Guides Errors and Quota Headers

Places API

Errors and Quota Headers

Error response shape, stable machine-readable codes, and quota headers for the Open Places API.

Error format

Use stable codes for client behavior.

Errors use stable machine-readable codes so callers can distinguish validation, auth, quota, coverage, and layer selection failures without parsing prose messages.

JSON ErrorResponse
{
  "error": {
    "code": "layer_not_available",
    "message": "The requested layer selection is not available to this account.",
    "request_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
  }
}

Statuses

HTTP status maps to the failure class.

Status Meaning
400 Invalid query parameter shape.
401 Missing or invalid bearer API key.
402 Monthly quota exhausted.
403 Requested layer selection is well-formed but unavailable to the authenticated account.
405 Only GET is supported.
422 Recognized but unsupported search shape.
429 Burst or auth throttle was exceeded.
500 Generic internal error.
503 Coverage or quota gate is temporarily unavailable.

Headers

Quota and retry metadata travel in headers.

Header Use
X-Request-ID Server-generated request identifier for support and debugging.
X-Quota-Limit Current quota period limit.
X-Quota-Remaining Remaining searches in the current quota period.
X-Quota-Reset Current quota period reset time as Unix epoch seconds.
Retry-After Seconds until the client should retry after rate limiting or temporary unavailability.