triggerdotdev--trigger.dev/docs/ai-chat/error-handling.mdx

---
title: "Error handling"
sidebarTitle: "Error handling"
description: "How errors flow through chat.agent — stream errors, hook errors, run failures — and how to recover."
---

`chat.agent` errors fall into four layers, each with different recovery semantics. The default behavior is **conversation-preserving**: a thrown error in a hook or `run()` does not kill the chat. The current turn ends with an error chunk, and the agent waits for the user's next message.

## Error layers at a glance

| Layer | Source | Default behavior | Recovery |
|-------|--------|------------------|----------|
| **Stream** | `streamText` errors mid-response (rate limits, model API failures) | `onError` callback converts to error chunk | Sanitize message via `uiMessageStreamOptions.onError` |
| **Hook / turn** | Throws in `onValidateMessages`, `onTurnStart`, `run`, etc. | Error chunk + turn-complete written to stream; conversation continues | Catch in your hook, or rely on default |
| **Run** | Unhandled exception escapes the run | Run fails. No retry by default. Standard task `onFailure` fires. | `onFailure` task hook |
| **Frontend** | Stream delivers `{ type: "error", errorText }` | `useChat` exposes via `error` field and `onError` callback | Show toast, retry button, etc. |

## Stream errors mid-turn

When the model API errors mid-response (rate limits, network failures, malformed output), the AI SDK's `streamText` calls the `onError` callback. Use `uiMessageStreamOptions.onError` to convert the error to a user-friendly string. The string is sent to the frontend as an error chunk.

```ts
import { chat } from "@trigger.dev/sdk/ai";

export const myChat = chat.agent({
  id: "my-chat",
  uiMessageStreamOptions: {
    onError: (error) => {
      console.error("Stream error:", error);
      if (error instanceof Error && error.message.includes("rate limit")) {
        return "Rate limited. Please wait a moment and try again.";
      }
      if (error instanceof Error && error.message.includes("context_length")) {
        return "This conversation is too long. Please start a new chat.";
      }
      return "Something went wrong while generating a response. Please try again.";
    },
  },
  run: async ({ messages, signal }) => {
    return streamText({ model: anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5"), messages, abortSignal: signal });
  },
});
```

<Note>
  Returning a string from `onError` is what gets shown to the user. Do not return raw error messages — they may leak internal details (API keys, stack traces, etc.).
</Note>

The frontend receives this as an error chunk that `useChat` exposes via its `error` field:

```tsx
const { messages, error } = useChat({ transport });

{error && <div className="text-red-600">{error.message}</div>}
```

## Hook and turn errors

If any lifecycle hook (`onValidateMessages`, `onChatStart`, `onTurnStart`, `hydrateMessages`, `onAction`, `prepareMessages`, `onBeforeTurnComplete`, `onTurnComplete`) or `run()` throws an unhandled exception, the turn loop catches it:

1. Writes `{ type: "error", errorText: error.message }` to the stream
2. Writes a turn-complete chunk to close the turn
3. Waits for the next user message

The conversation stays alive. The user can send another message and continue.

```ts
export const myChat = chat.agent({
  id: "my-chat",
  onTurnStart: async ({ chatId, uiMessages }) => {
    // If this throws, the turn ends with an error chunk
    // and the agent waits for the next message
    await db.chat.update({ where: { id: chatId }, data: { messages: uiMessages } });
  },
  run: async ({ messages, signal }) => {
    return streamText({ model: anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5"), messages, abortSignal: signal });
  },
});
```

### Catching errors in your own hooks

For granular control, wrap your hook code in try/catch and decide what to do. Common patterns:

```ts
onValidateMessages: async ({ messages }) => {
  try {
    return await validateUIMessages({ messages, tools: chatTools });
  } catch (err) {
    // Log to your error tracking service
    Sentry.captureException(err);
    // Throw a user-facing error message — this becomes the error chunk
    throw new Error("Your message contains invalid data and could not be sent.");
  }
},
```

<Tip>
  The `Error.message` you throw is sent verbatim to the frontend as the error chunk's `errorText`. Use messages safe for end users.
</Tip>

### Catching errors inside `run()`

`run()` is your code — wrap it in try/catch for full control. This is the right place to save partial state to your DB before the error chunk goes out:

```ts
run: async ({ messages, chatId, signal }) => {
  try {
    return streamText({ model: anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5"), messages, abortSignal: signal });
  } catch (err) {
    // Save the failed turn for debugging / undo
    await db.failedTurn.create({
      data: {
        chatId,
        error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
        messages,
      },
    });
    throw err; // Re-throw to trigger the error chunk
  }
},
```

## Saving error state to your DB

To persist errors for debugging or undo, use `onTurnComplete` (which fires even after errors) or the standard task `onComplete` hook.

### Using `onTurnComplete`

`onTurnComplete` fires after every turn — successful **or** errored. On an errored turn `responseMessage` is undefined or partial and `error` carries the thrown value (with `finishReason` set to `"error"`). Use this to mark the turn as failed:

```ts
onTurnComplete: async ({ chatId, uiMessages, responseMessage, stopped, error }) => {
  // Persist the messages regardless of error state
  await db.chat.update({
    where: { id: chatId },
    data: {
      messages: uiMessages,
      // `error` is set when the turn threw
      lastTurnStatus: error ? "errored" : stopped ? "stopped" : "ok",
    },
  });
},
```

### Using the standard `onFailure` task hook

For run-level failures (the entire run dies), use the standard task `onFailure` hook. This fires when the run terminates with an unhandled exception:

```ts
chat.agent({
  id: "my-chat",
  onFailure: async ({ error, ctx }) => {
    // Log run-level failure to your monitoring service
    await monitoring.recordRunFailure({
      runId: ctx.run.id,
      chatId: ctx.run.tags.find(t => t.startsWith("chat:"))?.slice(5),
      error: error.message,
    });
  },
  run: async ({ messages, signal }) => {
    return streamText({ ... });
  },
});
```

<Info>
  `chat.agent` uses `retry: { maxAttempts: 1 }` internally, so the run never retries on failure. To add run-level retries, wrap the agent in a parent task or implement your own retry logic in the frontend (re-send the message).
</Info>

## Recovery patterns

### Pattern 1: Undo to last successful response

A common pattern is to let the user "undo" the failed turn and try again. Combine `chat.history.rollbackTo` with a custom action:

```ts
chat.agent({
  id: "my-chat",
  actionSchema: z.discriminatedUnion("type", [
    z.object({ type: z.literal("undo") }),
  ]),
  onAction: async ({ action, uiMessages }) => {
    if (action.type === "undo") {
      // Find the last user message and roll back to it
      const lastUserIdx = [...uiMessages].reverse().findIndex(m => m.role === "user");
      if (lastUserIdx !== -1) {
        const targetIdx = uiMessages.length - 1 - lastUserIdx - 1;
        const target = uiMessages[targetIdx];
        if (target) chat.history.rollbackTo(target.id);
      }
    }
  },
  run: async ({ messages, signal }) => {
    return streamText({ ... });
  },
});
```

On the frontend, show an "Undo" button when an error occurs:

```tsx
{error && (
  <button onClick={() => transport.sendAction(chatId, { type: "undo" })}>
    Undo and try again
  </button>
)}
```

### Pattern 2: Retry the last message

For transient errors (network blips, rate limits), the simplest recovery is to re-send the last user message. The AI SDK's `useChat` provides `regenerate()`:

```tsx
const { messages, error, regenerate } = useChat({ transport });

{error && (
  <button onClick={() => regenerate()}>Retry</button>
)}
```

`regenerate()` removes the last assistant response and re-sends. Combined with `onValidateMessages` or `hydrateMessages`, you can reload the canonical state from your DB before retrying.

### Pattern 3: Save partial responses

When a stream errors mid-response, the `responseMessage` in `onBeforeTurnComplete` and `onTurnComplete` contains the partial output. Save it as a "draft" so the user can see what was generated before the error:

```ts
onBeforeTurnComplete: async ({ chatId, responseMessage, stopped }) => {
  if (responseMessage && responseMessage.parts.length > 0) {
    // Save partial response — user can manually accept or discard
    await db.partialResponse.create({
      data: {
        chatId,
        message: responseMessage,
        reason: stopped ? "stopped" : "errored",
      },
    });
  }
},
```

### Pattern 4: Fall back to a different model

If the primary model errors, try a fallback model in the same turn:

```ts
run: async ({ messages, signal }) => {
  try {
    return streamText({
      model: anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5"),
      messages,
      abortSignal: signal,
      stopWhen: stepCountIs(15),
    });
  } catch (err) {
    console.warn("Primary model failed, falling back:", err);
    return streamText({
      model: anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-6"),
      messages,
      abortSignal: signal,
      stopWhen: stepCountIs(15),
    });
  }
},
```

<Note>
  This only catches errors thrown synchronously by `streamText` setup. Errors that happen mid-stream go through `uiMessageStreamOptions.onError`, not your try/catch.
</Note>

## What gets written to the stream on error

When an error occurs at any layer, the frontend's `UIMessageChunk` stream surfaces an error chunk:

```json
{ "type": "error", "errorText": "Rate limited. Please wait a moment and try again." }
```

A `turn-complete` control record follows on `session.out` (header-form, not a data chunk — see [`turn-complete` control record](/ai-chat/client-protocol#turn-complete-control-record) for the wire format) to mark the turn as done.

The AI SDK's `useChat` processes this and:

1. Sets `useChat`'s `error` field to an `Error` with `message = errorText`
2. Calls the user's `onError` callback (if set)
3. Marks the turn as complete (`status` returns to `"ready"`)

```tsx
const { messages, error, status } = useChat({
  transport,
  onError: (err) => {
    toast.error(err.message);
  },
});
```

## Frontend error handling

### Showing the error to the user

```tsx
function Chat() {
  const transport = useTriggerChatTransport({
    task: "my-chat",
    accessToken: ({ chatId }) => mintChatAccessToken(chatId),
    startSession: ({ chatId, clientData }) =>
      startChatSession({ chatId, clientData }),
  });
  const { messages, error, sendMessage } = useChat({ transport });

  return (
    <div>
      {messages.map(m => /* ... */)}
      {error && (
        <div className="rounded border border-red-300 bg-red-50 p-3">
          <p className="text-red-700">{error.message}</p>
        </div>
      )}
      <form onSubmit={(e) => { e.preventDefault(); sendMessage(/* ... */); }}>
        {/* ... */}
      </form>
    </div>
  );
}
```

### Distinguishing error types

The `errorText` is just a string, so distinguish error types via prefixes or codes:

```ts
// Backend
uiMessageStreamOptions: {
  onError: (error) => {
    if (error.message.includes("rate limit")) return "RATE_LIMIT: Please wait and try again.";
    if (error.message.includes("context_length")) return "CONTEXT_TOO_LONG: Start a new chat.";
    return "UNKNOWN: Something went wrong.";
  },
},
```

```tsx
// Frontend
{error?.message.startsWith("RATE_LIMIT") && <RateLimitNotice />}
{error?.message.startsWith("CONTEXT_TOO_LONG") && <NewChatPrompt />}
```

<Tip>
  For richer error structures, use [`chat.response.write()`](/ai-chat/backend#custom-data-parts) with a custom `data-error` part type. This lets you ship structured error metadata (codes, retry hints, etc.) instead of stringly-typed messages.
</Tip>

### Errors from `accessToken` / `startSession`

If your `accessToken` or `startSession` callback throws (auth failure, DB write failure, network error), the rejection surfaces through `useChat`'s `error` state — same as a stream error. The transport doesn't retry the callback automatically; the customer is responsible for handling it.

```tsx
const transport = useTriggerChatTransport({
  task: "my-chat",
  accessToken: async ({ chatId }) => {
    try {
      return await mintChatAccessToken(chatId);
    } catch (err) {
      // Customer's server action failed (e.g. user lost auth).
      // Re-throw to surface as a useChat error, or return a sentinel
      // your UI can detect and prompt re-auth.
      throw new Error(`AUTH_REFRESH: ${err.message}`);
    }
  },
  startSession: ({ chatId, clientData }) =>
      startChatSession({ chatId, clientData }),
});
```

`startSession` failures most commonly mean the customer's authorization layer rejected the request (no plan, quota exceeded, user not allowed to chat with this agent). The customer's server should produce a meaningful error message; the transport propagates it verbatim to `useChat`'s `error` state.

## Run-level retries

`chat.agent` uses `retry: { maxAttempts: 1 }` — the run **never retries** on unhandled failure. This is intentional: each turn is conversation-preserving, so a true run failure is severe and shouldn't silently retry (which could send duplicate API calls or mutate state twice).

To add retry-like behavior:

- **Per-turn retries**: handle inside `run()` with try/catch and a fallback model
- **Per-message retries**: re-send from the frontend (call `sendMessage` or `regenerate` again)
- **Whole-run retries**: wrap `chat.agent` with a parent task that has `retry` configured, and call the agent's task internally

## Best practices

1. **Always set `uiMessageStreamOptions.onError`** to sanitize stream errors before they reach the user.
2. **Persist messages in `onTurnStart`** so a mid-stream failure still leaves the user's message visible.
3. **Use `onTurnComplete` to mark turn status** in your DB (`ok` / `errored` / `stopped`).
4. **Don't throw raw errors with internal details** in hooks — catch, log, then throw a sanitized user-facing message.
5. **Provide an undo or retry affordance** in the UI when errors occur.
6. **Use `onFailure` for run-level monitoring** (Sentry, monitoring dashboards).
7. **For known transient errors (rate limits, network)**, consider a fallback model inside `run()` instead of failing the turn.

## `ChatChunkTooLargeError`

A specific run-failing error worth flagging on its own. Anything written through the chat output is one record on the underlying realtime stream, capped at ~1 MiB per record. A single chunk over the cap throws `ChatChunkTooLargeError` (named export from `@trigger.dev/sdk`). The most common trigger is a tool whose result object is large enough to overflow as one `tool-output-available` chunk.

The error carries `chunkType`, `chunkSize`, and `maxSize`. Catch with the `isChatChunkTooLargeError` guard and route oversized values out-of-band.

See [Large payloads in chat.agent](/ai-chat/patterns/large-payloads) for the ID-reference pattern that works around the cap, plus guidance on transient data parts and out-of-band logging.

## See also

- [`uiMessageStreamOptions.onError`](/ai-chat/backend#error-handling-with-onerror) — stream error handler details
- [Custom actions](/ai-chat/actions) — implement undo/retry actions
- [`chat.history`](/ai-chat/backend#chat-history) — rollback to a previous message
- [Large payloads](/ai-chat/patterns/large-payloads) — handling the ~1 MiB per-chunk cap
- [Database persistence](/ai-chat/patterns/database-persistence) — saving conversation state
- [Standard task hooks](/tasks/overview) — `onFailure`, `onComplete`, `onWait`, etc.