What built-in HTTP exceptions does NestJS provide out of the box?

Q: What built-in HTTP exceptions does NestJS provide out of the box?

BadRequestException — 400 UnauthorizedException — 401 PaymentRequiredException — 402 ForbiddenException — 403 NotFoundException — 404 MethodNotAllowedException — 405 NotAcceptableException — 406 RequestTimeoutException — 408 ConflictException — 409 GoneException — 410 UnprocessableEntityException — 422 TooManyRequestsException — 429 InternalServerErrorException — 500 NotImplementedException — 501 BadGatewayException — 502 ServiceUnavailableException — 503 GatewayTimeoutException — 504 // Preferred — self-documenting, correct status codes built in throw new NotFoundException(`User #${id} not found`); throw new ConflictException('Email already registered'); throw new UnauthorizedException('Invalid or expired token'); throw new BadRequestException('Validation failed'); // Each built-in exception accepts an optional message and cause throw new NotFoundException( { message: 'User not found', userId: id }, { cause: originalError }, );

Difficulty: 3/10

HTTP exceptions, NestJS error handling, Exception filters

NestJS ships a named exception class for every common HTTP error status. All extend HttpException. The most commonly used are BadRequestException (400), UnauthorizedException (401), ForbiddenException (403), NotFoundException (404), ConflictException (409), UnprocessableEntityException (422), and InternalServerErrorException (500).

Complete list of built-in NestJS exceptions:

1
BadRequestException — 400
2
UnauthorizedException — 401
3
PaymentRequiredException — 402
4
ForbiddenException — 403
5
NotFoundException — 404
6
MethodNotAllowedException — 405
7

Using built-in exceptions instead of raw HttpException

Scenario Questions

0-2 years experience

2-5 years experience

1You added a new endpoint that calls an external API. When the external service returns a 401, you want to propagate that as a NestJS exception. Which built‑in exception would you choose and why?

Follow-up Questions