apollo-common-errors

name	apollo-common-errors
description	Diagnose and fix common Apollo.io API errors. Use when encountering Apollo API errors, debugging integration issues, or troubleshooting failed requests. Trigger with phrases like "apollo error", "apollo api error", "debug apollo", "apollo 401", "apollo 429", "apollo troubleshoot".
allowed-tools	Read, Grep, Bash(curl:*)
version	1.0.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>

Apollo Common Errors

Overview

Comprehensive guide to diagnosing and fixing common Apollo.io API errors with specific solutions and prevention strategies.

Error Reference

401 Unauthorized

Symptoms:

{
  "error": "Unauthorized",
  "message": "Invalid API key"
}

Causes:

1. Missing API key in request
2. Invalid or expired API key
3. API key revoked by admin
4. Wrong API key (sandbox vs production)

Solutions:

# Verify API key is set
echo $APOLLO_API_KEY | head -c 10

# Test API key directly
curl -s "https://api.apollo.io/v1/auth/health?api_key=$APOLLO_API_KEY" | jq

# Check key in Apollo dashboard
# Settings > Integrations > API > View/Regenerate Key

Prevention:

// Validate API key on startup
async function validateApiKey() {
  try {
    await apollo.healthCheck();
    console.log('Apollo API key valid');
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Invalid Apollo API key - check APOLLO_API_KEY');
    process.exit(1);
  }
}

---

403 Forbidden

Symptoms:

{
  "error": "Forbidden",
  "message": "You don't have permission to access this resource"
}

Causes:

1. API feature not available in plan
2. User role doesn't have access
3. IP restriction blocking request
4. Attempting to access another account's data

Solutions:

// Check plan features before calling
const PLAN_FEATURES = {
  basic: ['people_search', 'organization_enrich'],
  professional: ['sequences', 'bulk_operations'],
  enterprise: ['advanced_search', 'custom_fields'],
};

function checkFeatureAccess(feature: string, plan: string): boolean {
  return PLAN_FEATURES[plan]?.includes(feature) ?? false;
}

---

422 Unprocessable Entity

Symptoms:

{
  "error": "Unprocessable Entity",
  "message": "q_organization_domains must be an array"
}

Causes:

1. Invalid request body format
2. Missing required fields
3. Wrong data types
4. Invalid enum values

Common Fixes:

// WRONG: String instead of array
const wrong = { q_organization_domains: 'apollo.io' };

// CORRECT: Array format
const correct = { q_organization_domains: ['apollo.io'] };

// WRONG: Number instead of string
const wrong2 = { per_page: '25' };

// CORRECT: Number type
const correct2 = { per_page: 25 };

Validation Helper:

import { z } from 'zod';

const PeopleSearchSchema = z.object({
  q_organization_domains: z.array(z.string()).optional(),
  person_titles: z.array(z.string()).optional(),
  page: z.number().int().positive().default(1),
  per_page: z.number().int().min(1).max(100).default(25),
});

function validateSearchParams(params: unknown) {
  return PeopleSearchSchema.parse(params);
}

---

429 Too Many Requests (Rate Limited)

Symptoms:

{
  "error": "Too Many Requests",
  "message": "Rate limit exceeded. Please retry after 60 seconds."
}

Rate Limits:

Endpoint	Limit	Window
People Search	100 req/min	1 minute
Enrichment	100 req/min	1 minute
Sequences	50 req/min	1 minute
Bulk Operations	10 req/min	1 minute

Solution - Exponential Backoff:

class RateLimitHandler {
  private retryAfter = 0;
  private retryCount = 0;
  private maxRetries = 5;

  async executeWithRetry<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
    while (this.retryCount < this.maxRetries) {
      try {
        if (this.retryAfter > 0) {
          await this.wait(this.retryAfter);
          this.retryAfter = 0;
        }
        return await fn();
      } catch (error: any) {
        if (error.response?.status === 429) {
          this.retryAfter = this.parseRetryAfter(error.response);
          this.retryCount++;
          console.warn(`Rate limited, retry  after ms`);
        }  {
           error;
        }
      }
    }
      ();
  }

   (: ):  {
     retryHeader = response.[];
     (retryHeader) {
       (retryHeader) * ;
    }
     .(, .) * ; 
  }

   (: ): <> {
      ( (resolve, ms));
  }
}

---

500 Internal Server Error

Symptoms:

{
  "error": "Internal Server Error",
  "message": "An unexpected error occurred"
}

Causes:

1. Apollo service outage
2. Malformed request causing server error
3. Timeout on complex queries

Solutions:

# Check Apollo status
curl -s https://status.apollo.io/api/v2/status.json | jq '.status.description'

# Simplify query and retry
curl -X POST "https://api.apollo.io/v1/people/search" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"api_key": "'$APOLLO_API_KEY'", "page": 1, "per_page": 1}'

---

Empty Results

Symptoms:

{
  "people": [],
  "pagination": { "total_entries": 0 }
}

Causes:

1. Too restrictive filters
2. Invalid domain or company name
3. No matching data in Apollo database

Diagnostic Steps:

async function diagnoseEmptyResults(criteria: any) {
  // Test each filter individually
  const tests = [
    { name: 'domain', params: { q_organization_domains: criteria.domains } },
    { name: 'titles', params: { person_titles: criteria.titles } },
    { name: 'location', params: { person_locations: criteria.locations } },
  ];

  for (const test of tests) {
    if (test.params[Object.keys(test.params)[0]]) {
      const result = await apollo.searchPeople({ ...test.params, per_page: 1 });
      console.log(`${test.name}: ${result.pagination.total_entries} results`);
    }
  }
}

---

Error Handling Pattern

// src/lib/apollo/error-handler.ts
import { AxiosError } from 'axios';

export class ApolloErrorHandler {
  handle(error: AxiosError): never {
    const status = error.response?.status;
    const data = error.response?.data as any;

    switch (status) {
      case 401:
        throw new ApolloAuthError(
          'Invalid API key. Verify APOLLO_API_KEY is set correctly.'
        );
      case 403:
        throw new ApolloPermissionError(
          `Permission denied: ${data?.message || 'Check your plan features'}`
        );
      case 422:
        throw new ApolloValidationError(
          `Invalid request: ${data?.message}`,
          data?.errors
        );
      case 429:
        throw new ApolloRateLimitError(
          'Rate limit exceeded',
          .(error)
        );
       :
          (
          
        );
      :
          (
          
        );
    }
  }

   (: ):  {
     (error.?.[] || );
  }
}

Resources

• Apollo API Error Codes
• Apollo Status Page
• Apollo Support

Next Steps

Proceed to apollo-debug-bundle for collecting debug evidence.