API 500 errors too frequent — unusable experience

Resolved 💬 20 comments Opened Feb 22, 2026 by 001005HS Closed Feb 25, 2026

Description

Claude Code is experiencing extremely frequent API 500 errors during normal usage, making it nearly impossible to complete tasks. The errors occur repeatedly during regular coding sessions, interrupting workflow and requiring constant retries.

Environment

  • Claude Code CLI
  • Model: claude-opus-4-6
  • OS: macOS (Darwin 25.3.0)
  • Region: South Korea

Impact

  • Tasks that should take minutes are taking much longer due to constant 500 errors
  • Paid user unable to get expected quality of service
  • Workflow is constantly interrupted, requiring manual retries

Expected Behavior

API calls should succeed reliably without frequent 500 errors during normal coding sessions.

Actual Behavior

500 errors occur repeatedly throughout the session, blocking tool calls and forcing retries. This happens across different tool types (Edit, Read, Bash, etc.).

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20 Comments

github-actions[bot] · 4 months ago

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

  1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/22814
  2. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/22832
  3. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/22791

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

  • If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
  • To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

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001005HS · 4 months ago

This is NOT a duplicate. The referenced issues are from weeks/months ago and the problem is STILL ongoing.

I am a paying customer and the API 500 errors are making Claude Code completely unusable. This is happening consistently during normal coding sessions — not edge cases.

Key differences from the "duplicates":

  • This is happening RIGHT NOW (Feb 2026), not weeks ago
  • The frequency is extreme — multiple 500 errors per session, every session
  • It affects all tool types (Edit, Read, Bash, Task agents)
  • It's not a transient issue — it has been persistent

What I need:

  • Acknowledgment that this is an ongoing production issue
  • An actual fix or timeline, not just "duplicate" auto-close
  • Compensation or credit for the degraded service

Closing this as duplicate without resolution is unacceptable. The previous issues were clearly not resolved since the problem persists. Please escalate this to the engineering team.

ehartford · 4 months ago

still happening today

shanemmattner · 4 months ago

It's really bad for me today. I can't go 2 messages without hitting this error. Completely unreliable in 1 chat, then working fine in another.

dviti-vargroup · 4 months ago

can confirm, is unusable right now, 500 continuously from every client

salehsquared · 4 months ago

Happening now.

aaronmboyd · 4 months ago

Same experience, last hour or so has been torturous

blue-urban-sky · 4 months ago

Started getting these today, impossible to complete a long request chain

Abhi-ZwingD · 4 months ago

Happening now frequent 500 errors mid of critical build and can't ignore in between now

nickzitzer · 4 months ago

Same issue for me as well - losing interest in 200 a month subscription for this

poly2it · 4 months ago

Currently unusable for me.

See Downdetector: https://downdetector.com/status/claude-ai/

paul-dicristina · 4 months ago

happening constantly for me over the past 30 minutes

dviti-vargroup · 4 months ago

<img width="1084" height="895" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/001741bc-c450-4bac-9ae2-e03035b5f11e" />

no way to use it

TimZander · 4 months ago

This is unusable right now for me. Happening constantly

timurkrsk · 4 months ago

the same for me - today get 500 constantly on Max plan... updated to the last version - and it didn't help

davidedaji · 4 months ago

same on max plan

mcisco1 · 4 months ago

still a problem?

shanemmattner · 4 months ago

Seems to be resolved now. I have parallel sessions running with no 500 errors in the last 10-20 minutes

timurkrsk · 4 months ago

now seems everything is ok

github-actions[bot] · 4 months ago

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.