Documentation

Error Codes

Standardized error codes across all Cognigate APIs.

Overview

All errors follow a consistent format with a unique error code, HTTP status, category, and human-readable message. Error codes are stable across API versions.

{
  "error": {
    "code": "E1001",
    "category": "AUTH",
    "message": "API key is missing. Include it in the Authorization header.",
    "retryable": false,
    "docsUrl": "https://cognigate.dev/docs/authentication"
  }
}

Error Categories

Category	Code Range	Description
AUTH	E1xxx	Authentication and authorization errors
TRUST	E2xxx	Trust scoring and tier violations
CAPABILITY	E3xxx	Capability and permission denials
RATE_LIMIT	E4xxx	Rate limit exceeded
INTENT	E5xxx	Intent analysis failures
ENFORCE	E6xxx	Policy enforcement errors
PROOF	E7xxx	Proof chain generation/verification errors
ENTITY	E8xxx	Agent/entity not found or invalid
POLICY	E9xxx	Policy configuration errors
VALIDATION	E10xxx	Input validation failures
SYSTEM	E11xxx	Internal system errors

Common Errors

Code	HTTP	Message	Retryable
E1001	401	API key is missing	No
E1002	401	API key is invalid or revoked	No
E1003	401	API key has expired	No
E2001	403	Trust score below minimum for this action	No
E3001	403	Agent lacks required capability	No
E4001	429	Rate limit exceeded	Yes
E8001	404	Agent not found	No
E11001	500	Internal server error	Yes

Tip: For the full interactive error code reference with search and filtering, use the Error Code Explorer.

Next Steps

Interactive Error Explorer — search and filter all error codes
Rate Limits — understand throttling behavior
Authentication — fix auth-related errors