diff --git a/prisma/schema.prisma b/prisma/schema.prisma
index a466394..8be4861 100644
--- a/prisma/schema.prisma
+++ b/prisma/schema.prisma
@@ -76,8 +76,10 @@ model TemplateVariable {
 model ModelOutput {
     id String @id @default(uuid()) @db.Uuid
 
-    inputHash String
-    output    Json
+    inputHash    String
+    output       Json
+    statusCode   Int
+    errorMessage String?
 
     promptVariantId String        @db.Uuid
     promptVariant   PromptVariant @relation(fields: [promptVariantId], references: [id], onDelete: Cascade)
diff --git a/src/components/OutputsTable/OutputCell.tsx b/src/components/OutputsTable/OutputCell.tsx
index f4d4865..bee52a7 100644
--- a/src/components/OutputsTable/OutputCell.tsx
+++ b/src/components/OutputsTable/OutputCell.tsx
@@ -55,7 +55,20 @@ export default function OutputCell({
       </CellShell>
     );
 
-  if (!output.data) return <CellShell>No output</CellShell>;
+  if (!output.data)
+    return (
+      <CellShell>
+        <Text color="gray.500">Error retrieving output</Text>
+      </CellShell>
+    );
+
+  if (output.data.errorMessage) {
+    return (
+      <CellShell>
+        <Text color="red.600">Error: {output.data.errorMessage}</Text>
+      </CellShell>
+    );
+  }
 
   return (
     // @ts-expect-error TODO proper typing and error checks
diff --git a/src/server/api/routers/modelOutputs.router.ts b/src/server/api/routers/modelOutputs.router.ts
index 588d785..8ce3c8a 100644
--- a/src/server/api/routers/modelOutputs.router.ts
+++ b/src/server/api/routers/modelOutputs.router.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { createTRPCRouter, publicProcedure } from "~/server/api/trpc";
 import { prisma } from "~/server/db";
 import fillTemplate, { type VariableMap } from "~/server/utils/fillTemplate";
 import { type JSONSerializable } from "~/server/types";
-import { getChatCompletion } from "~/server/utils/openai";
+import { getChatCompletion } from "~/server/utils/getChatCompletion";
 import crypto from "crypto";
 import type { Prisma } from "@prisma/client";
 import { env } from "~/env.mjs";
@@ -51,13 +51,17 @@ export const modelOutputsRouter = createTRPCRouter({
 
       // TODO: we should probably only use this if temperature=0
       const existingResponse = await prisma.modelOutput.findFirst({
-        where: { inputHash },
+        where: { inputHash, errorMessage: null },
       });
 
-      let modelResponse: JSONSerializable;
+      let modelResponse: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof getChatCompletion>>;
 
       if (existingResponse) {
-        modelResponse = existingResponse.output as JSONSerializable;
+        modelResponse = {
+          output: existingResponse.output as Prisma.InputJsonValue,
+          statusCode: existingResponse.statusCode,
+          errorMessage: existingResponse.errorMessage,
+        };
       } else {
         modelResponse = await getChatCompletion(filledTemplate, env.OPENAI_API_KEY);
       }
@@ -66,8 +70,8 @@ export const modelOutputsRouter = createTRPCRouter({
         data: {
           promptVariantId: input.variantId,
           testScenarioId: input.scenarioId,
-          output: modelResponse as Prisma.InputJsonObject,
           inputHash,
+          ...modelResponse,
         },
       });
 
diff --git a/src/server/utils/getChatCompletion.ts b/src/server/utils/getChatCompletion.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd97943
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/utils/getChatCompletion.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import { isObject } from "lodash";
+import { type JSONSerializable } from "../types";
+import { Prisma } from "@prisma/client";
+
+type CompletionResponse = {
+  output: Prisma.InputJsonValue | typeof Prisma.JsonNull;
+  statusCode: number;
+  errorMessage: string | null;
+};
+
+export async function getChatCompletion(
+  payload: JSONSerializable,
+  apiKey: string
+): Promise<CompletionResponse> {
+  const response = await fetch("https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions", {
+    method: "POST",
+    headers: {
+      "Content-Type": "application/json",
+      Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
+    },
+    body: JSON.stringify(payload),
+  });
+
+  const resp: CompletionResponse = {
+    output: Prisma.JsonNull,
+    errorMessage: null,
+    statusCode: response.status,
+  };
+
+  try {
+    resp.output = await response.json();
+
+    if (!response.ok) {
+      // If it's an object, try to get the error message
+      if (
+        isObject(resp.output) &&
+        "error" in resp.output &&
+        isObject(resp.output.error) &&
+        "message" in resp.output.error
+      ) {
+        resp.errorMessage = resp.output.error.message?.toString() ?? "Unknown error";
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error(e);
+    if (response.ok) {
+      resp.errorMessage = "Failed to parse response";
+    }
+  }
+
+  return resp;
+}
diff --git a/src/server/utils/openai.ts b/src/server/utils/openai.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 7696905..0000000
--- a/src/server/utils/openai.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-import { type JSONSerializable } from "../types";
-
-export async function getChatCompletion(payload: JSONSerializable, apiKey: string) {
-  const response = await fetch("https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions", {
-    method: "POST",
-    headers: {
-      "Content-Type": "application/json",
-      Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
-    },
-    body: JSON.stringify(payload),
-  });
-
-  if (!response.ok) {
-    throw new Error(`OpenAI API request failed with status ${response.status}`);
-  }
-
-  const data = (await response.json()) as JSONSerializable;
-  return data;
-}