debug-api

name

debug-api

description

Debug HTTP/network/API failures in mParticle Web SDK including fetch failed/fetch error/request failed/API call failed/endpoint not responding/401 unauthorized/403 forbidden/404 not found/500 internal server error/502 bad gateway/503 service unavailable/504 gateway timeout/network error/timeout/ETIMEDOUT/connection timeout/ECONNREFUSED/response format wrong/DTO mismatch/type mismatch in response/unexpected response/null response/undefined response/empty response/missing data/API contract changed/batch upload failed/identity API failed/config API failed/events API failed

API Debug Skill - Web SDK

Purpose

Diagnose network/API failures in the mParticle Web SDK through systematic request/response inspection and API client debugging.

Core Principles

• Network tab is truth: Inspect actual requests, not assumptions
• Mock vs real divergence: fetch-mock works but real API fails → contract drift
• Batch timing matters: Events batched before upload (100 events or 30 seconds)
• Three API systems: Events, Identity, and Config APIs have different shapes

Architecture Context

HTTP clients in src/apiClient.ts (Events), src/identityApiClient.ts (Identity), src/configAPIClient.ts (Config). Uses fetch API. Batch upload in src/batchUploader.ts. Tests use fetch-mock for HTTP mocking.

Failure Classification

Request never sent:

• Network offline → browser blocking
• Batch not full → waiting for 100 events or 30 second interval
• API client not initialized → SDK init failed
• Config disabled feature → server config blocking

Request fails:

• 401 → Auth token invalid/expired
• 403 → Workspace permissions issue
• 404 → URL wrong (trailing slash, workspace ID, endpoint)
• 500 → Backend error (check server logs)
• Timeout → slow network/server hang
• CORS → should not happen with mParticle APIs (same-origin or configured)

Response wrong:

• DTO mismatch → backend changed contract
• Null/undefined → optional fields missing
• Type error → response shape unexpected
• Empty response → valid but no data

SDK-specific issues:

• Batch upload stuck → timer not advancing
• Identity callback not fired → response parsing failed
• Config not loading → initial config fetch failed
• Events not forwarding → kits not initialized

Investigation Strategy

1. Network Inspection

Use browser DevTools Network tab:

• Request URL (exact match with workspace ID)
• Request headers (Content-Type, User-Agent)
• Request payload (batch structure, identity request)
• Response status (200/401/403/404/500)
• Response body (success flags, error messages)
• Timing (slow? timeout?)

2. API Client State

Log client state:

// In apiClient.ts
console.log({ url, payload, config: mpInstance._Store })

// In identityApiClient.ts
console.log({ identityRequest, callback })

// In batchUploader.ts
console.log({ batchSize, uploadInterval, queuedEvents })

3. Verify API Endpoints

Check endpoint construction:

• Events: /v1/[workspace]/events
• Identity: /v1/[workspace]/identify (or /login, /logout, /modify)
• Config: /v1/[workspace]/config

Ensure workspace ID (devToken/apiKey) is correct.

4. fetch-mock vs Real API

If fetch-mock works but real fails:

• Compare mock URL vs real endpoint
• Check mock response shape vs real DTO
• Verify auth headers match
• Look for hardcoded test data

Common Root Causes

Auth failures:

• API key (devToken) missing or wrong
• API key passed incorrectly in request
• Workspace disabled or suspended
• Environment mismatch (dev key in production)

Events API issues:

• Batch structure malformed
• Event validation failed (data plan)
• Consent state blocking events
• Kit filtering rules blocking

Identity API issues:

• Identity request validation failed
• MPID not found (new user)
• Identity callback error → silent failure
• User identities malformed

Config API issues:

• Config fetch failed → kits not initialized
• Config cache stale → using old settings
• Server-side config override → unexpected behavior

Batch upload issues:

• Timer not advancing → events never sent
• Batch size threshold not met → waiting for 100 events
• Upload interval not met → waiting for 30 seconds
• Network offline → queued but not sent

Obscure Debugging Vectors

• Network throttling: Fast 3G reveals timeout issues
• Disable cache: Force fresh requests to test caching theory
• Copy as fetch: Right-click network request → replay in console
• fetch-mock logging: Enable fetch-mock logging in tests
• Batch queue inspection: Log mpInstance._Batch to see queued events
• Identity MPID check: Verify MPID exists in localStorage
• Config inspection: Check mpInstance._Store for loaded config
• Session ID check: Verify session ID in event payload

Debugging Flow

1. Reproduce failure, open network tab
2. Identify request: sent? failed? wrong response?
3. Check API key (devToken) in request
4. Verify endpoint URL format (workspace ID, path)
5. Compare fetch-mock handler vs real API response
6. Log API client state before/after request
7. Check batch queue status (if Events API)
8. Test with network throttling enabled

Success Criteria

• Request succeeds with correct response
• Events uploaded to mParticle servers
• Identity callbacks fire correctly
• Config loaded and applied
• Works across 3+ attempts (no fluke)
• Screenshot: network tab + successful response

SDK-Specific API Patterns

Events API (/v1/[workspace]/events):

• Batch of events in payload
• Response indicates success/failure per event
• Retry logic for failed uploads
• Validate event structure before sending

Identity API (/v1/[workspace]/identify):

• Single identity request
• Callback with result (success/error)
• MPID returned in response
• User identities in request

Config API (/v1/[workspace]/config):

• Fetched on SDK init
• Contains kit configurations
• Workspace settings
• Feature flags

Common Headers:

Content-Type: application/json
User-Agent: mParticle web SDK

Test Debugging

fetch-mock configuration:

import fetchMock from 'fetch-mock/esm/client'

fetchMock.post('/v1/test-workspace/events', {
  status: 200,
  body: { Store: true }
})

Verify mock called:

expect(fetchMock.called('/v1/test-workspace/events')).toBe(true)

Check request payload:

const calls = fetchMock.calls('/v1/test-workspace/events')
console.log(JSON.parse(calls[0][1].body))

Self-Improvement

CRITICAL: Update with:

• Events API contract changes
• Identity API error patterns
• Config API structure updates
• Batch upload timing solutions
• fetch-mock anti-patterns
• Common SDK API failures