RateLimitError: The server had an error with no reason given

tashku · March 29, 2023, 7:14pm

Just one request at a time.
After around 3 requests, I hit an unspecified, generic RateLimitError. I can bypass this if I put a delay of around at least a minute (inconsistently, but closer to 2 minutes) between individual, unbatched requests.

anon10827405 · March 29, 2023, 7:31pm

That’s really strange.

First, I love your profile picture. Spirited Away, right? I don’t usually watch animated movies, but man it was so powerful & moving.

Have you looked at your usage in the account overview? It may be possible that these requests are being sent multiple times?

Here’s a great OpenAI cookbook on managing RateLimitErrors. Although, it has been in the past that an unspecified RateLimitError was being thrown for a mishandled server error. Are you by any chance outside of North America?

github.com

openai/openai-cookbook/blob/main/examples/How_to_handle_rate_limits.ipynb

{
 "cells": [
  {
   "attachments": {},
   "cell_type": "markdown",
   "metadata": {},
   "source": [
    "# How to handle rate limits\n",
    "\n",
    "When you call the OpenAI API repeatedly, you may encounter error messages that say `429: 'Too Many Requests'` or `RateLimitError`. These error messages come from exceeding the API's rate limits.\n",
    "\n",
    "This guide shares tips for avoiding and handling rate limit errors.\n",
    "\n",
    "To see an example script for throttling parallel requests to avoid rate limit errors, see [api_request_parallel_processor.py](api_request_parallel_processor.py).\n",
    "\n",
    "## Why rate limits exist\n",
    "\n",
    "Rate limits are a common practice for APIs, and they're put in place for a few different reasons.\n",
    "\n",
    "- First, they help protect against abuse or misuse of the API. For example, a malicious actor could flood the API with requests in an attempt to overload it or cause disruptions in service. By setting rate limits, OpenAI can prevent this kind of activity.\n",

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tashku · March 29, 2023, 7:46pm

Hi, thank you. Kiki’s Delivery Service a very touching film.

Yes – the Usage specifies just 5 requests sent within the last five minutes, totalling 1215 tokens. Is there a way to view more fine-grained information on the usage, in case repeat requests might be sending by accident?
Thank you, I took a look through this beforehand, unfortunately these strategies were unable to help with my case. (There is an update on this, I will note at the end of my response).
I am in North America.

Update: Even after waiting 1-2 minutes with no executions, even just attempting to send one request is met with a RateLimitError immediately. I generated a new API key and tried again and after about 9 requests spaced 2 minutes apart from each other, the mysterious RateLimitError returned. If this is a server issue, is there someway to notify OpenAI about it? Alternatively, any other ways to figure out more detailed usage information?

proxima · March 29, 2023, 8:00pm

I think there’s a distinction between an app that genuinely hits a rate limit through excessive requests, and receiving a 429 because of an OpenAI server-side issue.

In the past Mods in Discord have acknowledged as an issue their side, and resolved. For 2 hours earlier, I made approximately 5 requests/minute, and approximately 2 of them returned 429.

tashku · March 29, 2023, 8:40pm

Thank you. I’m still having the issue on my end (now attempting just one request hits a RateLimitError, including when attempting batching), but was wondering if the Discord link was available (I sent a help message to the Support team but no response yet).

anon10827405 · March 29, 2023, 8:43pm

Interesting.

@proxima You’re completely right. It’s always a good idea to knock-out any potential client-side issues beforehand though.

Although I am not running any requests right now, if this was a widespread issue the forums & discord are usually overwhelmed by spam.

Would you mind posting the request that you make?

proxima · March 31, 2023, 2:52pm

Absolutely agree with validating client-side issues first. I think it’s cleared up now - thanks for your help.

xuanlong001 · May 30, 2023, 2:55pm

Can anyone ping the staffs? I consistently got the error and have no idea, despite setting time sleep to 1 after every call. @anon10827405

raise self.handle_error_response(
openai.error.RateLimitError: The server had an error while processing your request. Sorry about that!

info136 · June 2, 2023, 10:03am

Since yesterday: openai.error.RateLimitError: The server had an error while processing your request. Sorry about that!

I am nowhere near any rate limit.

calebnma · June 6, 2023, 1:49pm

Same issue here when using text-davinci-003. We are nowhere near the rate limit for our account, but we get the rate limit error almost every request.

gordon1 · June 6, 2023, 4:12pm

What’s your max token allotment? I changed mine from 3k to 2k and it seems to be working (after previously erroring).

bscarl88 · July 19, 2023, 2:55pm

I haven’t made any request, and can confirm via my dashboard, but I’m still getting a RateLimitError. So I guess the rate limit must be 0 lol. My app makes one then sleeps 60 seconds between requests and has been sitting for almost 30 minutes getting the rate error. I’ve tried multiple different models, and it’s the same thing. Any help is appreciated

Foxalabs · July 19, 2023, 3:00pm

Welcome to the developer forum!

Have you added a billing method to your OpenAI API account? If not, that will be why you are seeing the rate limit error at 0 usage. You can add a billing method here

bscarl88 · July 19, 2023, 3:07pm

Thank you! I have not, I was planning on testing my app on at least a 1 call before paying. I thought there were monthly free credits allotted to free user? It looks like mine expired July 1st, but I only signed up today?

Foxalabs · July 19, 2023, 3:09pm

You’re welcome! The Free token grant starts from when you open your OpenAI account, not from the date you register a payment method.

novaphil · July 19, 2023, 3:09pm

There’s no monthly free credits. There’s supposedly one-time $5 free credits when you sign up, but many people miss out on them. I believe you get the credits the first time you use your phone number with OpenAI and that may include signing up for ChatGPT. Regardless, if they’re expired you can try contacting support but that may take awhile, so if you want to get started with API you’ll need to provide payment info.

bscarl88 · July 19, 2023, 3:10pm

Thank you both! I guess there lies the issue.

johnthomascook · August 14, 2023, 6:53pm

It is close to unusable much of the the time. I get ratelimit on most of the requests that I send, even it is a simple single senctence response. It is not production ready.

EricGT · December 2, 2023, 10:04am

Summary created by AI.

Users in the discussion titled “RateLimitError: The server had an error with no reason given” are experiencing a rate limit error while using the OpenAI API, particularly with the text-davinci-003 model.

Starting with petroslamb, users report a general error that can’t be resolved due to their low traffic and subsequent requests under the rate limit belkin also faces the issue with text-davinci-003, but not with text-curie-001. miguel.de.icaza furthermore reports recurring errors on the paid plan even when usage limits are obeyed according to OpenAI’s documentation.

Other users like proxima, ahmdayyy, nayakpplaban, M.H1, dpc and arsaltanveer72, continue to report encountering the same error while using text-davinci-003.

info27 did a few tests on the error and discovered that it occurs with 98% reliability by sending 3 or more concurrent requests to the API. This happens regardless of the request size and seems to lock up the service.

Several users show willingness to aid OpenAI debugging the issue by providing trace logs and tokens, and they are awaiting further instructions or fixes.

Summarized with AI on Dec 2 2023
AI used: gpt-4-32k

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RateLimitError: The server had an error with no reason given

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