Troubleshooting Guide

This guide covers common issues, error scenarios, and solutions when working with the COMPASS API.

Authentication Issues

”Invalid token” Error

Symptoms:

API returns 401 Unauthorized
Error message: “Missing or invalid token”

Common Causes:

Token Format Incorrect

# ❌ Wrong format
Authorization: eyJhb...  # Missing "Bearer" prefix

# ✅ Correct format
Authorization: oBearer eyJhb...

Token Expired

// Check token expiration
function isTokenExpired(token) {
  try {
    const payload = JSON.parse(atob(token.split('.')[1]));
    return Date.now() >= payload.exp * 1000;
  } catch {
    return true; // Invalid token
  }
}

Token Tampered
- JWT signature validation failed
- Token modified after issuance

Solutions:

// Implement token refresh
async function refreshToken() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('/auth/validate-session', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${oldToken}` },
      body: JSON.stringify({ token: oldToken })
    });
    
    if (response.ok) {
      const data = await response.json();
      return data.data.token; // New token
    } else {
      // Redirect to login
      redirectToLogin();
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Token refresh failed:', error);
    redirectToLogin();
  }
}

OAuth Provider Issues

Google OAuth Errors:

Error	Cause	Solution
`invalid_client`	Wrong client ID	Verify Google OAuth configuration
`redirect_uri_mismatch`	Incorrect redirect URI	Update OAuth settings
`access_denied`	User denied consent	Request permission again

Microsoft OAuth Errors:

Error	Cause	Solution
`invalid_request`	Missing parameters	Check request format
`unauthorized_client`	App not registered	Verify Azure AD registration
`invalid_scope`	Wrong permissions	Update scope configuration

HTTP Error Codes

400 Bad Request

Common Scenarios:

Invalid JSON Format

# ❌ Missing quotes
{"name": John, "email": "john@example.com"}

# ✅ Valid JSON
{"name": "John", "email": "john@example.com"}

Required Fields Missing

{
  "error": {
    "code": "VALIDVALID",
    "message": "Required field 'name' is missing"
  }
}

Invalid Data Types

// ❌ Wrong type
{ "age": "twenty-five" } // String instead of number

// ✅ Correct type
{ "age": 25 } // Number

Debugging Tips:

// Validate request before sending
function validateRequest(data, requiredFields) {
  const missing = requiredFields.filter(field => !(field in data));
  if (missing.length > 0) {
    throw new Error(`Missing required fields: ${missing.join(', ')}`);
  }
  return true;
}

// Usage
try {
  validateRequest(userData, ['name', 'email', 'department']);
  await fetch('/users/create', { method: 'POST', body: JSON.stringify(userData) });
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Validation failed:', error.message);
}

403 Forbidden

Common Causes:

Insufficient Permissions

{
  "error": {
    "code": "INSUFFICIENT_PERMISSIONS",
    "message": "You do not have permission to access this resource"
  }
}

Admin-Only Endpoint

# ❌ Non-admin trying to access admin endpoint
curl -X GET '/permissions/list' -H 'Authorization: oBearer USER_TOKEN'

# ✅ Admin token required
curl -X GET '/permissions/list' -H 'Authorization: oBearer ADMIN_TOKEN'

Solution:

// Check permissions before making requests
function hasPermission(user, requiredPermission) {
  return user.permissions.includes('*') || 
         user.permissions.includes(requiredPermission);
}

// Usage
if (hasPermission(currentUser, 'users.manage')) {
  await api.deleteUser(userId);
} else {
  alert('You do not have permission to delete users');
}

404 Not Found

Common Scenarios:

Invalid Endpoint URL

# ❌ Wrong endpoint
/user/profile  # Missing 's'

# ✅ Correct endpoint
/users/profile

Resource Not Found

{
  "error": {
    "code": "USER_NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "User with ID 123 does not exist"
  }
}

Invalid ID Format

// ❌ Invalid ID
const userId = 'invalid-id';

// ✅ Valid ID format
const userId = '64b7; // MongoDB ObjectId

500 Internal Server Error

Common Causes:

Database Connection Issues
Service Dependencies Down
Unexpected Server Error

Debugging Approach:

async function makeRequest(url, options = {}) {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(url, options);
    
    if (!response.ok) {
      if (response.status >= 500) {
        console.error('Server error - retrying...');
        // Implement retry logic
        return retryRequest(url, options);
      }
      throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: ${response.statusText}`);
    }
    
    return response.json();
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Request failed:', error);
    throw error;
  }
}

// Exponential backoff retry
async function retryRequest(url, options, maxRetries = 3) {
  for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
    try {
      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, Math.pow(2, i) * 1000));
      const response = await fetch(url, options);
      
      if (response.ok) return response.json();
    } catch (error) {
      if (i === maxRetries - 1) throw error;
    }
  }
}

Common Integration Issues

CORS Errors

Symptoms:

Browser blocks cross-origin requests
Console shows CORS policy errors

Solutions:

Server Configuration

// Express.js CORS setup
const cors = require('cors');
app.use(cors({
  origin: ['http://localhost:3000', 'https://yourapp.com'],
  credentials: true
}));

Client-Side Workaround

// Use proxy in development
const proxy = require('http-proxy-middleware');
module.exports = {
  devServer: {
    proxy: {
      '/api': {
        target: 'http://localhost:2000',
        changeOrigin: true
      }
    }
  }
};

Rate Limiting

Symptoms:

HTTP 429 Too Many Requests
Requests being throttled

Solution:

class RateLimitedAPI {
  constructor(baseURL, maxRequests = 1000, windowMs = 360000) {
    this.baseURL = baseURL;
    this.requests = [];
    this.maxRequests = maxRequests;
    this.windowMs = windowMs;
  }

  async makeRequest(url, options = {}) {
    await this.checkRateLimit();
    
    const response = await fetch(`${this.baseURL}${url}`, {
      ...options,
      headers: {
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${this.token}`,
        ...options.headers
      }
    });

    if (response.status === 429) {
      const retryAfter = response.headers.get('Retry-After');
      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, (retryAfter || 60) * 1000));
      return this.makeRequest(url, options);
    }

    return response;
  }

  async checkRateLimit() {
    const now = Date.now();
    this.requests = this.requests.filter(time => now - time < this.windowMs);
    
    if (this.requests.length >= this.maxRequests) {
      const oldestRequest = Math.min(...this.requests);
      const waitTime = this.windowMs - (now - oldestRequest);
      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, waitTime));
    }
    
    this.requests.push(now);
  }
}

Large Data Handling

Issues with Large Responses:

Memory Usage

// ❌ Loading large dataset into memory
const allData = await fetch('/email-meter/stats/emails-trend/2025-01-01/2025-12-31');

// ✅ Stream large responses
const response = await fetch('/email-meter/stats/emails-trend/2025-01-01/2025-12-31');
const reader = response.body.getReader();

while (true) {
  const { done, value } = await reader.read();
  if (done) break;
  // Process chunk
}

Pagination for Large Lists

async function getAllItems(endpoint, pageSize = 50) {
  let allItems = [];
  let startIndex = 0;
  let hasMore = true;
  
  while (hasMore) {
    const response = await fetch(`${endpoint}/${startIndex}/${startIndex + pageSize}`);
    const data = await response.json();
    
    allItems = [...allItems, ...data.data];
    hasMore = data.data.length === pageSize;
    startIndex += pageSize;
  }
  
  return allItems;
}

Debugging Tools

Browser Developer Tools

Network Tab:

Inspect HTTP requests and responses
Check headers and status codes
View request/response payloads

Console Logging:

// Add comprehensive logging
const originalFetch = window.fetch;
window.fetch = async (...args) => {
  console.log('🚀 API Request:', args[0], args[1]);
  const start = Date.now();
  
  try {
    const response = await originalFetch(...args);
    const duration = Date.now() - start;
    console.log(`✅ API Response: ${response.status} (${duration}ms)`);
    return response;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(`❌ API Error: ${error.message}`);
    throw error;
  }
};

Postman Collections

Environment Variables:

{
  "base_url": "http://localhost:2000",
  "auth_token": "{{oauth_token}}",
  "user_id": "64b7"
}

Test Scripts:

// Postman test script
pm.test("Status code is 200", function () {
  pm.response.to.have.status(200);
});

pm.test("Response has data", function () {
  pm.expect(pm.response.json()).to.have.property('data');
});

// Save token to environment
if (pm.response.code === 200 && pm.response.json().data.token) {
  pm.environment.set("auth_token", pm.response.json().data.token);
}

Command Line Debugging

curl with Verbose Output:

# Debug authentication flow
curl -v -X POST 'http://localhost:2000/auth/signin-google/AUTH' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  2> debug.log

# Check response headers
curl -I -X GET 'http://localhost:2000/users/profile' \
  -H 'Authorization:Bearer TOKEN'

jq for JSON Parsing:

# Extract specific fields
curl -s -X GET '/users/profile' -H 'Authorization: oBearer...' | \
  jq '.data | {name, email, department}'

# Filter array results
curl -s -X GET '/departments/list' -H 'Authorization: oBearer...' | \
  jq '.data[] | select(.code == "OPS")'

Performance Issues

Slow API Responses

Common Causes:

Large Date Ranges

# ❌ Too large range
/email-meter/stats/emails-trend/2020-01-01/2025-12-31

# ✅ Reasonable range
/email-meter/stats/emails-trend/2025-10-01/2025-10-20

Missing Pagination

// ❌ Loading all data at once
const allUsers = await fetch('/users/list');

// ✅ Use pagination
const users = await fetch('/users/list/0/50');

Optimization Strategies:

// Implement caching
class CachedAPI {
  constructor() {
    this.cache = new Map();
    this.cacheTimeout = 5 * 60 * 1000; // 5 minutes
  }

  async get(url) {
    const cacheKey = url;
    const cached = this.cache.get(cacheKey);
    
    if (cached && Date.now() - cached.timestamp < this.cacheTimeout) {
      return cached.data;
    }
    
    const response = await fetch(url);
    const data = await response.json();
    
    this.cache.set(cacheKey, {
      data,
      timestamp: Date.now()
    });
    
    return data;
  }
}

// Debounce search requests
function debounce(func, wait) {
  let timeout;
  return function executedFunction(...args) {
    const later = () => {
      clearTimeout(timeout);
      func(...args);
    };
    clearTimeout(timeout);
    timeout = setTimeout(later, wait);
  };
}

const searchUsers = debounce(async (query) => {
  const results = await fetch(`/users/search?q=${query}`);
  return results.json();
}, 300);

Getting Help

Debug Information Collection

When reporting issues, include:

Request Details

const debugInfo = {
  url: request.url,
  method: request.method,
  headers: request.headers,
  body: request.body,
  timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
  userAgent: navigator.userAgent
};

Response Information

const responseInfo = {
  status: response.status,
  statusText: response.statusText,
  headers: Object.fromEntries(response.headers.entries()),
  timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
};

Environment Details

const environment = {
  browser: navigator.userAgent,
  token: token ? `${token.substring(0, 20)}...` : 'none',
  permissions: user?.permissions || [],
  timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
};

Contact Support

Before contacting support:

Check this troubleshooting guide
Review API documentation
Test with minimal example
Collect debug information

Support Channels:

Email: support@example.com
Documentation: This guide
Status Page: Check system status
GitHub Issues: Report bugs and feature requests

Community Resources

Developer Forums: Ask questions and share solutions
Code Examples: Community-contributed integrations
Best Practices: Learn from other developers
API Updates: Stay informed about changes

Quick Reference

Error Code Cheat Sheet

Code	Meaning	Action
400	Bad Request	Check request format and data
401	Unauthorized	Authenticate or refresh token
403	Forbidden	Check user permissions
404	Not Found	Verify endpoint and resource IDs
429	Too Many Requests	Implement rate limiting
500	Server Error	Retry with exponential backoff

Common Fixes

// 1. Token refresh wrapper
async function withAuth(apiCall) {
  try {
    return await apiCall();
  } catch (error) {
    if (error.status === 401) {
      await refreshToken();
      return await apiCall();
    }
    throw error;
  }
}

// 2. Error boundary wrapper
async function safeApiCall(url, options = {}) {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(url, {
      headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${getToken()}` },
      ...options
    });
    
    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`API Error: ${response.status}`);
    }
    
    return await response.json();
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('API call failed:', error);
    return { error: error.message };
  }
}

// 3. Request validation
function validateEndpoint(endpoint) {
  const validEndpoints = [
    '/auth/signin-google',
    '/users/profile',
    '/departments/list',
    // ... other endpoints
  ];
  
  return validEndpoints.some(valid => endpoint.startsWith(valid));
}

Still having issues? Contact our support team with your debug information and we’ll help you get up and running!

Getting Started

Reports

Troubleshooting Guide

Troubleshooting Guide

Authentication Issues

”Invalid token” Error

OAuth Provider Issues

HTTP Error Codes

400 Bad Request

403 Forbidden

404 Not Found

500 Internal Server Error

Common Integration Issues

CORS Errors

Rate Limiting

Large Data Handling

Debugging Tools

Browser Developer Tools

Postman Collections

Command Line Debugging

Performance Issues

Slow API Responses

Getting Help

Debug Information Collection

Contact Support

Community Resources

Quick Reference

Error Code Cheat Sheet

Common Fixes

​Troubleshooting Guide

​Authentication Issues

​”Invalid token” Error

​OAuth Provider Issues

​HTTP Error Codes

​400 Bad Request

​403 Forbidden

​404 Not Found

​500 Internal Server Error

​Common Integration Issues

​CORS Errors

​Rate Limiting

​Large Data Handling

​Debugging Tools

​Browser Developer Tools

​Postman Collections

​Command Line Debugging

​Performance Issues

​Slow API Responses

​Getting Help

​Debug Information Collection

​Contact Support

​Community Resources

​Quick Reference

​Error Code Cheat Sheet

​Common Fixes

Troubleshooting Guide

Authentication Issues

”Invalid token” Error

OAuth Provider Issues

HTTP Error Codes

400 Bad Request

403 Forbidden

404 Not Found

500 Internal Server Error

Common Integration Issues

CORS Errors

Rate Limiting

Large Data Handling

Debugging Tools

Browser Developer Tools

Postman Collections

Command Line Debugging

Performance Issues

Slow API Responses

Getting Help

Debug Information Collection

Contact Support

Community Resources

Quick Reference

Error Code Cheat Sheet

Common Fixes