HttpServerError

HttpServerError refers to server-side failures in the HTTP protocol that prevent a successful response from being delivered to the client. These errors are represented by the 5xx class of status codes, whose meaning indicates that the request was valid but the server failed to fulfill it.

Common 5xx status codes include 500 Internal Server Error, 502 Bad Gateway, 503 Service Unavailable, 504 Gateway Timeout, and 507 Insufficient Storage. Each code conveys a different failure scenario: 500 indicates an unspecified server error; 502 and 504 relate to gateway or proxy issues; 503 indicates temporary overload or maintenance; 507 indicates the server could not store the representation needed to complete the request.

Causes of httpServerError include software exceptions, misconfigurations, crashes, dependency outages, resource exhaustion, timeouts from upstream services, or problems accessing databases or storage. These failures can be transient or persistent, and they may arise from application code, server infrastructure, or external services.

Mitigation involves robust error handling in server software, thorough logging, monitoring, health checks, load management, and appropriate retry or fallback strategies. Security practice encourages avoiding detailed error information in responses to users, while internal logs capture diagnostics to aid debugging.

RFC 7231 defines the semantics of HTTP/1.1 status codes, including the 5xx class, and guides client and server behavior. In many frameworks, a generic server error is surfaced as an exception or error object that maps to a 500 status, with options to customize handling.

See also: HTTP status codes; 5xx status codes; RFC 7231.