fix(chat): show specific error messages instead of generic 'Something went wrong' (#1566)

Co-authored-by: Steven Enamakel <enamakel@tinyhumans.ai>

app/src/providers/ChatRuntimeProvider.tsx

@@ -809,7 +809,7 @@ const ChatRuntimeProvider = ({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) => {
         finishChatDoneTurn(event, 'ordinary');
       },
       onError: event => {
-        const eventKey = `error:${event.thread_id}:${event.request_id ?? 'none'}:${event.error_type}:${event.message}`;
+        const eventKey = `error:${event.thread_id}:${event.request_id ?? 'none'}:${event.error_type}`;
         if (
           !markChatEventSeen(eventKey, { threadId: event.thread_id, requestId: event.request_id })
         )
@@ -840,14 +840,17 @@ const ChatRuntimeProvider = ({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) => {
           const currentState = store.getState();
           const threadMessages = currentState.thread.messagesByThreadId[event.thread_id] ?? [];
           const lastMsg = threadMessages[threadMessages.length - 1];
-          if (
-            !(lastMsg?.sender === 'agent' && lastMsg?.content === USER_FACING_AGENT_ERROR_MESSAGE)
-          ) {
+          // For the generic 'inference' type the server may send a raw internal error string;
+          // use the safe user-facing constant instead. For all other classified types
+          // (rate_limited, timeout, auth_error, etc.) the message comes from
+          // classify_inference_error() in web.rs and is already user-friendly.
+          const errorContent =
+            event.error_type === 'inference'
+              ? USER_FACING_AGENT_ERROR_MESSAGE
+              : event.message || USER_FACING_AGENT_ERROR_MESSAGE;
+          if (!(lastMsg?.sender === 'agent' && lastMsg?.content === errorContent)) {
             void dispatch(
-              addInferenceResponse({
-                content: USER_FACING_AGENT_ERROR_MESSAGE,
-                threadId: event.thread_id,
-              })
+              addInferenceResponse({ content: errorContent, threadId: event.thread_id })
             );
           }
 

app/src/services/chatService.ts

@@ -90,7 +90,18 @@ export interface ChatErrorEvent {
   thread_id: string;
   request_id?: string;
   message: string;
-  error_type: 'network' | 'timeout' | 'tool_error' | 'inference' | 'cancelled';
+  error_type:
+    | 'network'
+    | 'timeout'
+    | 'tool_error'
+    | 'inference'
+    | 'cancelled'
+    | 'rate_limited'
+    | 'auth_error'
+    | 'provider_error'
+    | 'context_overflow'
+    | 'model_unavailable'
+    | 'budget_exhausted';
   round: number | null;
 }
 

src/openhuman/channels/providers/web.rs

@@ -130,6 +130,62 @@ fn generic_inference_error_user_message() -> &'static str {
     "Something went wrong. Please try again.\nThis error has been reported. You can also report it on Discord.\n<openhuman-link path=\"community/discord\">Report on Discord</openhuman-link>"
 }
 
+fn classify_inference_error(err: &str) -> (&'static str, &'static str) {
+    let lower = err.to_lowercase();
+    if lower.contains("rate limit") || lower.contains("429") {
+        (
+            "rate_limited",
+            "You're being rate-limited. Please wait a moment and try again.",
+        )
+    } else if lower.contains("timeout") || lower.contains("timed out") {
+        (
+            "timeout",
+            "The request timed out. Please check your connection and try again.",
+        )
+    } else if lower.contains("401") || lower.contains("unauthorized") || lower.contains("api key") {
+        (
+            "auth_error",
+            "There's an authentication issue with the AI provider. Please check your API key in settings.",
+        )
+    } else if lower.contains("402")
+        || lower.contains("payment required")
+        || lower.contains("insufficient balance")
+    {
+        (
+            "budget_exhausted",
+            "Insufficient credits. Please top up to continue.",
+        )
+    } else if lower.contains("500")
+        || lower.contains("internal server")
+        || lower.contains("service unavailable")
+        || lower.contains("503")
+    {
+        (
+            "provider_error",
+            "The AI provider is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.",
+        )
+    } else if lower.contains("context")
+        && (lower.contains("length")
+            || lower.contains("limit")
+            || lower.contains("exceed")
+            || lower.contains("token"))
+    {
+        (
+            "context_overflow",
+            "The conversation is too long. Please start a new chat.",
+        )
+    } else if lower.contains("model")
+        && (lower.contains("not found") || lower.contains("unavailable"))
+    {
+        (
+            "model_unavailable",
+            "The selected model is not available. Please check your model settings.",
+        )
+    } else {
+        ("inference", generic_inference_error_user_message())
+    }
+}
+
 fn prompt_guard_user_message(action: PromptEnforcementAction) -> &'static str {
     match action {
         PromptEnforcementAction::Allow => "Message accepted.",
@@ -280,13 +336,14 @@ pub async fn start_chat(
                     "run_chat_task failed client_id={} thread_id={} request_id={} error={}",
                     client_id_task, thread_id_task, request_id_task, err
                 );
+                let (classified_type, classified_message) = classify_inference_error(&err);
                 crate::core::observability::report_error(
                     detailed.as_str(),
                     "web_channel",
                     "run_chat_task",
                     &[
                         ("channel", "web"),
-                        ("error_type", "inference"),
+                        ("error_type", classified_type),
                         ("thread_id", thread_id_task.as_str()),
                         ("request_id", request_id_task.as_str()),
                     ],
@@ -297,8 +354,8 @@ pub async fn start_chat(
                     thread_id: thread_id_task.clone(),
                     request_id: request_id_task.clone(),
                     full_response: None,
-                    message: Some(generic_inference_error_user_message().to_string()),
-                    error_type: Some("inference".to_string()),
+                    message: Some(classified_message.to_string()),
+                    error_type: Some(classified_type.to_string()),
                     tool_name: None,
                     skill_id: None,
                     args: None,