nexu-io/open-design · error · Error

grok poll non-JSON: ${truncate(pollText, 200)}

Error message

grok poll non-JSON: ${truncate(pollText, 200)}

What it means

Thrown when a Grok poll returned 2xx but the body failed JSON.parse. The poll endpoint returned a non-JSON payload (HTML, empty, plain text) with a success status. The message includes the first 200 chars (truncated) so the operator can identify the unexpected content. Distinct from [474] which fires on non-2xx status.

Source

Thrown at apps/daemon/src/media/index.ts:2382

        : 8 * 60 * 1000;
    if (typeof onProgress === 'function') {
      const mode = ctx.imageRef ? 'i2v' : 't2v';
      onProgress(`grok ${mode} task ${requestId} accepted; polling status…`);
    }
    while (Date.now() - startedAt < maxMs) {
      await sleep(4000);
      const pollResp = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/videos/${encodeURIComponent(requestId)}`, withMediaRequestInit(ctx, {
        headers: { 'authorization': `Bearer ${credentials.apiKey}` },
      }));
      const pollText = await pollResp.text();
      if (!pollResp.ok) {
        throw new Error(`grok poll ${pollResp.status}: ${truncate(pollText, 240)}`);
      }
      let pollData: any;
      try {
        pollData = JSON.parse(pollText);
      } catch {
        throw new Error(`grok poll non-JSON: ${truncate(pollText, 200)}`);
      }
      lastStatus = pollData.status || '';
      if (typeof onProgress === 'function') {
        const elapsedSec = Math.round((Date.now() - startedAt) / 1000);
        onProgress(`grok task ${requestId} status=${lastStatus || 'pending'} (elapsed ${elapsedSec}s)`);
      }
      if (lastStatus === 'done' || lastStatus === 'succeeded') {
        videoUrl = pollData?.video?.url || null;
        break;
      }
      if (lastStatus === 'failed' || lastStatus === 'expired') {
        const reasonRaw = pollData?.error?.message || pollData?.error || lastStatus;
        const reason = typeof reasonRaw === 'string' ? reasonRaw : JSON.stringify(reasonRaw);
        throw new Error(`grok task ${lastStatus}: ${reason}`);
      }
    }
    // Loop exited without a videoUrl. Distinguish the two reachable
    // cases so operators know which lever to pull: bumping the poll

View on GitHub (pinned to 5be4028344)

Solutions

1. Inspect the truncated pollText in the error — HTML/doctype indicates a gateway page; the loop would have tolerated a retry if the parse error didn't throw.
2. Patch the loop to tolerate transient non-JSON (continue instead of throw) within the poll ceiling, then retry.
3. If persistent, verify baseUrl and network path; capture full response and report to xAI.
4. Retry the entire job — transient gateway blips usually don't recur.

Example fix

// before
try {
  pollData = JSON.parse(pollText);
} catch {
  throw new Error(`grok poll non-JSON: ${truncate(pollText, 200)}`);
}

// after — tolerate transient non-JSON within the ceiling
try {
  pollData = JSON.parse(pollText);
} catch {
  if (Date.now() - startedAt < maxMs) { await sleep(4000); continue; }
  throw new Error(`grok poll non-JSON: ${truncate(pollText, 200)}`);
}

// Non-JSON poll responses are usually transient gateway blips — tolerate them
// inside the ceiling, only throw when time is up.
try {
  pollData = JSON.parse(pollText);
} catch {
  if (Date.now() - startedAt < maxMs) { await sleep(4000); continue; }
  throw new Error(`grok poll non-JSON: ${truncate(pollText, 200)}`);
}

When it happens

Trigger: pollResp.ok is true but JSON.parse(pollText) throws — xAI or an intermediary returned 200 with HTML/empty/plain text during a poll iteration. Usually a transient gateway artifact.

Common situations: Cloudflare challenge served mid-poll; xAI gateway returning a cached HTML error during maintenance; reverse-proxy rewriting; transient empty 200 responses under load.

Related errors

• grok video non-JSON: ${truncate(submitText, 200)}
• grok poll ${pollResp.status}: ${truncate(pollText, 240)}
• no xAI credentials — sign in with your SuperGrok subscriptio
• grok image ${resp.status}: ${truncate(text, 240)}
• grok image non-JSON: ${truncate(text, 200)}

AI-assisted analysis of nexu-io/open-design@5be4028344 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9a27ce6876ac5a95. Report an issue: GitHub.