People Search web service – error codes

When utilising the People Search web service, there is a possibility that you will experience errors at some point. The errors that could occur during the authentication process are highlighted below:

Authentication Errors

error Service response Response Content
Consumer key is not valid 401 HTTP response code: HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorised oauth_problem=consumer_key_unknown
Oauth signature is not valid 401 HTTP response code: HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorised oauth_problem=signature_invalid
Oauth nonce has been used previously 401 HTTP response code: HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorised oauth_problem=nonce_used
Timestamp sent in request is too old (over 5 minutes) 401 HTTP response code: HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorised ooauth_problem=timestamp_refused

Once authenticated, you may experience service errors. A service error is indicated by the presence of the error response parameter. Additionally, the errors property will contain a list of error messages.

Examples of errors and the error response parameters and error properties returned are highlighted below:

Status Codes

These are the possible outputs for Status

Code Description
100 Search returned successfully.
102 No match found.
101 Results exceed maximum limit.
130 Authentication - Consumer key is not valid.
131 Authentication - Oauth signature is not valid.
132 Authentication - Oauth nonce has been used previously.
133 Authentication - Timestamp sent in request is too old (over 5 minutes).
140 Insufficient credits to perform search.
141 User unable to perform search.
153 Invalid Input.
171 Invalid address entered.
172 Invalid search area entered.
173 Street error – street entry must be accompanied by a town or postcode.
190 Internal service error.

If you have any issues related to errors, or need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our web service support team.