plandex-ai/plandex · error

failed to fetch the URL %s: %v

Error message

failed to fetch the URL %s: %v

What it means

Thrown when url.FetchURLContent fails to download the content of a URL-type context during refresh. Any HTTP/network failure (non-2xx status, timeout, DNS failure, TLS error) is wrapped with the URL. The context cannot be checked for staleness without its body.

Source

Thrown at app/cli/lib/context_update.go:859

						}, nil
					}
				}

			}(context)

		case shared.ContextURLType:
			wg.Add(1)
			go func(ctx *shared.Context) {
				defer wg.Done()
				sem <- struct{}{}
				defer func() { <-sem }()

				body, err := url.FetchURLContent(ctx.Url)

				if err != nil {
					mu.Lock()
					defer mu.Unlock()
					errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch the URL %s: %v", ctx.Url, err))
					return
				}

				size := int64(len(body))
				if size > shared.MaxContextBodySize {
					mu.Lock()
					defer mu.Unlock()
					filesSkippedTooLarge = append(filesSkippedTooLarge, filePathWithSize{Path: ctx.Url, Size: size})
					return
				}
				if totalSize+size > shared.MaxContextBodySize {
					mu.Lock()
					defer mu.Unlock()
					filesSkippedAfterSizeLimit = append(filesSkippedAfterSizeLimit, ctx.Url)
					return
				}
				hash := sha256.Sum256([]byte(body))
				newSha := hex.EncodeToString(hash[:])

View on GitHub (pinned to e2d772072e)

Solutions

1. Open the URL in a browser/curl to confirm it is reachable and returns 200.
2. Fix network/DNS/proxy issues if the error is connection-level.
3. If the URL requires auth or blocks bots, host the content locally or use an alternative mirror URL; remove and re-add the context with a working URL.
4. Retry later if the server returned 429/5xx (rate limit or outage).
5. If the certificate is the problem, update the CA bundle or use an https URL with a valid cert.

Example fix

// before
ctx.Url = "http://internal-docs.local/api"  // DNS failure
// after
ctx.Url = "https://docs.example.com/api"     // reachable, valid TLS

resp, err := http.Head(url)
if err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("unreachable before adding: %w", err) }
if resp.StatusCode != 200 { return fmt.Errorf("%s returned %d", url, resp.StatusCode) }

if err := refreshContext(ctx); err != nil {
    var urlErr string
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to fetch the URL") {
        // check wrapped cause: 404/403 vs dial timeout vs TLS
        _ = urlErr
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: FetchURLContent(ctx.Url) returns err inside the URL-context goroutine — the remote server returned an error status, connection failed, request timed out, or TLS handshake failed.

Common situations: Remote page moved (404) or requires auth (401/403); no network access or DNS misconfiguration; site blocks non-browser user agents; self-signed/expired certificates; rate limiting (429).

Related errors

• token exchange failed - error reading body: %s
• refresh failed - http: %w
• refresh failed - read body: %w
• failed to update context: %v
• failed to download the update: %w

AI-assisted analysis of plandex-ai/plandex@e2d772072e (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a0d331ebe8aceb46. Report an issue: GitHub.