How many canonical GCP error codes are there?

There are 17, numbered 0 to 16, defined by google.rpc.Code (the same set as gRPC status codes). Code 0 is OK and the rest signal specific failure conditions used consistently across Google Cloud APIs.

Which GCP errors are safe to retry?

UNAVAILABLE (14) is the most retryable and should use exponential backoff. DEADLINE_EXCEEDED (4), ABORTED (10) and RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED (8) are often retryable too, while INVALID_ARGUMENT (3) and NOT_FOUND (5) are not — fix the request instead.

How do gRPC codes map to HTTP status?

Google's API design guide maps each code to an HTTP status: INVALID_ARGUMENT becomes 400, UNAUTHENTICATED 401, PERMISSION_DENIED 403, NOT_FOUND 404, RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED 429 and INTERNAL 500. The table shows the full mapping.

What is the difference between UNAUTHENTICATED and PERMISSION_DENIED?

UNAUTHENTICATED (16, HTTP 401) means the request lacked valid credentials entirely. PERMISSION_DENIED (7, HTTP 403) means you are authenticated but the identity lacks the IAM permission for that resource.

Is anything I search uploaded?

No. The full code table and the search both run entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

GCP Error Codes — Gera Tools

This is a searchable reference for the canonical Google Cloud error codes — the 17 gRPC status codes (google.rpc.Code 0–16) that every Google Cloud API returns. It maps each code to the HTTP status a REST client receives and gives a concrete troubleshooting note, so you can move quickly from a raw error to a fix.

How it works

Google Cloud APIs standardise on the gRPC status model. Every error carries a numeric code from 0 (OK) to 16 (UNAUTHENTICATED), a human-readable message, and optional details. REST callers receive the same condition mapped to an HTTP status — for example PERMISSION_DENIED (7) becomes HTTP 403 and RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED (8) becomes HTTP 429. The tool lets you search by the numeric code, the symbolic name, the HTTP status, or any keyword in the description, and shows the mapping plus a remediation hint for each one.

How to read the codes

Group the codes by what they tell you to do. Client-side fixes: INVALID_ARGUMENT, FAILED_PRECONDITION, OUT_OF_RANGE, NOT_FOUND, ALREADY_EXISTS. Auth and policy: UNAUTHENTICATED, PERMISSION_DENIED. Backpressure and retry: RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED, UNAVAILABLE, DEADLINE_EXCEEDED, ABORTED. Server faults: INTERNAL, UNKNOWN, DATA_LOSS.

Example

A request returns the following — the code tells you exactly what to do:

{
  "error": {
    "code": 429,
    "status": "RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED",
    "message": "Quota exceeded for quota metric 'Requests'"
  }
}

Here HTTP 429 maps to RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED (8): back off and retry, or request a quota increase. Everything in this tool runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

GCP Error Codes

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How to read the codes

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