home / skills / jeremylongshore / claude-code-plugins-plus-skills / retellai-common-errors

This skill helps diagnose and fix Retell AI common errors by guiding you through error identification, fixes, and verification.

npx playbooks add skill jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills --skill retellai-common-errors

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SKILL.md
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---
name: retellai-common-errors
description: |
  Diagnose and fix Retell AI common errors and exceptions.
  Use when encountering Retell AI errors, debugging failed requests,
  or troubleshooting integration issues.
  Trigger with phrases like "retellai error", "fix retellai",
  "retellai not working", "debug retellai".
allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Bash(curl:*)
version: 1.0.0
license: MIT
author: Jeremy Longshore <[email protected]>
---

# Retell AI Common Errors

## Overview
Quick reference for the top 10 most common Retell AI errors and their solutions.

## Prerequisites
- Retell AI SDK installed
- API credentials configured
- Access to error logs

## Instructions

### Step 1: Identify the Error
Check error message and code in your logs or console.

### Step 2: Find Matching Error Below
Match your error to one of the documented cases.

### Step 3: Apply Solution
Follow the solution steps for your specific error.

## Output
- Identified error cause
- Applied fix
- Verified resolution

## Error Handling

### Authentication Failed
**Error Message:**
```
Authentication error: Invalid API key
```

**Cause:** API key is missing, expired, or invalid.

**Solution:**
```bash
# Verify API key is set
echo $RETELLAI_API_KEY
```

---

### Rate Limit Exceeded
**Error Message:**
```
Rate limit exceeded. Please retry after X seconds.
```

**Cause:** Too many requests in a short period.

**Solution:**
Implement exponential backoff. See `retellai-rate-limits` skill.

---

### Network Timeout
**Error Message:**
```
Request timeout after 30000ms
```

**Cause:** Network connectivity or server latency issues.

**Solution:**
```typescript
// Increase timeout
const client = new Client({ timeout: 60000 });
```

## Examples

### Quick Diagnostic Commands
```bash
# Check Retell AI status
curl -s https://status.retellai.com

# Verify API connectivity
curl -I https://api.retellai.com

# Check local configuration
env | grep RETELLAI
```

### Escalation Path
1. Collect evidence with `retellai-debug-bundle`
2. Check Retell AI status page
3. Contact support with request ID

## Resources
- [Retell AI Status Page](https://status.retellai.com)
- [Retell AI Support](https://docs.retellai.com/support)
- [Retell AI Error Codes](https://docs.retellai.com/errors)

## Next Steps
For comprehensive debugging, see `retellai-debug-bundle`.

Overview

This skill diagnoses and fixes the most common Retell AI errors and exceptions so integrations keep running smoothly. It provides quick identification steps, targeted fixes, and verification checks for authentication, rate limits, timeouts, and common network issues. Use it to resolve failed requests and reduce time to recovery during incidents.

How this skill works

The skill inspects error messages, HTTP status codes, and local logs to match your problem to a documented case. For each matched error it provides the probable cause, concrete remediation steps (commands or code snippets), and verification commands to confirm resolution. It also points to escalation steps and useful resources like the status page and support links.

When to use it

  • You see 'Invalid API key' or other authentication errors when calling the Retell AI API
  • Requests fail with 'Rate limit exceeded' or you observe throttling in logs
  • API calls time out or show network/connection errors
  • You need a quick diagnostic checklist before contacting support
  • Integration tests fail intermittently and you need root-cause hints

Best practices

  • Verify environment variables and secrets immediately after authentication errors
  • Implement exponential backoff and jitter when you hit rate limits
  • Increase client-side timeouts only after checking network health and server status
  • Collect request IDs, timestamps, and logs into a debug bundle before escalating
  • Automate health checks that call the Retell AI status endpoint and alert on anomalies

Example use cases

  • Fix a CI job failing due to an expired RETELLAI_API_KEY by rotating credentials and re-running tests
  • Add exponential backoff to a bulk downloader after seeing repeated 429 responses
  • Troubleshoot intermittent 30s timeouts by increasing client timeout and verifying network latency
  • Run quick curl checks to validate API connectivity before filing a support ticket
  • Bundle logs and request IDs with a retellai-debug-bundle to speed up vendor support

FAQ

What should I check first when an authentication error appears?

Confirm the RETELLAI_API_KEY environment variable is present, not expired, and matches the value in your secrets manager; then retry a simple authenticated request.

How do I handle rate limits in production?

Implement exponential backoff with jitter, respect Retry-After headers when present, and batch or throttle requests to reduce peak load.