Gateway Timeout

5xx Server Error

Last updated: July 19, 2026

The server, acting as a gateway or proxy, did not receive a response from the upstream server in time.

Description

The proxy waited too long for the origin server. Common on serverless platforms (Vercel: 10s Hobby / 60s Pro, AWS Lambda: 30s API Gateway).

Automatic on proxies. In application code, prefer 500 or 503 for internal timeouts you detect yourself.

RFC 9110 §15.6.5

HTTP response

HTTP/1.1 504 Gateway Timeout
Content-Type: application/json

{"error":"Gateway Timeout"}

Node.js (Express)

res.status(504).json({ error: "Gateway Timeout" });

Go (net/http)

w.WriteHeader(http.StatusGatewayTimeout)

Python (Flask)

return jsonify({"error": "Gateway Timeout"}), 504

Request Timeout

The server did not receive a complete request within the time it was prepared to wait.

Bad Gateway

The server, acting as a gateway or proxy, received an invalid response from the upstream server.

Service Unavailable

The server is currently unable to handle the request due to temporary overloading or maintenance.