> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.fiveninelabs.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# parse_failed

> Stream-terminal code — the model answered but produced nothing usable. Retrying may help; rephrasing usually helps more.

**Stream terminal · not an HTTP error.** This code arrives in the typed terminal
`error` event on the run's stream, when a run that started dies because the model
answered but produced nothing usable — an unparsable submission at the parse stage.
The run ends with status `error`; only signed receipts settle and the rest of the
reservation is released.

Distinguish this from [`declined_to_spend`](/errors/declined_to_spend): a decline is
a run that never spends — `POST /v1/sessions` still returns `201`, the stream carries
an `abstain` with the parse's reasoning, and the session settles `abstained` at \$0
(the pre-spend signal is `estimate.would_run: false`). It is **not** an HTTP 422; that
code is reserved and not emitted today. `parse_failed` is different: the run started,
and then could not turn the model's answer into something usable.

## The shape

```json theme={null}
{ "phase": "error", "message": "search-intent: model did not submit a usable intent", "code": "parse_failed" }
```

`message` is prose for humans and may change; program against `code`. Stream codes
are an [open enum](/errors#stream-terminal-codes) — handle an unknown code like
[`internal`](/errors/internal).

## How to fix

* **Rephrase the query** — that usually helps more than retrying: name the entity
  you want one row to be, and keep constraints concrete.
* Retrying the same text *may* help (model output varies), but repeated
  `parse_failed` on the same query is signal about the query.
* Preview what the parse understands for free with
  `POST /v1/sessions/estimate` before spending.

## Reproduce it

Rehearse the run-level `error` ending (typed terminal, reservation released) with
the [`FN_TEST_ERROR` sentinel](/guides/test-mode) — deterministic, \$0.