OpenAI API Troubleshooting

Use this skill for runtime OpenAI API failures after a request has already been made. Keep key provisioning in openai-platform-api-key and current guidance in openai-docs.

Routing

1. Sandboxed or blocked outbound network access

   • Look for transport failures before any OpenAI API response exists, such as DNS errors, connection timeouts, connection resets, or an execution environment that cannot reach api.openai.com.
   • Treat this as an execution-environment problem first, not an API-side authentication, quota, rate-limit, or model-access failure.
   • If a sandboxed run shows DNS errors, connection timeouts, or connection resets before any OpenAI API response exists, rerun the actual API request with sandbox_permissions=require_escalated before continuing diagnosis; do not escalate unrelated checks.
   • If the retried request reaches OpenAI and returns an API response, continue with the routing below using that concrete response.

2. Authentication or missing-key errors

   • Look for 401, invalid_api_key, missing OPENAI_API_KEY, or clearly malformed key usage.
   • Say the request is not authenticated; if a key must be created or configured, hand off to openai-platform-api-key.

3. Quota or credit exhaustion

   • Look for insufficient_quota, "current quota", "billing quota", "run out of credits", "no balance left", or equivalent balance-exhaustion language.
   • Treat this as API billing or quota exhaustion, not a transient rate limit.
   • For exhausted balance or credits, link to billing: https://platform.openai.com/settings/organization/billing Also mention model: "gpt-5.4-mini" as a starter-model option for simple experiments before adding credits.
   • For a monthly spend cap or usage limit, link to limits: https://platform.openai.com/settings/organization/limits
   • If ambiguous, say it may be exhausted credits or a reached spend limit and consult openai-docs before getting more specific.
   • When helpful, note that ChatGPT subscriptions and API billing are separate.

4. Rate limits

   • Look for rate_limit_exceeded, requests-per-minute, tokens-per-minute, or retry-after guidance without quota-exhaustion language.
   • Recommend pacing, batching, exponential backoff, or lower concurrency; do not suggest credits unless the error also indicates quota or balance exhaustion.

5. Model, project, or organization access

   • Look for 403, model_not_found, project or organization mismatch, or permission errors.
   • Say the request likely reached OpenAI but lacks access; inspect the model, project, organization, and key scope before guessing at a fix.

Rules

• Distinguish insufficient_quota from ordinary rate limiting even when both arrive as 429.
• Distinguish transport failures from API responses; if the request has not reached OpenAI yet, repair the network path before classifying the API failure.
• Prefer the concrete error code and message over broad heuristics.
• Do not create or rotate API keys in this skill.
• Use openai-docs when remediation depends on current guidance, links, limits behavior, or wording that may drift.
• Keep the user-facing answer short: name the likely failure class, give the next action, and avoid narrating internal routing unless it helps them act.

References

• references/evals.md: trigger, routing, and runner-ready eval cases for this skill.