crates/llm-client/src/anthropic.rs

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use serde_json::{Value, json};
 use tokio::sync::mpsc;
 use tracing::{debug, info, trace, warn};
 
-use crate::{ChatOptions, ChatResponse, ChatbotClient, LlmRawMeta, LlmTurn, Message, Role, SseDecoder, StreamDelta, ToolCall, headers_to_json, redact_key};
+use crate::{ChatOptions, ChatResponse, ChatbotClient, LlmRawMeta, LlmTurn, Message, Role, SseDecoder, StreamDelta, ToolCall, error_response_body, headers_to_json, redact_key};
 
 const DEFAULT_BASE_URL: &str = "https://api.anthropic.com";
 const ANTHROPIC_VERSION: &str = "2023-06-01";
@@ -203,6 +203,10 @@ impl AnthropicClient {
         })
     }
 
+    /// Sends the request and returns the raw response **without** `error_for_status`,
+    /// so the tool-calling paths can read the error body and attach the request
+    /// payload to the `LlmError` (a `reqwest` status error discards the body). The
+    /// plain `chat` path keeps its own `error_for_status`.
     async fn send_request(&self, body: &Value) -> reqwest::Result<reqwest::Response> {
         self.http
             .post(self.url())
@@ -211,8 +215,7 @@ impl AnthropicClient {
             .header("X-Title", core_api::APP_NAME)
             .json(body)
             .send()
-            .await?
+            .await
-            .error_for_status()
     }
 
     /// Joined `thinking` blocks of a content array, if any (extended thinking).
@@ -252,6 +255,23 @@ impl AnthropicClient {
 
         let http_resp        = self.send_request(&body).await?;
         let response_headers = headers_to_json(http_resp.headers());
+        let status           = http_resp.status();
+        if !status.is_success() {
+            let resp_text = http_resp.text().await?;
+            return Err(crate::LlmError {
+                status:  Some(status.as_u16()),
+                message: format!(
+                    "anthropic: HTTP {status} from {url}\nbody: {resp_text}",
+                    url = self.url(),
+                ),
+                raw_meta: Some(LlmRawMeta {
+                    request_headers:  Some(request_headers),
+                    request_body:     Some(request_body),
+                    response_headers: Some(response_headers),
+                    response_body:    Some(error_response_body(resp_text)),
+                }),
+            }.into());
+        }
 
         /// One content block being accumulated by index.
         #[derive(Default)]
@@ -562,7 +582,23 @@ impl ChatbotClient for AnthropicClient {
         let http_resp = self.send_request(&body).await?;
 
         let response_headers = headers_to_json(http_resp.headers());
+        let status           = http_resp.status();
         let resp_text        = http_resp.text().await?;
+        if !status.is_success() {
+            return Err(crate::LlmError {
+                status:  Some(status.as_u16()),
+                message: format!(
+                    "anthropic: HTTP {status} from {url}\nbody: {resp_text}",
+                    url = self.url(),
+                ),
+                raw_meta: Some(LlmRawMeta {
+                    request_headers:  Some(request_headers),
+                    request_body:     Some(request_body),
+                    response_headers: Some(response_headers),
+                    response_body:    Some(error_response_body(resp_text)),
+                }),
+            }.into());
+        }
         let resp: Value      = serde_json::from_str(&resp_text)
             .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("anthropic: failed to parse response JSON: {e}\nbody: {resp_text}"))?;
         let response_body: Value = serde_json::from_str(&resp_text).unwrap_or(Value::Null);

crates/llm-client/src/lib.rs

@@ -66,6 +66,14 @@ pub fn headers_to_json(headers: &reqwest::header::HeaderMap) -> Value {
     Value::Object(map)
 }
 
+/// Turns a raw error-response body into a JSON `Value` for the payload log:
+/// the parsed JSON when the provider returned JSON (the common case — an
+/// `{"error": …}` object), else the raw text wrapped as a JSON string so a
+/// non-JSON body (HTML gateway page, plain text) is still preserved verbatim.
+pub fn error_response_body(text: String) -> Value {
+    serde_json::from_str::<Value>(&text).unwrap_or(Value::String(text))
+}
+
 /// Returns a redacted preview of an API key: first 7 chars + "***".
 pub fn redact_key(key: &str) -> String {
     if key.len() > 7 {
@@ -82,12 +90,17 @@ pub fn redact_key(key: &str) -> String {
 /// substring-matching a formatted message — which mis-fires when a model id, token
 /// count or URL merely contains "401"/"404"/… (bug B6). Non-HTTP failures (network,
 /// JSON parse, cancellation) stay ordinary `anyhow` errors with no status.
-#[derive(Debug)]
+#[derive(Debug, Default)]
 pub struct LlmError {
     /// HTTP status code, when the failure came from an HTTP response.
     pub status:  Option<u16>,
     /// Human-readable detail (provider tag + body), used for logs and the UI.
     pub message: String,
+    /// Request/response payload captured at the failing call, so the debug log
+    /// can show what was actually sent even when the provider rejected it (e.g.
+    /// a 400). `None` for failures with no HTTP round-trip (network, cancellation,
+    /// parse) — those carry no body to surface.
+    pub raw_meta: Option<LlmRawMeta>,
 }
 
 impl std::fmt::Display for LlmError {

crates/llm-client/src/openai.rs

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use serde_json::{Value, json};
 use tokio::sync::mpsc;
 use tracing::{debug, info, trace, warn};
 
-use crate::{ChatOptions, ChatResponse, ChatbotClient, LlmRawMeta, LlmTurn, Message, Role, SseDecoder, StreamDelta, ToolCall, headers_to_json, redact_key};
+use crate::{ChatOptions, ChatResponse, ChatbotClient, LlmRawMeta, LlmTurn, Message, Role, SseDecoder, StreamDelta, ToolCall, error_response_body, headers_to_json, redact_key};
 use core_api::APP_NAME;
 
 /// OpenAI ChatGPT client (also compatible with any OpenAI-spec endpoint).
@@ -140,6 +140,12 @@ impl OpenAiClient {
                     "openai: HTTP {status} from {url}\nbody: {resp_text}",
                     url = self.url(),
                 ),
+                raw_meta: Some(LlmRawMeta {
+                    request_headers:  Some(request_headers),
+                    request_body:     Some(request_body),
+                    response_headers: Some(response_headers),
+                    response_body:    Some(error_response_body(resp_text)),
+                }),
             }.into());
         }
 
@@ -348,6 +354,12 @@ impl ChatbotClient for OpenAiClient {
                     "openai: HTTP {status} from {url}\nbody: {resp_text}",
                     url = self.url(),
                 ),
+                raw_meta: Some(LlmRawMeta {
+                    request_headers:  Some(request_headers),
+                    request_body:     Some(request_body),
+                    response_headers: Some(response_headers),
+                    response_body:    Some(error_response_body(resp_text)),
+                }),
             }.into());
         }
 

crates/skald-core/src/session/handler/llm_call.rs

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use tokio::sync::mpsc;
 use tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken;
 use tracing::{error, warn};
 
-use crate::chatbot::{ChatOptions, LlmTurn, StreamDelta};
+use crate::chatbot::{ChatOptions, LlmError, LlmTurn, StreamDelta};
 use crate::db::llm_request_payloads;
 use crate::events::{ServerEvent, TokenDeltaKind};
 use crate::llm::{LlmEntry, LlmStrength};
@@ -121,6 +121,27 @@ impl ChatSessionHandler {
                 Err(e) => e,
             };
 
+            // Persist the payload even on failure so the debug log shows the request
+            // that was rejected (e.g. a provider 400). Only the HTTP clients attach a
+            // body (`LlmError::raw_meta`); a network/parse/cancel error carries none.
+            // Fire-and-forget, keyed on the same `request_id` as the metadata row the
+            // logging wrapper wrote to system.db.
+            if let Some(meta) = e.downcast_ref::<LlmError>().and_then(|le| le.raw_meta.as_ref()) {
+                let row = llm_request_payloads::PayloadRow {
+                    request_id:       request_id.clone(),
+                    request_json:     meta.request_body.as_ref().map(|v| v.to_string()).unwrap_or_default(),
+                    request_headers:  meta.request_headers.as_ref().map(|v| v.to_string()),
+                    response_json:    meta.response_body.as_ref().map(|v| v.to_string()),
+                    response_headers: meta.response_headers.as_ref().map(|v| v.to_string()),
+                };
+                let pool = Arc::clone(&self.db);
+                tokio::spawn(async move {
+                    if let Err(e) = llm_request_payloads::insert(&pool, row).await {
+                        tracing::warn!(error = %e, "llm_request_payloads: failed to insert error payload");
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+
             error!(session_id = self.session_id, client = %cur_name, error = %e, "LLM call failed");
             self.llm_manager.mark_failure(cur_name, &e.to_string()).await;
 
@@ -226,7 +247,7 @@ mod tests {
     use crate::chatbot::LlmError;
 
     fn http_err(status: u16, message: &str) -> anyhow::Error {
-        LlmError { status: Some(status), message: message.to_string() }.into()
+        LlmError { status: Some(status), message: message.to_string(), ..Default::default() }.into()
     }
 
     #[test]