OpenBB-finance/OpenBB · error · EmptyDataError

There was an error fetching the data.

Error message

There was an error fetching the data.

What it means

EmptyDataError from the EconDB available-indicators model when download_indicators(use_cache) returns an empty DataFrame. The indicator catalog (scraped/cached from EconDB) came back with zero rows, so there is nothing to list.

Source

Thrown at openbb_platform/providers/econdb/openbb_econdb/models/available_indicators.py:93

    @staticmethod
    def transform_query(params: dict[str, Any]) -> EconDbAvailableIndicatorsQueryParams:
        """Transform query."""
        return EconDbAvailableIndicatorsQueryParams(**params)

    @staticmethod
    async def aextract_data(
        query: EconDbAvailableIndicatorsQueryParams,
        credentials: dict[str, str] | None,
        **kwargs: Any,
    ) -> list[dict]:
        """Extract data."""
        # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
        from openbb_econdb.utils.helpers import download_indicators

        df = await download_indicators(query.use_cache)
        if df.empty:
            raise EmptyDataError("There was an error fetching the data.")
        return df.sort_values(by="last_date", ascending=False).to_dict(orient="records")

    @staticmethod
    def transform_data(
        query: EconDbAvailableIndicatorsQueryParams,
        data: list[dict],
        **kwargs: Any,
    ) -> list[EconDbAvailableIndicatorsData]:
        """Transform data."""
        # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
        from math import isnan

        def clean_nan(d: dict) -> dict:
            """Replace nan values with None for Pydantic validation."""
            return {
                k: None if isinstance(v, float) and isnan(v) else v
                for k, v in d.items()
            }

View on GitHub (pinned to 3e071fcc2c)

Solutions

1. Retry with use_cache=False to force a fresh catalog download.
2. Verify reachability of econdb.com from the same environment (curl the indicators endpoint).
3. Update the openbb-econdb provider — catalog scraping breaks when the site layout changes.
4. Clear the user HTTP cache directory if a poisoned empty response is stored.

Example fix

# before
inds = obb.economy.indicators(provider="econdb")

# after
inds = obb.economy.indicators(provider="econdb", use_cache=False)

from openbb_core.provider.utils.errors import EmptyDataError
try:
    inds = obb.economy.indicators(provider="econdb")
except EmptyDataError:
    inds = obb.economy.indicators(provider="econdb", use_cache=False)  # bypass poisoned cache

When it happens

Trigger: Calling obb.economy.indicators(provider='econdb') (available indicators endpoint) when the catalog fetch failed silently or the cached copy is empty/corrupt. With use_cache=True, a previously stored empty response keeps reproducing the error.

Common situations: First run behind a network that blocks econdb.com; stale/corrupt SQLite HTTP cache from an interrupted earlier fetch; EconDB site redesign breaking the scraper in an older provider version.

Related errors

• The request returned empty.
• No valid indicators provided. Please choose from: ",".join(I
• Error: The no data was found for the supplied symbols and co
• The request returned empty.
• The request returned empty.

AI-assisted analysis of OpenBB-finance/OpenBB@3e071fcc2c (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/de306a8e4617c443. Report an issue: GitHub.