Errors and rate limits - Dialbird API

Error envelope

Every error shares one envelope:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "not_found",
    "message": "Contact not found.",
    "field": "to",
    "request_id": "req_8f3c2c1d"
  }
}

code — a stable, machine-readable identifier. Branch on this, not on the message.
message — a human-readable description. Subject to change; don’t parse it.
field — present only for validation errors tied to a specific input field.
request_id — the same value as the X-Request-Id response header. Include it when contacting support.

Error codes

Code	Typical status	Meaning
`validation_error`	`400`	The request body failed validation.
`invalid_phone_number`	`400`	A phone number was not valid E.164.
`invalid_event_type`	`400`	Unknown webhook event type.
`missing_token`	`401`	No `Authorization` header was sent.
`invalid_token`	`401`	The token is malformed or failed verification.
`expired_token`	`401`	The token is past its expiry.
`insufficient_scope`	`403`	The token lacks the required scope.
`forbidden`	`403`	The caller may not access the resource.
`business_suspended`	`403`	The business is suspended or not associated.
`not_found`	`404`	The resource does not exist.
`conflict`	`409`	The request conflicts with current state.
`idempotency_key_reused`	`409`	An `Idempotency-Key` was reused with a different body.
`idempotency_in_progress`	`409`	A prior request with the same key is still in flight.
`gone`	`410`	The resource is no longer available.
`unprocessable_entity`	`422`	The request was understood but cannot be processed.
`rate_limited`	`429`	The rate limit was exceeded.
`internal_error`	`500`	An unexpected server error.

Rate limiting

Authenticated requests are limited per (business, oauth_client) pair. Anonymous requests (only GET /health) are limited per IP. Every response includes:

Header	Meaning
`X-RateLimit-Limit`	Requests allowed in the current window.
`X-RateLimit-Remaining`	Requests left in the window.
`X-RateLimit-Reset`	Unix epoch seconds when the window resets.

A 429 rate_limited response additionally carries a Retry-After header (seconds). Honor it: wait the indicated time before retrying, and prefer exponential backoff for repeated 429s.

Documentation Index

​Error envelope

​Error codes

​Rate limiting

Error envelope

Error codes

Rate limiting