Budibase/budibase · error

err.message

Error message

err.message

What it means

This is the global Koa error-handling middleware in backend-core. It doesn't throw its own error; it catches everything downstream, derives status from err.status || err.statusCode || 500, logs (warn for 4xx, error for 5xx), and serializes { message: err.message, status } as the API error response body. The observed message "err.message" simply means the original thrown error's message is being surfaced to the client verbatim.

Solutions

1. Read the message in the response body — it identifies the actual failing operation; check server logs (console.warn/error) for the full stack
2. Throw HTTPError with an explicit status in application code so clients get meaningful 4xx codes instead of 500
3. Wrap low-level DB/HTTP errors in domain errors before they reach middleware
4. For 5xx, check downstream services (database, SMTP, external APIs) indicated by the message

Example fix

// before
throw new Error("connection refused")
// after
throw new HTTPError("Database unavailable, please try again later", 503)

null

null

try {
  await api.request(...)
} catch (e) {
  const status = e.status || e.statusCode || 500
  if (status >= 500) {
    // retry or check server logs for the full stack
  } else {
    // surface e.message to the user
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any middleware or controller throwing an Error/HTTPError: the client receives the error's message field with status err.status/err.statusCode, defaulting to 500 when neither is set.

Common situations: Seeing a raw internal error message (e.g. a Postgres/CouchDB error string) in an API response because a low-level error was thrown without a status; debugging why a 500 response carries an unexpected message; unhandled promise rejections inside route handlers.

Related errors

• App not found
• err.message || err (rethrown as HTTPError)
• Exa error
• Failed to send request
• GitHub stars missing

AI-assisted analysis of Budibase/budibase@a81a902e9a (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aa178d055ab5790f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/backend-core/src/middleware/errorHandling.ts:15

import { APIError } from "@budibase/types"
import * as errors from "../errors"
import environment from "../environment"
import { stringContainsSecret } from "../security/secrets"
import { ParameterizedContext, Next } from "koa"

export async function errorHandling(ctx: ParameterizedContext, next: Next) {
  try {
    await next()
  } catch (err: any) {
    const status = err.status || err.statusCode || 500
    ctx.status = status

    if (status >= 400 && status < 500) {
      console.warn(err)
    } else {
      console.error("Got 5xx response code", err)
    }

    let error: APIError = {
      message: err.message,
      status,
      validationErrors: err.validation,
      error: errors.getPublicError(err),
    }

    if (stringContainsSecret(JSON.stringify(error))) {
      error = {
        message: "Unexpected error",
        status,
        error: "Unexpected error",
      }
    }

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