inspect the trailing res_content: IMF SDMX error XML pinpoints the offending dimension/value.
2. Retry with backoff for 5xx/timeouts; treat 4xx as a query problem per the body.
3. Confirm api.imf.org/external/sdmx/3.0 is reachable from your network and proxies pass the custom headers.
4. If the URL contains wildcards/keys you did not intend, re-check build_url inputs.

Example fix

# before
url = qb.build_url('BAD', REF_AREA='XX')  # -> 4xx wrapped as OpenBBError

# after
try:
    df = qb.fetch_data(url)
except OpenBBError as e:
    time.sleep(2 ** attempt)
    df = qb.fetch_data(url)  # retry transient 5xx only

for attempt in range(4):
    try:
        df = qb.fetch_data(url)
        break
    except OpenBBError as e:
        if 'HTTP request' not in str(e) or attempt == 3:
            raise
        if is_client_error(str(e)):
            raise  # 4xx: fix the query, do not retry
        time.sleep(2 ** attempt)

When it happens

Trigger: api.imf.org returning 404/500 for the built URL, TLS/DNS failures, timeouts, or proxy interference; note the request sends a custom User-Agent and Accept: application/xml header.

Common situations: Transient IMF API outages, overly aggressive polling triggering 5xx, firewalls stripping custom headers, or URLs built with dimension keys the server rejects.

Related errors

• Unexpected response format when fetching constraints {datafl
• An error occurred while fetching constraints {dataflow_id}:
• Failed to fetch data for port {port_code}: {e} -> {e.args}
• Error fetching port data: {result} -> {result.args[0]}
• Please install polars: `pip install polars pyarrow` to use

AI-assisted analysis of OpenBB-finance/OpenBB@3e071fcc2c (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/72f2cf1e97880c88. Report an issue: GitHub.