eyaltoledano/claude-task-master · error · Error

API request failed: ${response.status} - ${errorText}

Error message

API request failed: ${response.status} - ${errorText}

What it means

performExport() POSTs the task payload to the export API endpoint and checks response.ok. On any non-2xx response it reads the body and throws a plain Error of the form 'API request failed: <status> - <body>'. This surfaces server-side rejections (4xx/5xx) from the bulk-task export endpoint, including the raw response text for diagnosis.

Source

Thrown at packages/tm-core/src/modules/integration/services/export.service.ts:703

			// Get auth token
			const accessToken = await this.authManager.getAccessToken();
			if (!accessToken) {
				throw new Error('Not authenticated');
			}

			// Make API request
			const response = await fetch(apiUrl, {
				method: 'POST',
				headers: {
					'Content-Type': 'application/json',
					Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}`
				},
				body: JSON.stringify(requestBody)
			});

			if (!response.ok) {
				const errorText = await response.text();
				throw new Error(
					`API request failed: ${response.status} - ${errorText}`
				);
			}

			const result = (await response.json()) as BulkTasksResponse;

			if (result.failedCount > 0) {
				const failedTasks = result.results
					.filter((r) => !r.success)
					.map((r) => `${r.externalId}: ${r.error}`)
					.join(', ');
				console.warn(
					`Warning: ${result.failedCount} tasks failed to import: ${failedTasks}`
				);
			}

			console.log(
				`Successfully exported ${result.successCount} of ${result.totalTasks} tasks to brief ${briefId}`

View on GitHub (pinned to c0c98d367c)

Solutions

  1. Read the status and body in the error message — it contains the server's diagnostic text.
  2. For 401/403, re-authenticate (`tm auth login`) and confirm org/brief permissions.
  3. For 413/429, export in smaller batches or retry after backoff.
  4. For 5xx, retry with exponential backoff; if persistent, check the service status / API base domain configuration.
  5. For 404, verify TM_PUBLIC_BASE_DOMAIN points to the correct API environment.

Example fix

// before
await exportService.exportTasks(options); // throws on any 4xx/5xx
// after — wrap with retry for transient failures
try {
  await exportService.exportTasks(options);
} catch (e) {
  if (/API request failed: (5\d\d|429)/.test(e.message)) {
    await retryWithBackoff(() => exportService.exportTasks(options));
  } else throw e;
}
Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Try / catch

async function exportWithRetry(options, maxRetries = 3) {
  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await exportService.exportTasks(options);
    } catch (e) {
      const m = /API request failed: (\d{3})/.exec(e.message);
      const status = m ? Number(m[1]) : 0;
      if (status === 429 || status >= 500) {
        await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2 ** attempt * 500));
        continue;
      }
      if (status === 401 || status === 403) {
        await tmCore.auth.login(); // refresh credentials, then retry once
        continue;
      }
      throw e;
    }
  }
  throw new Error('Export failed after retries');
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: The export HTTP call returns a non-OK status: 400 malformed payload, 401/403 expired or insufficient-permission token, 404 wrong API base URL/path, 409 conflict, 413 payload too large (very large task sets), 429 rate limit, or 5xx server error.

Common situations: Expired token mid-session (401); exporting thousands of tasks exceeding body-size limits (413); brief or org deleted server-side between validation and export (404); API outage or deploy in progress (502/503); misconfigured TM_PUBLIC_BASE_DOMAIN pointing at the wrong environment.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Something went wrong' / 'Request failed (500)' / 'HTTP error! status: 404' — what failed HTTP requests actually mean and how to find the real cause — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of eyaltoledano/claude-task-master@c0c98d367c (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/dc377c77ffe56998. Report an issue: GitHub.