Errors

Every Roughy API endpoint reports failures with the same response shape, regardless of which endpoint failed or which HTTP status code is returned. Successful responses are the resource directly (no wrapper); error responses are always the envelope below.

Envelope

{
  "error": {
    "code": "validation_error",
    "message": "Upload-Length must be at least 64 bytes.",
    "fields": [
      { "field": "body.name", "message": "Field required" }
    ]
  }
}

Field	Type	When set	Use it for
`code`	string enum	always	Branching client logic. Switch on this, not on `message`.
`message`	string	always	Showing the user a single-line description. Safe to surface verbatim.
`fields`	array	only when `code` is `validation_error` and one or more request fields failed	Highlighting bad form fields. `field` is a dotted path rooted at the request location (`body.…`, `query.…`, `path.…`).

Error codes

`code`	Typical status	What it means
`bad_request`	400	Malformed request that isn’t covered by a more specific code.
`unauthenticated`	401	Missing or invalid `Authorization: Bearer sk_…`.
`insufficient_credits`	402	Your credit balance is at or below zero, so `POST /v1/assets` rejects the upload before it starts — top up first. An upload that starts with a positive balance but can’t cover the final per-minute charge instead lands the asset in `pending_payment`, which activates on your next top-up.
`forbidden`	403	Authenticated, but not allowed for this resource. Rare — most ownership failures surface as `not_found` so an attacker can’t probe existence.
`not_found`	404	Resource doesn’t exist, or doesn’t belong to you.
`conflict`	409	A state-machine violation not covered by one of the more specific 409 codes below.
`asset_processing`	409	`POST /v1/cuts`: the asset is still being prepared and isn’t cuttable yet. Transient — back off for the `Retry-After` seconds and retry.
`asset_payment_required`	409	`POST /v1/cuts`: the asset is prepared but unpaid (`pending_payment`). Top up, then retry.
`asset_failed`	409	`POST /v1/cuts`: the asset failed preparation and can’t be cut. Terminal — re-upload.
`asset_not_ready`	409	`POST /v1/renders`: a video output needs the asset `ready` (an audio output instead gates on `cuttable`, like a cut).
`modifier_not_ready`	409	`POST /v1/renders`: the `cut_id` names a cut of this asset that isn’t `completed` yet.
`unsupported_format`	409	A cut/subtitle export `format` that isn’t available for this entity.
`precondition_failed`	412	A required header / preflight condition wasn’t met (e.g. `Tus-Resumable`).
`payload_too_large`	413	Body / `Upload-Length` exceeds the documented cap.
`unsupported_media_type`	415	Wrong `Content-Type` on the request body.
`validation_error`	422	The request was well-formed but one or more fields failed validation. `fields[]` lists each one.
`internal_error`	500	Something failed server-side. Include the `X-Request-Id` header in a support ticket so we can trace the request.
`upstream_error`	502	A downstream service rejected our integration. Retry won’t help without changing the request.
`upstream_unavailable`	503	A downstream service is transiently unreachable. Retry after the `Retry-After` header’s seconds.

Only the transient codes carry a Retry-After header: asset_processing (on POST /v1/cuts, while the asset is still being prepared) and upstream_unavailable. Back off for the header’s seconds and retry the same request. The list is closed — Roughy won’t introduce a new code without a backward-compatible documentation update. If you encounter a code not listed here, treat it as internal_error.

Correlating with logs

Every response (success or error) carries an X-Request-Id response header. Our server-side structured logs bind the same id to every line emitted while processing the request, so including the header value in a support ticket lets us trace the chain. The id is header-only — the error envelope body does not echo it. When opening a ticket, grab the X-Request-Id from the response (visible in your browser’s network panel or curl -v) and paste it alongside the JSON.

Example — `validation_error` with `fields`

POST /v1/projects HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer sk_live_…
Content-Type: application/json

{ "name": "" }

HTTP/1.1 422 Unprocessable Content
X-Request-Id: 01HZ6P7K9V3QMZB2ACS9YYCP9N
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "error": {
    "code": "validation_error",
    "message": "String should have at least 1 character",
    "fields": [
      { "field": "body.name", "message": "String should have at least 1 character" }
    ]
  }
}

Example — `not_found`

GET /v1/projects/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer sk_live_…

HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
X-Request-Id: 01HZ6P7K9V3QMZB2ACS9YYCP9N
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "error": {
    "code": "not_found",
    "message": "Project 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 not found"
  }
}

Note fields is absent — it’s only present for validation errors.

Success responses

For symmetry, the success side: status codes carry the meaning, the body is the resource directly. No wrapper.

Status	Body
`200 OK`	The resource.
`201 Created`	The newly-created resource, plus a `Location` header.
`202 Accepted`	Reference identifiers for async work.
`204 No Content`	Empty body (per RFC 9110 §15.3.5).

Listings carry pagination metadata — { items: [...], total, limit, offset }. That’s a pagination shape, not a generic envelope.

Get started

Concepts

Envelope

Error codes

Correlating with logs

Example — `validation_error` with `fields`

Example — `not_found`

Success responses

​Envelope

​Error codes

​Correlating with logs

​Example — validation_error with fields

​Example — not_found

​Success responses

Envelope

Error codes

Correlating with logs

Example — `validation_error` with `fields`

Example — `not_found`

Success responses