# Agent recovery

> When an agent hits an error on your API, it usually gives up and you never hear about it. Restless catches the failed call and tells the agent how to fix its request and retry.

Source: https://www.restless.ai/agent-recovery

## Features

- Relevant docs are dropped right into the error response, so agents don't have to hunt for how to move forward.
- Each error includes a tracked link the agent can follow for more detail, so you can see where agents get stuck.
- Agents can ask follow-up questions about a specific log with `npx api debug`.

## Help agents move forward

When a request fails, an agent won't go read your docs, and even if it did, most docs don't explain how to fix a specific error and keep going.

Restless writes the fix into the error itself, so the agent can correct the request and carry on.

```json
{
  "error": "unauthorized",
  "message": "currency is required",
  "debug": {
    "recovery": "Mint a new token with POST /v1/tokens, then retry with the Authorization: Bearer header. Docs: https://docs.acme.com/p/jk23kza/create-token.md",
    "log": "https://acme.com/logs/9f18a0e2-4c7b-4e1a-b93f-2c5d8e0a4f61",
    "cli": "npx api debug 9f18a0e2-4c7b-4e1a-b93f-2c5d8e0a4f61"
  }
}
```

## Do the right thing when things go wrong

Each failure becomes something an agent can act on, and something you can track.

### Docs written into every error

When a call fails, Restless pulls the relevant fix from your docs and writes it straight into the response, so the agent has what it needs to recover, right where it hit the wall.

### See where agents stall

Every recovery is tracked, so you can see which errors agents keep hitting and where they give up.

### Unblock agents without touching your API

Add or edit recovery guidance in the dashboard. Your API code never changes, and agents get unblocked on the next matching error.

### Grouped by fingerprint

Identical failures roll up into one group, so you fix the cause once instead of case by case.

### Debug from your terminal

Pull any request into your terminal with `npx api debug` and ask what went wrong. Answers come from the real log, not a guess.

```text
$ npx api debug 9f18a0e2-4c7b-4e1a-b93f-2c5d8e0a4f61
> Why did this 401?
The token expired 4h ago. Mint a new one with POST /v1/tokens and retry.
```

### No added latency

Recovery is looked up in-process on every error, with no network call in the hot path, so it never slows your response.

## Related features

- [API Feedback](https://www.restless.ai/solicit-feedback) — Solicit feedback from developers and agents, so you know what to fix next.
- [MCP Server](https://www.restless.ai/mcp-server) — Give agents native access to your API, so they can act, not just read.
- [Logs](https://www.restless.ai/logs) — Every call recorded in full, with the patterns behind your errors surfaced.

## Setup

Setup is a breeze. Restless is tightly integrated with your API, so we install a small SDK. Don't worry, we walk you through every step of the way.

Run this in your API's repo:

```sh
npx restless init
```

Or hand the setup to your coding agent with this prompt:

```text
Set up Restless in this repo by running `npx restless init` and following the steps.
```

To try it on a demo API instead:

```sh
git clone git@github.com:restlesshq/demo.git && cd demo && npx restless init
```

Nothing is uploaded without your permission.

The CLI runs four steps:

1. **Map out APIs.** Locate your APIs, generate an OpenAPI (OAS) file, and write it to `.restless/`. An OAS file is the shape of your API: every endpoint, parameter, and response. Later steps use it to install the right adapter and wire up the middleware exactly. The scan points Claude Code, running locally on your machine, at your codebase to find your routes. Commit the `.restless/` folder along with your code; it's meant to live there.
2. **Install SDK.** The CLI detects the project runtime, selects its adapter, installs the Restless SDK and wires the request middleware.
3. **Test your setup.** Local traffic capture starts, and the CLI confirms requests are reaching Restless.
4. **Set up account.** Log in to claim your project on Restless.

Privacy: scanning runs entirely on your machine via your own Claude Code install. We don't see a single line of your code, and nothing gets sent to our servers at that step.

## More from Restless

- [Restless](https://www.restless.ai/index.md): Restless makes your API self-improving. Every API call, support question, and error leaves it better for the next request.
- [Features](https://www.restless.ai/features.md): A new surface for your API: a public, LLM-first hub that gets every caller started and keeps them moving.
- [Documentation](https://www.restless.ai/documentation.md): Restless generates your API documentation from your endpoints and the tools your team already uses, and keeps it current every time your API changes.
- [Getting Started](https://www.restless.ai/getting-started.md): Onboarding is the most important part of your developer experience. Restless makes it easy for your developers to get their agent set up and ready to build.
- [Agentic docs](https://www.restless.ai/agentic-docs.md): Restless isn't just agent-friendly docs. It's the only documentation platform built AI-first. There's a UI for humans, but the docs are shaped to make agents successful.
- [Workbench](https://www.restless.ai/workbench.md): The Workbench sits at the bottom of your docs and gives developers a view into everything that's happening: view and filter logs, see what went wrong, and fix issues.
- [Human support](https://www.restless.ai/human-support.md): When a developer hits something AI can't fix, a human can step in and answer the question. Every answer becomes part of the context, and makes the next question easier!
- [API Logs](https://www.restless.ai/logs.md): Your API is now how your users use your product. Restless brings every request into one place, so you can see which endpoints get hit, which calls fail, and where people give up.
- [MCP server](https://www.restless.ai/mcp-server.md): Give agents the ability to do more than just write code. Give them access to do everything they need to build on your product, such as reading docs, debugging API calls and updating settings.
- [AI Traffic](https://www.restless.ai/ai-traffic.md): Your API and docs get a lot of AI traffic now, and most of it is invisible. Restless shows you what AI is actually looking for, broken down by who is asking.
- [Self-updating docs](https://www.restless.ai/self-updating-docs.md): Restless reads resolved support conversations, pulls out the part that applies to everyone, and drops it in an inbox to review. Approve it and it becomes context the next person finds on their own.
- [Solicit feedback](https://www.restless.ai/solicit-feedback.md): When an agent hits something confusing in your API, it usually just gives up. Restless adds a send_feedback tool to your MCP server, so the agent can tell you what tripped it up.
- [Sign up](https://app.restless.ai/signup)