[BUG] Deepseek shows "Unknown API error. Please contact Roo Code support." instead out of balance

[seyacat]

Problem (one or two sentences)

[BUG] Deepseek shows "Unknown API error. Please contact Roo Code support." instead out of balance

Context (who is affected and when)

Deepseek out of balance

Reproduction steps

Windows

Expected result

Out of balance error

Actual result

Unknown API error. Please contact Roo Code support.

Variations tried (optional)

No response

App Version

3.3.1

API Provider (optional)

None

Model Used (optional)

No response

Roo Code Task Links (optional)

No response

Relevant logs or errors (optional)

[roomote]

I've analyzed this issue and here's my proposed implementation plan:

Problem Analysis

When DeepSeek runs out of balance, the API returns an error that is currently being caught by the generic error handler in handleOpenAIError(), which results in a generic "Unknown API error. Please contact Roo Code support." message instead of a clear "out of balance" error.

Proposed Solution

1. Enhance the OpenAI Error Handler

Modify src/api/providers/utils/openai-error-handler.ts to detect and handle DeepSeek balance/quota errors specifically. DeepSeek typically returns:

• HTTP status code 402 (Payment Required) or 429 (Too Many Requests) for balance issues
• Error messages containing keywords like "insufficient balance", "quota exceeded", or "out of balance"

2. Add Localized Error Messages

Add appropriate error messages to src/i18n/locales/en/common.json under the errors section, such as:

"deepseek": {
  "insufficientBalance": "DeepSeek API balance insufficient. Please add credits to your DeepSeek account to continue.",
  "quotaExceeded": "DeepSeek API quota exceeded. Please check your account limits or upgrade your plan."
}

3. Implementation Details

• Check for HTTP status codes (402, 429) and error message patterns
• Return user-friendly, actionable error messages
• Follow the existing pattern used by other providers (e.g., Cerebras has similar error handling)

4. Add Tests

Create tests in src/api/providers/__tests__/deepseek.spec.ts to verify:

• Balance error detection works correctly
• Proper error messages are returned
• Other errors still work as expected

This approach will provide users with clear, actionable error messages when they run out of DeepSeek balance, similar to how other providers handle quota/balance issues.

Please mention @roomote in a comment saying that you approve this plan, and I'll proceed with the implementation.

[hannesrudolph]

@roomote improved error display and response around 402 make sense all around. make a PR that applies generally instead of just to deepseek.

[roomote]

I've seen your comment and will explore implementing a general solution for improved HTTP 402 (Payment Required) error handling across all providers. I'll open a PR to share progress.

[roomote]

Opened a PR with my attempt at addressing this: #10523

The fix modifies handleProviderError to prefix error messages with HTTP status codes (>= 400), enabling the UI to parse and display the appropriate user-friendly messages that already exist in the localization files.

This applies generally to all providers, not just DeepSeek. Feedback welcome!