A troubleshooting guide
Is Claude Code down, or is it you?
Two things settle it in about a minute: Anthropic’s status page, and the exact words of the error Claude Code shows you. Here is where to look, and what each error means, from Claude Code’s error reference.
Check in a minute
1
Look at Anthropic's status page
status.claude.com is where Anthropic posts outages. The two rows that matter for Claude Code are “Claude Code” and “Claude API (api.anthropic.com)”. If either shows an incident, it’s them, and waiting is the fix.
2
Read the error's exact words
Claude Code names the cause in the error itself. A server error or “overloaded” is Anthropic’s side; a limit, a login or “unable to connect” is yours. The table below sorts each one.
3
Test the connection from your shell
Run curl -I https://api.anthropic.com in the same terminal. Any HTTP response means your Mac can reach the API; a timeout or “could not resolve host” points at your network, VPN or proxy.
The error says whose side it’s on
Claude Code already retries server errors, overloads and timeouts before it shows you anything, so a short blip never reaches you. What does reach you sorts into three kinds.
| What Claude Code says | Whose side | What to do |
|---|---|---|
API Error: 500 Internal server error | Whose side: Anthropic's | A failure inside the API, not your prompt, settings or account. Wait a minute and send again; for a long prompt, type “try again” rather than pasting it back. |
API Error: Repeated 529 Overloaded errors | Whose side: Anthropic's | The API is at capacity for everyone. It isn’t your usage limit and doesn’t count against it. Capacity is per model, so /model to switch often gets you going again. |
API Error: Server is temporarily limiting requests (not your usage limit) | Whose side: Anthropic's | Anthropic is slowing requests down for a while. Wait briefly and retry. |
API Error: Server error mid-response | Whose side: Anthropic's | It failed partway through an answer. Claude Code keeps what arrived rather than resend and risk running tools twice: reply continue. |
You've hit your session limit · resets 3:45pm | Whose side: Yours | Your plan’s allowance is used up, so nothing is down. The weekly limit reads the same way. Wait for the reset it names, or run /usage to see your limits. |
Not logged in · Please run /login | Whose side: Yours | Also “OAuth token revoked” and “Login expired”. Your sign-in lapsed: run /login. |
Unable to connect to API | Whose side: Yours | Also “Can’t reach the API server” (ENOTFOUND) and “Connection refused”. Usually no internet, a VPN blocking api.anthropic.com, or a proxy that isn’t set. If curl works, check for a leftover ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL pointing at a proxy that’s gone. |
API Error: Request rejected (429) | Whose side: Could be either | The rate limit on your API key or cloud project. Run /status to see which credential is active: a stray ANTHROPIC_API_KEY can override your subscription. |
Request timed out | Whose side: Could be either | Retry. If it keeps happening and the status page is clear, treat it as your network or a proxy holding responses back. |
Status page clear and the error keeps coming? Run /doctor inside Claude Code for a check of your installation and settings, and /feedback to report it to Anthropic.
Or let the menu bar check for you
Hear about an outage before you start debugging
Perch reads status.claude.com for you once you’ve used Claude Code on your Mac: often while a session is open, less often between them. When the Claude Code or Claude API row shows an outage, a red banner in the menu bar dropdown says so and links to Anthropic’s incident. A slowdown or maintenance shows as a small icon beside Claude’s usage bars, and every open problem is listed in Settings → General → Integrations.
It shows what Anthropic has posted, so in the first minutes of an outage the error in your terminal can arrive before the incident does. For that gap, the dropdown also notes when three of your turns fail on an overloaded or server error within five minutes: something seen on this Mac, not a report from Anthropic. Each check is an anonymous read with nothing about your sessions, made only for agents you use and never while your Mac sleeps. The same pass tells you when your Claude Code is out of date, with the command to update it. How Perch watches agent health.
Questions