Common Issues and Solutions

Solutions to the most common problems when using the FourA API.

Empty or Incomplete Content

Symptom: The API returns a 200 status but the content field is empty or missing expected data.

Cause: The target page uses JavaScript to render content after the initial page load.

Solution: Switch from single to browser task type. Add a waitFor selector to ensure the content is fully loaded:

curl -X POST https://eu.api.foura.ai/api/v1/tasks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com/products",
    "type": "browser",
    "options": {"waitFor": ".product-list"}
  }'

403 Forbidden or Captcha Pages

Symptom: The API returns HTML containing a captcha challenge or an access denied page.

Cause: The target site detected the request as automated and blocked it.

Solution: Use the proxy task type for automatic IP rotation and anti-detection:

curl -X POST https://eu.api.foura.ai/api/v1/tasks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com/prices",
    "type": "proxy"
  }'

If the issue persists, try adding a proxyCountry to use residential proxies from a specific region.

Timeout Errors

Symptom: Tasks fail with a timeout error.

Cause: The target page takes longer to load than the configured timeout.

Solution: Increase the timeout value (default is 30 seconds):

{
  "url": "https://slow-site.com",
  "type": "browser",
  "options": {"timeout": 60000}
}

For browser tasks, also check that your waitFor selector actually exists on the page: a typo in the selector will always cause a timeout.

429 Rate Limit Errors

Symptom: API returns 429 status with a "rate limit exceeded" message.

Cause: Too many concurrent requests.

Solution: Implement exponential backoff:

import time
import requests

def make_request(payload, retries=3):
    for i in range(retries):
        resp = requests.post(
            "https://eu.api.foura.ai/api/v1/tasks",
            headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
            json=payload
        )
        if resp.status_code == 429:
            wait = 2 ** i  # 1s, 2s, 4s
            time.sleep(wait)
            continue
        return resp
    raise Exception("Rate limit not resolved after retries")

Check your current usage in the Dashboard to see your rate limits.

401 Authentication Errors

Symptom: Every request returns 401 Unauthorized.

Checklist:

1. Verify the header format is Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY (not Api-Key or Token)
2. Check for extra whitespace or newlines in your API key
3. Generate a fresh key from the Dashboard if the current one might be compromised

Unexpected HTML Instead of JSON

Symptom: You expected JSON from the target site but received HTML.

Cause: The target page may serve different content based on headers.

Solution: Add custom headers to mimic an API client:

{
  "url": "https://api.example.com/data",
  "type": "single",
  "options": {
    "headers": {
      "Accept": "application/json",
      "User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0"
    }
  }
}

Still Stuck?

If none of the above solutions work:

1. Check the status page for any ongoing incidents
2. Review your task details in the Dashboard for error logs
3. Contact support at support@foura.ai with your task ID

Next Steps

• Error Handling: API error codes reference
• Choosing the Right Task Type: Pick the best approach for your target
• Dashboard Overview: Monitor your tasks visually