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Common Issues

Solutions to problems you might encounter.

Symptom: Error message “Port 3001 is already in use”

Solution:

  1. Choose a different port in project settings
  2. Or stop whatever is using that port:
    • On Windows: netstat -ano | findstr :3001 then taskkill /PID <pid> /F
    • On macOS/Linux: lsof -i :3001 then kill <pid>

Symptom: Server shows as running but requests return connection refused

Solution:

  1. Check you’re using the correct port
  2. Try http://127.0.0.1:PORT instead of http://localhost:PORT
  3. Check your firewall isn’t blocking the port

Symptom: Endpoint exists but returns 404

Causes & Solutions:

  1. Endpoint is disabled - Check the enabled toggle
  2. Path mismatch - Verify the path matches exactly (case-sensitive)
  3. Method mismatch - Verify you’re using the correct HTTP method
  4. Server not restarted - Some changes require server restart

Symptom: Getting unexpected response data

Check:

  1. Response variations - You may have multiple variations configured
  2. Conditional logic - Check if conditions are matching differently than expected
  3. Caching - Try a fresh request with curl or disable browser cache

Symptom: Response shows {{name}} literally instead of generated value

Causes:

  1. Typo in helper name - Check spelling exactly
  2. Missing closing braces - Must be {{name}} not {{name} or {name}
  3. Wrong response type - Body must be text, not binary

Symptom: {{params.id}} returns empty

Check:

  1. Path parameter name matches - /users/{id} -> {{params.id}}
  2. For query params, use {{query.paramName}}
  3. For body fields, use {{body.fieldName}}

Symptom: Proxy endpoint returns 500 or 502 errors

Check:

  1. Target URL is correct and accessible
  2. Target API is running
  3. Network connectivity (try curl to target directly)
  4. SSL certificate issues - some APIs require valid certificates

Symptom: Requests go through but nothing in Recordings tab

Check:

  1. Recording toggle is enabled on the endpoint
  2. You’re making requests to the proxy endpoint, not the target directly

Symptom: Endpoints disappeared after app update

Solution: Endpoints are stored in your project folder. Check:

  • Windows: %APPDATA%\api-dev-studio\projects\
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/api-dev-studio/projects/
  • Linux: ~/.config/api-dev-studio/projects/

Symptom: App won’t start or shows database errors

Solution:

  1. Close the app completely
  2. Delete project.db and local.db from the app data directory
  3. Restart the app (databases will be recreated)
  4. Re-import your projects from backups

Note: This loses request history. Export important data regularly.

Try:

  1. Clear old requests from Request Inspector
  2. Delete old recordings you don’t need
  3. Reduce number of response variations
  4. Restart the app

If your issue isn’t listed here:

  1. Check the full documentation at apidevstudio.com/docs
  2. Search existing issues on GitHub
  3. Open a new issue with:
    • Your OS and app version
    • Steps to reproduce
    • Expected vs actual behavior
    • Any error messages