How to Handle AI Errors and Rate Limits in Make.com Scenarios

AI modules fail in predictable ways: rate limits, timeouts, and malformed output. A scenario that ignores this stops at the worst moment. This guide adds the error handling that keeps your AI flows running unattended.

• An existing Make scenario that calls OpenAI
• A Make.com account with scenario editing access
• A place to log failures, such as a Slack channel or a sheet

Step 1: Understand the common errors

The two you will see most are HTTP 429 (too many requests, a rate limit) and a JSON parse failure when the model returns prose instead of clean JSON. Each needs a different response: retry the first, sanitize or skip the second.

Step 2: Add a Break handler for rate limits

Right click the OpenAI module and choose Add error handler, then add a Break directive. Break tells Make to wait and retry the failed bundle automatically. Set the number of attempts and the interval between them.

Step 3: Configure retry settings

Open the scenario settings and enable Sequential processing so retries do not pile up. On the Break handler set retries to about 3 and the interval to a few minutes, which clears most short rate limit windows.

Error handler: Break
  Number of attempts: 3
  Interval between attempts: 5 minutes
Scenario settings:
  Sequential processing: On
  Allow storing of incomplete executions: On

Step 4: Add a Resume fallback for bad output

For parse failures, add a Resume directive on the Parse JSON module. Resume lets the scenario continue using a default value you supply, so one malformed response does not kill the whole batch. Route those cases to a review log.

Step 5: Log every failure

On the Ignore or Resume path, add a Slack or Sheets module that records the input that failed and the error message. You want visibility into what slipped through so you can refine the prompt later.

Result: a resilient AI scenario that quietly retries rate limits, recovers from bad responses with a fallback, and tells you about anything it could not handle, instead of silently stopping.