{"record":{"id":"8f1787ee60470835","repo":"Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm","slug":"the-agent-model-failed-to-respond-error-message","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"The agent model failed to respond: ${error.message}","messagePattern":"The agent model failed to respond: (.+?)","errorType":"exception","errorClass":"APIError","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"server/utils/agents/aibitat/index.js","lineNumber":1003,"sourceCode":"\n  /**\n   * Wrapper for provider calls that catches errors and converts them to APIError.\n   * This ensures provider errors are properly surfaced to the user instead of crashing.\n   *\n   * @param {Function} providerCall - Async function that calls the provider\n   * @returns {Promise<any>} - The result of the provider call\n   * @throws {APIError} - If the provider call fails\n   */\n  async #safeProviderCall(providerCall) {\n    try {\n      return await providerCall();\n    } catch (error) {\n      // User-initiated abort - rethrow as-is so the chat loop exits quietly.\n      if (this._aborted) throw error;\n      console.error(`[AIbitat] Provider error: ${error.message}`, {\n        hide_meta: true,\n      });\n      throw new APIError(`The agent model failed to respond: ${error.message}`);\n    }\n  }\n\n  /**\n   * Handle the async (streaming) execution of the provider\n   * with tool calls. Reads the provider from this.providerInstance.\n   *\n   * @param messages\n   * @param functions\n   * @param byAgent\n   *\n   * @returns {Promise<string>}\n   */\n  async handleAsyncExecution(\n    messages = [],\n    functions = [],\n    byAgent = null,\n    depth = 0","sourceCodeStart":985,"sourceCodeEnd":1021,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm/blob/20f6d3546c1938bfea1ad304f58a592dddcc5948/server/utils/agents/aibitat/index.js#L985-L1021","documentation":"AIbitat's #safeProviderCall wraps every LLM provider invocation for agent execution: if providerCall() throws and the chat was not user-aborted (this._aborted rethrows the original error untouched), the failure is logged and rethrown as APIError('The agent model failed to respond: <original message>'). The suffix is the actual provider error — auth failure, model-not-found, quota, timeout, or connection refusal for local models.","triggerScenarios":"Any agent chat/tool-execution turn where the provider call fails: invalid or expired API key, model name unavailable to the account, provider 429/5xx/timeout, context window overflow from a large workspace prompt, or a local endpoint (Ollama, LM Studio) that is down or unreachable from the container.","commonSituations":"Key rotated in the provider dashboard but not in workspace settings; switching workspace to a model the key can't access; Docker 'localhost' pointing at the container instead of the host running the local LLM; oversized system prompt + documents exceeding the model's context; provider transient outage during a long agent run.","solutions":["Read the message suffix after 'failed to respond:' — 401/403 fix the key, 404 fix the model name, 429 wait/raise quota, ECONNREFUSED fix the endpoint.","Run a plain (non-agent) chat with the same workspace model to isolate agent-vs-provider issues.","For local models, set the base URL to a host the server container can reach (host.docker.internal or the LAN IP).","Reduce context: fewer documents in prompt, smaller chat history, or a larger-context model."],"exampleFix":null,"handlingStrategy":"retry","validationCode":"async function providerReady(provider) {\n  try {\n    const r = await provider.complete([{ role: \"user\", content: \"ping\" }]);\n    return Boolean(r.textResponse);\n  } catch {\n    return false;\n  }\n}","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"async function chatWithRetry(send, attempts = 3) {\n  for (let i = 0; i < attempts; i++) {\n    try {\n      return await send();\n    } catch (e) {\n      const transient = /429|5\\d\\d|timeout|ECONNRESET|overloaded/i.test(e.message);\n      if (!transient || i === attempts - 1) throw e;\n      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 2 ** i * 1000));\n    }\n  }\n}","preventionTips":["Always inspect the suffix after 'The agent model failed to respond:' — it carries the provider's real error.","Don't retry 401/403/model-not-found; fix credentials or model selection instead.","For local models, health-check the endpoint (curl /v1/models or ollama list) before long agent runs."],"tags":["llm","agents","aibitat","provider","chat"],"backgroundTag":"llm-provider-error","analyzedSha":"20f6d3546c1938bfea1ad304f58a592dddcc5948","analyzedAt":"2026-08-18T10:02:21.017Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-08-18T10:02:21.017Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-23T08:17:48.524Z"}