AI requests can fail after a person has spent time preparing input. A useful failure state preserves that work and explains a safe next step.
Preserve the input
Keep the draft, selected settings, and any completed results available. Do not reset the screen just because the provider failed. Avoid automatic retries when they could repeat a costly or irreversible action.
Explain what happened
Name the problem at the level the user can act on. A timeout, unsupported input, exhausted allowance, and permission failure need different recovery paths. Keep internal stack traces and provider credentials out of the interface.
Offer the right action
- Timeout: keep the input and offer a retry when safe.
- Invalid input: point to the field and explain the accepted format.
- Permission issue: explain which access is missing without exposing another person’s data.
- Partial result: mark what completed and what still needs work.
Test recovery
Simulate the failure in a controlled environment. Confirm that retry does not duplicate work, keyboard focus reaches the explanation, and the user can leave or recover without losing their draft.