Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT · error · HTTPException

Otto API request failed: {error_text}

Error message

Otto API request failed: {error_text}

What it means

Raised inside OttoService.ask when the upstream Otto API answers with a non-200 status; the proxy forwards that same status code to the client with the upstream error body embedded in the detail. It reflects an upstream rejection (4xx/5xx from Otto itself), not a transport failure.

Source

Thrown at autogpt_platform/backend/backend/api/features/otto/service.py:115

                    "message_id": request.message_id,
                }

                if graph_data:
                    payload["graph_data"] = graph_data.model_dump()

                logger.info(f"Sending request to Otto API for user {user_id}")
                logger.debug(f"Request payload: {payload}")

                async with session.post(
                    OTTO_API_URL,
                    json=payload,
                    headers=headers,
                    timeout=aiohttp.ClientTimeout(total=60),
                ) as response:
                    if response.status != 200:
                        error_text = await response.text()
                        logger.error(f"Otto API error: {error_text}")
                        raise HTTPException(
                            status_code=response.status,
                            detail=f"Otto API request failed: {error_text}",
                        )

                    data = await response.json()
                    logger.info(
                        f"Successfully received response from Otto API for user {user_id}"
                    )
                    return ApiResponse(**data)

        except aiohttp.ClientError as e:
            logger.error(f"Connection error to Otto API: {str(e)}")
            raise HTTPException(
                status_code=503, detail="Failed to connect to Otto service"
            )
        except asyncio.TimeoutError:
            logger.error("Timeout error connecting to Otto API after 60 seconds")
            raise HTTPException(

View on GitHub (pinned to 9c8bb5550f)

Solutions

  1. Read the error_text in the detail and backend logs — it is Otto's own error message and pinpoints the cause.
  2. If 400: compare the request payload schema against the Otto API version deployed; fix payload construction.
  3. If 401/403/429: fix Otto-side credentials or back off and retry respecting rate limits.
  4. Pin/align the Otto API version with the backend release so the contract matches.

Example fix

// before — raw upstream body forwarded to clients
raise HTTPException(status_code=response.status, detail=f"Otto API request failed: {error_text}")
// after — sanitize and log the body, return a stable message
logger.error(f"Otto API {response.status}: {error_text}")
raise HTTPException(status_code=502, detail="Otto upstream request failed")
Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

// Validate the chat payload shape before sending through the proxy
if (!req?.message || typeof req.message !== 'string') throw new TypeError('invalid ChatRequest');

Type guard

function isChatRequest(o: unknown): o is ChatRequest {
  return !!o && typeof (o as ChatRequest).message === 'string';
}

Try / catch

try { return await otto.ask(req); }
catch (e) {
  if ([400, 429].includes(e.status)) { /* fix payload / back off */ }
  else if (e.status >= 500) { return fallbackAnswer; } // degraded mode
  else throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: POST to the chat route while Otto returns 400 (malformed payload/graph data), 401/403 (Otto auth misconfigured), 429 (rate limited), or 5xx (Otto internal error). The forwarded status is whatever Otto returned.

Common situations: Schema drift between this backend and the Otto API causing 400s; expired or missing credentials on the Otto side; Otto overloaded returning 503/429; user-supplied graph data producing upstream validation errors.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT@9c8bb5550f (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b1bf4c3c69e7a3ee. Report an issue: GitHub.