santifer/career-ops · error · Error

arbeitnow: unexpected API response on page ${page} — expecte

Error message

arbeitnow: unexpected API response on page ${page} — expected { data: [...] }, got keys: [${json ? Object.keys(json).join(', ') : 'null'}]

What it means

arbeitnow's `fetch` expects each page JSON to be an object with a `data` array (the documented arbeitnow API shape). If the response is null or `data` is not an array, the provider throws rather than silently returning zero jobs — distinguishing an API contract break from a legitimately empty board.

Source

Thrown at providers/arbeitnow.mjs:115

/** @type {Provider} */
export default {
  id: 'arbeitnow',

  async fetch(entry, ctx) {
    assertArbeitnowUrl(FEED_BASE);
    const maxPages = resolveMaxPages(entry);
    const fallbackCompany = entry?.name;
    const out = [];

    for (let page = 1; page <= maxPages; page++) {
      // Build the page URL directly (do NOT follow links.next — it carries a
      // featured `?search=` term that would narrow the board).
      const url = `${FEED_BASE}?page=${page}`;
      // redirect:'error' prevents SSRF via server-side redirects
      const json = await ctx.fetchJson(url, { redirect: 'error' });
      if (!json || !Array.isArray(json.data)) {
        throw new Error(
          `arbeitnow: unexpected API response on page ${page} — expected { data: [...] }, got keys: [${json ? Object.keys(json).join(', ') : 'null'}]`,
        );
      }
      for (const j of json.data) {
        const normalized = normalizeArbeitnowJob(j, fallbackCompany);
        if (normalized) out.push(normalized);
      }
      if (json.data.length < PER_PAGE) break; // short page → last page reached
    }
    return out;
  },
};

View on GitHub (pinned to 9b17a8ac97)

Solutions

Inspect the keys printed in the error to see what shape the API now returns.
Reproduce the request (`https://www.arbeitnow.com/api/job-board-api?page=1`) in a browser/curl and compare to the expected `{ data: [...] }`.
If the API renamed the array, update the `Array.isArray(json.data)` check and the `json.data.length < PER_PAGE` short-page logic.
If the response is null, check for a non-JSON reply (HTML maintenance page) and verify the fetch headers.

Example fix

// before
if (!json || !Array.isArray(json.data)) {
  throw new Error(`arbeitnow: unexpected API response on page ${page} ...`);
}

// after — tolerate a documented wrapper while still failing loudly on garbage
const rows = Array.isArray(json?.data) ? json.data : Array.isArray(json?.jobs) ? json.jobs : null;
if (!rows) {
  throw new Error(`arbeitnow: unexpected API response on page ${page} — got keys: [${json ? Object.keys(json).join(', ') : 'null'}]`);
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// Probe one page at startup to confirm the API shape before the scan
const probe = await ctx.fetchJson(`${FEED_BASE}?page=1`, { redirect: 'error' });
if (!probe || !Array.isArray(probe.data)) {
  throw new Error(`arbeitnow: API contract drift — top-level keys: [${probe ? Object.keys(probe).join(', ') : 'null'}]`);
}

Type guard

/** @param {any} j */
function isArbeitnowFeed(j) {
  return j !== null && typeof j === 'object' && Array.isArray(j.data);
}

Try / catch

try {
  const json = await ctx.fetchJson(url, { redirect: 'error' });
  if (!isArbeitnowFeed(json)) throw new Error(`unexpected response — keys: [${json ? Object.keys(json).join(', ') : 'null'}]`);
  // ...process json.data
} catch (err) {
  // log the page + keys, continue to next page or surface a contract-drift alert
  console.error(`arbeitnow page ${page}: ${err.message}`);
  throw err;
}

Prevention

Add a startup contract probe so API drift fails fast with a clear message.
Pin the response shape with a type guard and surface actual keys on mismatch.
Watch for null responses (HTML maintenance pages) — they indicate a non-JSON reply, not contract drift.

When it happens

Trigger: `ctx.fetchJson(url, { redirect:'error' })` returns null (non-JSON / empty body) or an object whose `data` field is missing or not an array. The message lists the actual top-level keys (or 'null') for diagnosis.

Common situations: The arbeitnow API changed its payload shape (renamed `data`, wrapped it), returned an HTML error page parsed as null, hit a CDN error JSON (`{error: ...}`), or the endpoint moved.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of santifer/career-ops@9b17a8ac97 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/28f2db7f7ffc90b9. Report an issue: GitHub.