Errors

Codes are the same in the CLI, the dashboard and MCP tool results. Errors you can fix name the next step. Failures on C3's or a provider's side show a report code to quote to support.

Account and billing

Code	Meaning	What to do
EMAIL_VERIFICATION_REQUIRED	Email not verified	c3 verify-email, click the link, retry
INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS	Balance cannot cover the job's reserve	c3 topup, or lower time
CONCURRENCY_LIMIT	Plan's chip limit reached	Wait, c3 cancel a job, or c3 upgrade
403 Invalid or revoked API key	Key wrong or revoked	c3 apikey create, update the host
401 invalid_token	Login session expired	c3 login again; MCP hosts: remove and re-add the server
FORBIDDEN	Account restricted, or resource belongs to another organisation	c3 whoami; contact support if unexpected

Submission

Code or message	Meaning	What to do
'script' field is required	.c3 has no script	Add it
cpu is a hardware group, not a selectable profile	hardware: cpu	Pick an exact profile from c3 list --class cpu --all
VALIDATION_ERROR	A field is malformed: gpu and hardware disagree, empty regions, relative mount, bad time	The message names the field
Excluded submission script	Ignore rules exclude script	Fix .c3ignore
WORKSPACE_TOO_LARGE	MCP inline upload over 20 MiB or 500 files	Use prepare_upload or the CLI
PROVIDER_NOT_CONFIGURED	Pinned provider does not offer that hardware	c3 list --provider <id> --all

Capacity and scheduling

Code	Meaning	What to do
GPU_OUT_OF_STOCK	No stock for the request at submit time	Other class or provider, or pin both and let it wait
PROVIDER_UNAVAILABLE	Provider disabled or unreachable	Remove the pin or choose another
PROVISIONING_BLOCKED	Not an error. Job is PENDING, waiting for stock	Wait, or c3 cancel and resubmit elsewhere
PROVIDER_CAPACITY_UNAVAILABLE	Waited max_wait_minutes without stock	Resubmit with other hardware. Reserve refunded
CAPACITY_POOL_DISABLED	Selected pool turned off by C3	Resubmit with other hardware. Reserve refunded
QUEUE_DEADLINE_EXCEEDED	PENDING for six hours	Resubmit later or elsewhere. Reserve refunded

Runtime and results

Code	Meaning	What to do
FAILED, exit code shown	Your script exited non-zero	c3 logs <job-id>
TIMED_OUT	Hit the time limit	Raise time; partial artifacts are still collected
PREPARATION_ERROR	Setup failed before the script: uv sync, missing uv.lock, image pull, dataset not found	The message says which; fix and resubmit
DOCKER_IMAGE_NOT_FOUND	The registry has no such image or tag. On ghcr.io a private package looks the same to an anonymous pull	Check docker.image and, on GHCR, the package visibility; the message names the registry
DOCKER_IMAGE_NOT_PUBLIC	The registry refused an anonymous pull. On ghcr.io this also covers a misspelt owner or package, because GitHub reports both as denied	Make the image public, or fix the path. Private images are not supported
DOCKER_IMAGE_PULL_FAILED	Any other pull failure, including a ghcr.io rate limit	Retry; the message names the registry
DOCKER_HUB_RATE_LIMITED	Docker Hub throttled the pull	Retry later
Accelerator mismatch	requires_accelerator does not match the machine	Fix hardware or the flag
UPLOAD_ERROR	Script succeeded, results could not be saved	Contact support with the report code
MACHINE_LOST	Provider machine disappeared mid-job	Resubmit; quote the report code if it recurs

Rate limits

Code	Meaning	What to do
429 RATE_LIMITED	More than 120 MCP tool calls in a minute	Slow down; retry after Retry-After
VERIFICATION_EMAIL_RATE_LIMITED	Too many resend requests	Wait a few minutes