# Errors
URL: https://docs.awellhealth.com/api-reference/guides/errors

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.awellhealth.com/llms.txt).



The Orchestration API reports outcomes through a `code` and `success` envelope on every response
payload, and through standard GraphQL `errors` for request-level failures. Check both.

**Start here: a failed request usually still returns HTTP `200`.** Being GraphQL, this API reports
problems in the response body, not in the status code — an invalid field name and a record that
does not exist both come back `200 OK`. Code that branches on the HTTP status alone will treat those
as successes.

## The response envelope [#the-response-envelope]

Every operation returns a payload that includes two fields:

| Field     | Type       | Description                           |
| --------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------- |
| `success` | `Boolean!` | Whether the operation succeeded.      |
| `code`    | `String!`  | A status code describing the outcome. |

**`success` is the field to branch on.** It is on every payload object, and for a mutation it is the
only reliable way to know whether the write happened. `code` accompanies it as a string describing
the outcome; Awell does not publish an enumerated list of its values, so treat it as something to
log and read when diagnosing rather than something to switch on in code.

## GraphQL errors [#graphql-errors]

For request-level failures such as malformed queries, authentication failures, or server errors,
the response includes a top-level `errors` array, as defined by the
[GraphQL specification](https://spec.graphql.org/). A response can contain both `data` and
`errors`.

```json
{
  "data": null,
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "...",
      "path": ["patient"]
    }
  ]
}
```

Awell does not publish a set of machine-readable codes on these errors, so match on the shape of the
response and the `message`, not on a code that may not be there.

## What the HTTP status does tell you [#what-the-http-status-does-tell-you]

| Status | What it means                                                                                                                |
| ------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `200`  | The request reached the API and was executed. It may still have failed — read `errors` and `success`.                        |
| `4xx`  | Uncommon here, and usually your network or connection rather than your query. GraphQL reports query problems inside a `200`. |
| `5xx`  | An error inside Awell. Retry, and contact [support](mailto:support@awellhealth.com) if it persists.                          |

`5xx` is the only status worth an automatic retry. Retrying a `200` that contained an error just
repeats the same failure.

## Related [#related]

* [Authentication](/api-reference/guides/authentication)
* [Rate limits](/api-reference/guides/rate-limits)