Error Debugging & Observability

How to Debug Errors

CopilotKit provides visual error display for local development and debugging. This feature is completely free and requires no API keys.

Quick Setup



export default function App() {
  return (
    <CopilotKit
      runtimeUrl="<your-runtime-url>"
      showDevConsole={true} // [!code highlight]
    >
      {/* Your app */}
    </CopilotKit>
  );
}
Info

Avoid showing the dev console in production as it exposes internal error details to end users.

When to Use Development Debugging

  • Local development - See errors immediately in your UI
  • Quick debugging - No setup required, works out of the box
  • Testing - Verify error handling during development

Programmatic Error Handling (v2)

The v2 API provides an onError callback on both CopilotKitProvider and CopilotChat for programmatic error handling. No publicApiKey is required.

Provider-Level Error Handling

Catches all errors across the entire application:



<CopilotKitProvider
  runtimeUrl="/api/copilotkit"
  onError={(event) => {
    // event.code — error type (e.g. "runtime_info_fetch_failed", "agent_run_failed")
    // event.error — the Error object
    // event.context — additional context (agentId, toolName, etc.)
    console.error(`[CopilotKit ${event.code}]`, event.error.message);
    errorTracker.capture(event);
  }}
>
  <App />
</CopilotKitProvider>;

Chat-Level Error Handling

Scoped to a specific chat's agent — fires in addition to the provider-level handler:



<CopilotChat
  agentId="my-agent"
  onError={(event) => {
    showToast(`Agent error: ${event.error.message}`);
  }}
/>;

Error Codes

CodeDescription
runtime_info_fetch_failedCould not reach the runtime /info endpoint
agent_connect_failedAgent connection (thread setup) failed
agent_run_failedAgent run rejected (e.g. network error)
agent_run_failed_eventAgent's onRunFailed subscriber fired
agent_run_error_eventAgent sent a RUN_ERROR event
tool_argument_parse_failedTool call arguments were not valid JSON
tool_handler_failedA frontend tool handler threw an error

Troubleshooting

Development Debugging Issues

  • Dev console not showing:
    • Confirm showDevConsole={true}
    • Check for JavaScript errors in the browser console
    • Ensure no CSS is hiding the error banner
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