crewAIInc/crewAI · error · SystemExit

Failed to download skill {ref}: {get_response.status_code}

Error message

Failed to download skill {ref}: {get_response.status_code}

What it means

The registry API `get_skill` call returned a non-200, non-404 status code (e.g. 401, 403, 429, 500, 502). The CLI surfaces the raw status number because it cannot infer the specific cause, and exits with SystemExit(1).

Source

Thrown at lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/skills/main.py:124

                "non-empty path segments (no slashes, no '..').[/red]"
            )
            raise SystemExit(1)

        self._print_current_organization()
        console.print(f"[bold blue]Downloading skill {ref}...[/bold blue]")

        get_response = self.plus_api_client.get_skill(org, name)

        if get_response.status_code == 404:
            console.print(
                f"[red]Skill {ref} not found. Ensure it has been published and you have access.[/red]"
            )
            raise SystemExit(1)
        if get_response.status_code != 200:
            console.print(
                f"[red]Failed to download skill {ref}: {get_response.status_code}[/red]"
            )
            raise SystemExit(1)

        data = get_response.json()
        version = data.get("latest_version") or data.get("version")

        download_url = data.get("download_url")
        if download_url:
            import httpx

            dl_response = httpx.get(download_url, follow_redirects=True)
            dl_response.raise_for_status()
            archive_bytes = dl_response.content
        else:
            encoded = data.get("file", "")
            if "," in encoded:
                encoded = encoded.split(",", 1)[1]
            archive_bytes = base64.b64decode(encoded)

        in_project = os.path.isfile("pyproject.toml")

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

1. Re-authenticate (`crewai org switch` / re-login) and retry — 401/403 are the most common non-404 failures.
2. Check the CrewAI registry status page or retry after a short delay for 5xx/429 responses.
3. If behind a corporate proxy, verify HTTPS_PROXY/NO_PROXY settings allow api calls to the registry host.

Example fix

# before
crewai skill install @org/tool   # Failed to download skill @org/tool: 401
# after
crewai org switch <org_id>   # refresh auth/token
crewai skill install @org/tool

import httpx

def registry_reachable(base_url: str) -> bool:
    try:
        return httpx.get(base_url, timeout=5).status_code < 500
    except httpx.HTTPError:
        return False

import subprocess, time

for attempt in range(3):
    proc = subprocess.run(["crewai", "skill", "install", ref], capture_output=True, text=True)
    if proc.returncode == 0:
        break
    if "401" in proc.stderr or "403" in proc.stderr:  # auth: retrying won't help
        subprocess.run(["crewai", "org", "switch", org_id], check=True)
        continue
    if attempt < 2:
        time.sleep(2 ** attempt)  # backoff for 429/5xx
else:
    raise RuntimeError(f"skill install failed: {proc.stderr}")

When it happens

Trigger: Expired or invalid auth token (401), rate limiting (429), registry outage or maintenance (5xx), or proxy/firewall intercepting the request with an unexpected status — any `get_response.status_code` outside {200, 404} on the `get_skill(org, name)` call.

Common situations: Stale login after rotating API keys; corporate proxies returning 407/502; registry incidents; hitting rate limits in CI loops that install many skills.

Related errors

• Skill {ref} not found. Ensure it has been published and you
• Project name '{name}' would generate invalid Python module n
• Failed to switch organization: {e!s}
• Directory {skill_dir} already exists.
• Invalid skill reference. Use the format @org/name.

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/522ac45a674cbc01. Report an issue: GitHub.