> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.antivamp.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.antivamp.io/partners/04_failure_modes.md).

# Failure Modes

**The rule: fail closed. If you cannot obtain a fresh, valid, signed `allow`, do not launch.**

## Decision values (production principle)

| decision                | when                                                | launchpad action                       |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| `allow`                 | verified available identity                         | proceed                                |
| `allow_authorized_only` | protected identity, correct wallet                  | proceed only for the authorized wallet |
| `block`                 | protected identity, wrong wallet                    | reject                                 |
| `recheck_required`      | stale/incomplete/conflicting data                   | do not launch; re-validate             |
| `service_unavailable`   | critical failure or production paused for the chain | do not launch                          |

`service_unavailable` is returned as HTTP 503 (also surfaced as a decision on paused chains). The SDK converts it to `AntiVampFailClosedError`. Undocumented fail-open behavior is never the default.

| Situation                   | API behavior                                 | Your required action                        |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| Backend unconfigured        | 503 `service_unavailable`                    | Do not launch                               |
| Timeout / network error     | SDK throws `AntiVampFailClosedError`         | Do not launch; retry                        |
| 5xx / 429 (transient)       | SDK retries w/ backoff, then throws          | Do not launch on final failure              |
| `recheck_required` decision | 200, `decision:"recheck_required"`           | Do not launch; re-validate                  |
| Signature invalid           | `verifyValidationDecision` → `{valid:false}` | Reject the decision                         |
| Decision expired            | verification `reason:"expired"`              | Re-validate; never use stale allow          |
| Oracle stale (reserve)      | on-chain revert `StaleOracle`                | Reservation paused until refreshed          |
| Rate limited                | 429 `rate_limited`                           | Back off (SDK does this)                    |
| Invalid API key             | 401 `invalid_api_key`                        | Fix credentials — not fail-closed-retryable |

## Client-error vs fail-closed

4xx client errors (bad request, invalid key, `production_reporting_restricted`) are **your** bug — the SDK surfaces them as `AntiVampApiError`, not `AntiVampFailClosedError`. Fix and retry deliberately. Only outages/timeouts/5xx become fail-closed.

## Decision lifetime

Decisions expire 5 minutes after issue. If your deploy pipeline can take longer between validation and on-chain deployment, re-validate immediately before the deploy transaction. Do not cache an `allow` beyond its `expiresAt`.

## Idempotent retries

Retrying a validation or report with the same `Idempotency-Key`/`nonce` is safe — it returns the original response, never a divergent one.

## Structured errors

All partner errors: `{ "error": { "code", "message", "details?" } }`. Switch on `code`, not the human message.


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