awesome-copilot/cookbook/copilot-sdk/python/error-handling.md

Error Handling Patterns

Handle errors gracefully in your Copilot SDK applications.

Runnable example: recipe/error_handling.py

cd recipe && pip install -r requirements.txt
python error_handling.py

Example scenario

You need to handle various error conditions like connection failures, timeouts, and invalid responses.

Basic try-except

import asyncio
from copilot import CopilotClient, SessionConfig, MessageOptions, PermissionHandler

async def main():
    client = CopilotClient()

    try:
        await client.start()
        session = await client.create_session(SessionConfig(model="gpt-5",
        on_permission_request=PermissionHandler.approve_all))

        response = await session.send_and_wait(MessageOptions(prompt="Hello!"))

        if response:
            print(response.data.content)

        await session.destroy()
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}")
    finally:
        await client.stop()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Handling specific error types

try:
    await client.start()
except FileNotFoundError:
    print("Copilot CLI not found. Please install it first.")
except ConnectionError:
    print("Could not connect to Copilot CLI server.")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")

Timeout handling

session = await client.create_session(SessionConfig(model="gpt-5",
        on_permission_request=PermissionHandler.approve_all))

try:
    # send_and_wait accepts an optional timeout in seconds
    response = await session.send_and_wait(
        MessageOptions(prompt="Complex question..."),
        timeout=30.0
    )
    print("Response received")
except TimeoutError:
    print("Request timed out")

Aborting a request

session = await client.create_session(SessionConfig(model="gpt-5",
        on_permission_request=PermissionHandler.approve_all))

# Start a request (non-blocking send)
await session.send(MessageOptions(prompt="Write a very long story..."))

# Abort it after some condition
await asyncio.sleep(5)
await session.abort()
print("Request aborted")

Graceful shutdown

import signal
import sys

def signal_handler(sig, frame):
    print("\nShutting down...")
    try:
        loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
        loop.create_task(client.stop())
    except RuntimeError:
        asyncio.run(client.stop())
    sys.exit(0)

signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal_handler)

Best practices

1. Always clean up: Use try-finally to ensure await client.stop() is called
2. Handle connection errors: The CLI might not be installed or running
3. Set appropriate timeouts: Use the timeout parameter on send_and_wait()
4. Log errors: Capture error details for debugging