bytedance/deer-flow · error · Mem0APIError

mem0 request failed: {e}

Error message

mem0 request failed: {e}

What it means

Raised as Mem0APIError by Mem0Client._request when httpx fails below the HTTP layer — the request to the mem0 Platform API raised httpx.HTTPError (connection refused, DNS failure, TLS error, or timeout exceeding timeout_seconds). It means no HTTP response was received at all; the message embeds the underlying httpx exception text for diagnosis.

Source

Thrown at backend/packages/harness/deerflow/agents/memory/backends/mem0/client.py:49

        api_key: str,
        timeout_seconds: float = 10.0,
        transport: httpx.BaseTransport | None = None,
    ) -> None:
        self._http = httpx.Client(
            base_url=base_url.rstrip("/"),
            headers={"Authorization": f"Token {api_key}", "Accept": "application/json"},
            timeout=timeout_seconds,
            transport=transport,
        )

    def close(self) -> None:
        self._http.close()

    def _request(self, method: str, path: str, **kwargs: Any) -> dict[str, Any]:
        try:
            resp = self._http.request(method, path, **kwargs)
        except httpx.HTTPError as e:
            raise Mem0APIError(f"mem0 request failed: {e}") from e
        if resp.status_code == 401:
            raise Mem0AuthError("mem0 authentication failed (check the API key)")
        if resp.status_code >= 400:
            raise Mem0APIError(f"mem0 {method} {path} -> {resp.status_code}: {resp.text[:200]}")
        if not resp.content:
            return {}
        try:
            return resp.json()
        except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
            raise Mem0APIError(f"mem0 {method} {path} returned malformed JSON: {e}") from e

    def add_memories(
        self,
        *,
        messages: list[dict[str, str]],
        user_id: str | None = None,
        agent_id: str | None = None,
        run_id: str | None = None,

View on GitHub (pinned to 1dd6ba1acb)

Solutions

1. Verify connectivity from the Gateway host: curl -H "Authorization: Token $MEM0_API_KEY" <base_url> with a simple GET
2. Fix base_url in memory.backend_config (scheme, host, port) — note it must be http(s) and https unless allow_insecure_http is set
3. If the error text mentions a timeout, raise timeout_seconds in backend_config
4. Configure httpx/HTTPS_PROXY env vars if a corporate proxy is required; ensure DNS resolves the host

Example fix

# before (config.yaml)
memory:
  manager_class: mem0
  backend_config:
    base_url: http://mem0:8080   # container not running
    timeout_seconds: 2

# after
memory:
  manager_class: mem0
  backend_config:
    base_url: https://api.mem0.ai
    timeout_seconds: 15

import httpx

def mem0_endpoint_reachable(base_url: str, timeout: float = 3.0) -> bool:
    try:
        httpx.get(base_url, timeout=timeout)  # any HTTP answer proves reachability
        return True
    except httpx.HTTPError:
        return False

from deerflow.agents.memory.backends.mem0.client import Mem0APIError

for attempt in range(3):
    try:
        result = client.search(query=..., user_id=...)
        break
    except Mem0APIError as e:
        if "request failed" not in str(e) or attempt == 2:
            raise   # non-transport errors, or retries exhausted
        time.sleep(2 ** attempt)   # transport-level failure: backoff and retry

When it happens

Trigger: Any Mem0Client call (add_memories, search, get_context, ...) while the configured base_url is unreachable, DNS does not resolve, a proxy blocks the request, or the server takes longer than timeout_seconds (default 10.0) to respond.

Common situations: Self-hosted mem0 base_url pointing at a stopped container; mem0.ai unreachable behind a corporate proxy/firewall; timeout_seconds too small for slow memory extraction endpoints; typo in base_url host; the Gateway losing network during a run.

Related errors

• agents_api.enabled
• Failed to create agent: ${res.statusText}
• Honcho request failed: POST {path}: {exc}
• mem0 {method} {path} -> {resp.status_code}: {resp.text[:200]
• mem0 {method} {path} returned malformed JSON: {e}

AI-assisted analysis of bytedance/deer-flow@1dd6ba1acb (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0e87af94bc47a0ea. Report an issue: GitHub.