> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.letmepost.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# internal_error

> Unexpected server-side issue. Includes a requestId you can file with us.

Something broke on our side that we didn't anticipate. Every `internal_error` is a bug. The `requestId` field is the link between you and our logs.

## What triggers it

* Unhandled exceptions on a code path we haven't covered.
* Database / Redis connectivity loss.
* Storage layer (S3) refused the call for a reason we can't classify.
* A feature flag is in an inconsistent state.

If a third-party platform is down, you'll see [`platform_unavailable`](/errors/platform_unavailable) instead — `internal_error` is exclusively about us.

## Response shape

```json internal_error.json theme={"system"}
{
  "error": {
    "code": "internal_error",
    "message": "An unexpected error occurred.",
    "remediation": "Retry with the same Idempotency-Key. If the issue persists, share the requestId with support.",
    "docUrl": "https://docs.letmepost.dev/errors/internal_error",
    "requestId": "req_01HY6X4AWBJM2K9F2PTQMRD9JQ",
    "traceId": "abc123..."
  }
}
```

The `message` field is intentionally generic — internal errors don't leak server-side details. The `requestId` is the way to reference this specific failure.

## How to handle

1. Retry once with the same `Idempotency-Key`.
2. If it fails again, file an issue or open a support thread with the `requestId`.
3. We do not return server stack traces; please don't try to parse `message` for diagnosis.

## Related

* [Idempotency](/idempotency) — every retry is safe with a key.
* [`platform_unavailable`](/errors/platform_unavailable) — third-party outage, not ours.