Anthropic API errors 500 (api_error) and 504 (timeout_error)
Quick answer: A 500 api_error is an unexpected problem inside Anthropic's systems; a 504 timeout_error means your request took too long to process. Retry a 500 with backoff and check the live status above. For 504s on long requests, use streaming or batches.
The message you're seeing
500 api_error504 timeout_error
Is it down right now?
- Anthropic API · checked No problems
- Claude · checked No problems
Live status, updated every minute. If it says “No problems”, the cause is most likely on your side: follow the steps below.
500 api_error
Anthropic describes this as an unexpected error inside its own systems. Retry the request with exponential backoff, and if it keeps happening, contact support with the request ID. Every response includes a request-id header.
504 timeout_error
The request timed out while it was being processed. Long requests are the usual cause.
- Stream long responsesAnthropic suggests using the streaming Messages API for long-running requests, so the connection stays active while the answer is produced.
- Batch very long jobsFor requests that may take over 10 minutes, use streaming or the Message Batches API.
Errors after a 200 response
When streaming, an error can arrive after the API has already returned a 200 response, so handle error events in the stream as well as the HTTP status.
Questions
Do the Anthropic SDKs retry automatically?
Yes. Anthropic's docs say the official SDKs retry transient failures automatically, twice by default.
Is a 500 error an Anthropic outage?
It can be. One-off 500s happen; many at once usually show up as an incident. Check the live status at the top of this page.
What should I send to Anthropic support?
The request ID from the request-id header of the failed response, plus the time it happened.
Want to know when Anthropic API has a real outage? Follow our free outage alerts. We only post real outages, and again when they're fixed.
Related error guides
- Claude 529 “Overloaded” error
- Claude “usage limit reached”
- Anthropic API 429 rate_limit_error
- Anthropic API 401 authentication_error
- Anthropic “credit balance is too low”
- Claude “exceed the length limit”
Based on official documentation, checked 3 November 2026: Anthropic: API errors. Error messages and limits change over time, so the provider's own docs are the final word.