transient_error

Error type indicating a temporary failure that may succeed if retried.

What this means

The operation failed due to temporary conditions such as momentary system load, network connectivity issues, or resource contention. When you receive this error type, it signals that the exact same request—without any modifications—is expected to succeed if retried after a brief delay. For example, if paying for an order returns a transient error, the payment method and order are valid, but temporary infrastructure conditions prevented completion.

These errors typically resolve within seconds to minutes, and implementing retry logic with exponential backoff is the appropriate response. Unlike invalid_request_parameter errors that require you to fix your input, transient errors indicate the Commerce API infrastructure is momentarily unable to process an otherwise valid request.

Example error response

{
  "error": {
    "type": "transient_error",
    "cause": "unknown",
    "code": "1847",
    "message": "temporary service unavailability",
    "detail": "The operation could not be completed due to temporary system conditions. Please retry your request.",
    "fix_code": "repeat_same_request",
    "url": "https://commerce.zebo.dev/e/1847"
  }
}

Related errors

• repeat_same_request - Fix code for this error type