What should I do if the API is down entirely?
Fall back to cached or mock data so your app does not break entirely. Show a clear error message and a retry option, so users know what happened and can try again later.
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More FAQs in Checklist: What to Do When an External API Breaks Your React App
Open the browser Network tab and reproduce the issue. The status code, headers, and response body of the failing request tell you most of what you need to diagnose the problem.
404 means a wrong or changed URL. 401 or 403 means an auth or permission issue. 429 means rate limiting. 5xx means a server error on their end. Each points you to a different fix.
The response shape may have changed. Log the full response and update your parsing to match the new shape. A 200 status does not guarantee the data structure is what your code expects.
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