rest-graphql-debug

Debug REST API errors by walking layers in order: connectivity, TLS, authentication, request format, response parsing, then semantics. Use curl -v to inspect the raw exchange and match the status code to a targeted checklist for 401, 403, 404, 422, or 5xx.

GraphQL servers often return HTTP 200 even when the query fails, placing failure details in the errors field of the response body. Always inspect the errors array regardless of status code and check each error's message and path.

Handle 429 responses with exponential backoff: read the Retry-After header, wait the specified seconds or 2^attempt as fallback, and retry up to five times. Also check X-RateLimit-* headers to understand your remaining quota.

The usual cause is a Content-Type and body mismatch: passing data= with a JSON header sends form-encoded data while claiming JSON. Use requests.post(url, json=payload) so the library serializes the body and sets the header correctly.

Decode the JWT's middle payload segment using base64url decoding with padding correction, then inspect the exp claim. The skill provides a Python snippet using base64.urlsafe_b64decode that prints the full claims JSON.

Skip this layered API flow for UI rendering bugs, database query tuning, or DNS and firewall infrastructure problems, which should be escalated to the appropriate owners. It targets application-layer HTTP and GraphQL diagnosis only.