500 Internal Server Error: Could Not Create Echo

Membrane API Gateway returns 500 Internal Server Error with the detail Could not create echo! when the echo plugin cannot read the request body. The plugin sends the request back as the response, so it has to read the body first. Usually the client or the connection is at fault.

The Error Response

The response contains the status 500 Internal Server Error, the detail Could not create echo!, the problem type https://membrane-api.io/problems/internal and a link to this page. The type internal means that the gateway failed while processing the exchange.

Common Causes

The Request Body Is Incomplete

The client closed the connection before the whole request body arrived, or the body is shorter than its Content-Length.

The Chunked Encoding Is Broken

The request uses chunked transfer encoding with broken chunk framing.

An Unexpected Exception in the echo Plugin

The same link is also used when the echo plugin throws an exception that it does not handle itself. The detail then starts with Aborting! Exception caused in ... and names the flow. Membrane logs such exceptions at warn level with the stack trace. If the plugin is nested in request, response or abort, the exception message and stack trace are sent to the client even in production mode. Unless the exception points to your configuration or to the message content, this usually indicates a bug in Membrane.

How to Fix It

1. Client side: send a complete body that matches the Content-Length or uses valid chunked encoding.
2. Gateway operator: check the gateway log. Membrane logs Could not create echo. with the exception.
3. If the request was complete and valid, report the problem with the stack trace on GitHub Issues.

Hide Details in Production

By default, Membrane runs in development mode and adds details to error responses that help you find the problem, including the link to this page. These details may reveal information about your setup. In production, turn them off:

configuration:
  production: true

configuration:
  production: true

Add the configuration document to your apis.yaml and separate it from the APIs with ---.

In production mode, the title of this error is replaced by Internal Server Error, and the response only says Internal details are hidden. See server log (key: ...). Search the gateway log for that key to find the full error message.

Related Documentation

Configuration reference:

• echo

← All Membrane error messages