500 500 Internal Server Error

The server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request.

What Is This?

The HTTP 500 Internal Server Error status code indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request. It is a generic catch-all error for server-side failures. Unlike 4xx errors (client mistakes), 500 means the server failed to handle a valid request. The error could be caused by uncaught exceptions, database failures, configuration errors, or any other server-side issue.

Common Causes & Solutions

Common Cause

Uncaught exceptions or runtime errors in application code

Common Cause

Database connection failures or query timeouts

Common Cause

Misconfigured server settings or missing environment variables

Common Cause

File system permission errors or disk space exhaustion

Check server logs

Always start debugging 500 errors by checking application and server logs. The logs will contain the specific error message and stack trace.

# View live logs
journalctl -u myapp -f

# Node.js — check stderr
pm2 logs myapp

# Check Nginx error log
tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log

# Docker
 docker logs mycontainer --tail 100

Implement error boundaries and logging

Use global error handlers to catch uncaught exceptions and log them with context.

// Node.js (Express) global error handler
app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
  console.error('Unhandled error:', {
    message: err.message,
    stack: err.stack,
    url: req.originalUrl,
    method: req.method,
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
  })
  
  res.status(500).json({
    error: 'Internal Server Error',
    message: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production'
      ? 'Something went wrong'
      : err.message
  })
})

Related Entries

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I expose error details in 500 responses?

In production, never expose stack traces or internal details in 500 responses — they can leak sensitive information. Log the details server-side and return a generic error message. In development, showing details helps debugging.

What is the difference between 500 and 502?

500 is a generic server error on the server you are directly connecting to. 502 Bad Gateway means the server was acting as a gateway or proxy and received an invalid response from an upstream server. 500 is 'my server broke', 502 is 'the server I called broke'.

Browse All HTTP Status Codes