Inconsistent Number of Entries in JSONL Files from OpenAI Batch API
Hi everyone,
I’ve been using the OpenAI API to process data in batches, expecting each .jsonl file to contain exactly 200 entries (as per the configuration of 200 lines per batch). However, I’ve noticed a consistent issue where some of the resulting files contain fewer entries than expected—e.g., 197, 199, or even 194 lines instead of the full 200.
Example Output:
Here’s a snippet from my batch results (full details are in the attached screenshot):
batch_6735ec98b0c4819089a2a3eb7f49dbe8_results.jsonl: 196
batch_6735eca752088190b9e2174bb8cda671_results.jsonl: 200
batch_6735ecb8bb1c8190bb5f77d87b76fd04_results.jsonl: 197
batch_6735ecca35cc8190a5d752569a538baf_results.jsonl: 199
batch_6735ecda29e081908ae82f1d61d8eed9_results.jsonl: 200
...
The Problem:
Despite configuring the batches to always handle 200 entries, there are discrepancies in some of the output files, with certain batches missing a few lines. This behavior is unexpected, and I’m trying to understand why it happens and how to resolve it.
Questions:
- Has anyone experienced similar issues when working with OpenAI’s Batch API?
- Are there any known limitations or reasons why certain batches might fail to include all expected entries?
- What are the best practices for error handling or retry mechanisms to ensure complete results in each batch?
Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your time.
