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OpenRouter error

OpenRouter 503 provider_overloaded: what it means and how to fix it

Error message
503 provider_overloaded

Retry? YesLast verified 1 documented fix1 source

What it means

The upstream provider is temporarily overloaded. On the Anthropic Messages skin this maps to overloaded_error.

Causes

  • Upstream provider capacity exhausted

How to fix it

  1. Fix 1.

    Retry after a short delay, honoring Retry-After when present.

More OpenRouter errors

All 32 OpenRouter errors

HTTP 503 at other providers

Compare 503 across providers

FAQ

What does the OpenRouter error "503 provider_overloaded" mean?

The upstream provider is temporarily overloaded. On the Anthropic Messages skin this maps to overloaded_error.

How do I fix OpenRouter "503 provider_overloaded"?

Retry after a short delay, honoring Retry-After when present.

Should I retry OpenRouter "503 provider_overloaded"?

Yes. The official docs treat this error as retryable.

Which other AI APIs return HTTP 503?

Per their official error docs: Amazon Bedrock (503 ServiceUnavailableException), Azure OpenAI (503 Server Error), DeepSeek API (503 - Server Overloaded), Gemini API (503 service_unavailable; 503 UNAVAILABLE), Groq API (503 Service Unavailable), Mistral API (503 Service unavailable), OpenAI API (503 service_unavailable_error server_is_overloaded), Vertex AI (503 UNAVAILABLE).

Sources

Last verified against 1 source: OpenRouter's official docs and official SDK repositories.

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