> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brightdata.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Business Search error codes > Look up every HTTP status Business Search returns, 200 to 504, with its cause, whether to retry and what to fix, plus two sample 400 rejection bodies. This page is the status code table for Business Search. A Business Search error is a JSON body with an `error` message, never a successful search with zero matches. HTTP 200 with an empty `documents` array means the search ran and found nothing. ## Which status codes does Business Search return? | Status | Meaning | Retry | What to do | | ------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `200` | The search ran. `documents` can still be empty | Not needed | Treat an empty `documents` array as no matches, not as an error and not as proof the entity does not exist | | `400` | The request body is invalid | Never | Fix the field, operator, mode or pagination value named in `error` | | `401` | The API key is missing, invalid or expired. A wrong key returns `{"error":"Invalid token"}` and an expired one returns `Token expired` | Never | Check the key in the [Control Panel](https://brightdata.com/cp/setting/users) | | `403` | The account cannot use Business Search: no customer account exists for the key, the account is inactive or the account is not on the API allowlist | Never | Confirm the account is active and has Business Search access | | `404` | Unknown API version | Never | Correct the version segment in the request path | | `429` | The rate limit was exceeded. The request was not searched and was not billed | After the delay in `Retry-After` | Wait the seconds given in the `Retry-After` header, then send the request again | | `500` | Server-side configuration or backend error | Bounded backoff | Retry. If `error_code` is `backend_search_failed` and the same request fails again, the request itself is the cause: in Instant and Smart mode a request whose `offset` plus `limit` exceeds 100 returns this error, so change the request instead of retrying it | | `501` | The request is valid but unsupported: the source is disabled or unavailable, or natural-language planning or ranking is not available for that source | Never | Change the mode or the source | | `502` | The natural-language planner or the ranking step returned an invalid or empty response. Applies to `instant` and `smart` | Bounded backoff | Retry, or send the same search as structured conditions in `ludicrous` | | `504` | The search timed out | Bounded backoff | Retry with a narrower query | Bounded backoff means a fixed number of attempts with growing delays, never an unlimited loop. Only HTTP 200 responses are billed, because billing requires a completed search. See [Business Search pricing](/products/business-search/pricing) for the billable and non-billable request list. Some responses also carry an `error_code`, a machine-readable class such as `invalid_query` or `backend_search_failed`. Branch on `error_code` when it is present and fall back to the HTTP status when it is not, because generic errors omit it. Keep HTTP 400, HTTP 401 or 403, HTTP 429, HTTP 500 to 504 and HTTP 200 with an empty `documents` array apart in your own logging. Collapsing them into one "search failed" branch hides the difference between a bug in your query and an outage. Log `req_id` when the response returns one and include it, with the status and the `error` message, in any support ticket. ## Why was a request rejected? Business Search rejects an invalid request body with HTTP 400 and names what it rejected in `error`. The causes are: * An unknown category * An invalid `mode`, `query`, `view`, `offset` or `limit` * An unknown view profile name, or unknown field names in `view` * A natural-language query longer than 200 characters * An operator the field type does not support, such as `equals` on a text field * A debug property such as `explain` that the account cannot send Selecting an unknown output field returns: ```json theme={null} { "error": "view: unknown field(s): not_a_released_field" } ``` An operator the field type does not support is rejected the same way. The message names the field, the operator and the types that operator accepts: ```json theme={null} { "error": "Invalid query: In operator 'equals', field 'industry': Operator does not support field type 'text'. Supported types: bool, byte, double, float, int, language, long, string." } ``` Text fields such as `industry` and `current_title` accept only the `text` operator. See [Business Search query syntax](/products/business-search/query-syntax) for the operator each field type accepts. Correct the request when validation fails. Rate-limit checks run after validation, so a rejected request does not consume rate-limit budget and is not billed, but repeating an invalid body still cannot succeed. ## What is the rate limit? Business Search allows 60 requests per minute by default, counted per account, per category and per mode. Company and people searches therefore have separate budgets, as do Ludicrous, Instant and Smart within each category, so a company search that is rate limited does not block a people search. To raise the limit for your account, a category or a single mode, contact Bright Data. The budget refills continuously rather than resetting at the top of each minute, so a short burst above the rate is smoothed out instead of blocking the rest of the minute. A request over the limit returns HTTP 429 with a `Retry-After` header giving the seconds to wait. The request is not searched, not queued and not billed. Wait that long, then send the request again. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does a 200 response mean the query was understood? No. A 200 means the search ran. In Instant and Smart modes, natural-language intent and result relevance are not guaranteed by a successful HTTP response, so review the records before acting on them. ### How do I tell a missing field from an empty result? A missing field inside a returned record means the source has no stored value for that record. An empty `documents` array means no record matched the conditions. Handle absent values per record and empty pages per request.