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

# service_unavailable

> HTTP 503 — an upstream DSS system was unreachable. Retry with backoff; never treat it as an empty or negative answer.

```http theme={null}
HTTP/1.1 503 Service Unavailable
Content-Type: application/problem+json
X-Request-Id: req_01HV9XK...

{
  "type": "https://docs.digitalseaservice.com/errors/service_unavailable",
  "title": "Service temporarily unavailable",
  "status": 503,
  "detail": "Sea-time data is temporarily unavailable. Please retry shortly.",
  "instance": "req_01HV9XK..."
}
```

## What it means

An internal DSS system this endpoint depends on was unreachable, timed out, or
returned something we could not parse. Your request was well-formed and your
token is fine — we simply could not compute a trustworthy answer.

We return `503` rather than a degraded response on purpose. The endpoints that
can raise it all return *derived* figures, and a plausible-looking wrong answer
is worse than no answer:

| Endpoint                     | What we would otherwise have to guess        |
| ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| `GET /v1/me`                 | Whether the member holds Premium             |
| `GET /v1/me/sea-time`        | Days at sea, nautical miles, verified totals |
| `GET /v1/me/sea-time/recent` | The rolling 12-month trend                   |
| `GET /v1/me/vessels`         | Service periods and per-vessel totals        |

## What to do

* **Retry with backoff.** `503` is retryable. Start around 1s and back off
  exponentially; most causes clear in well under a minute.
* **Keep serving your last good value.** If you cache `record_updated_at` and
  the payload alongside it, show the cached figures rather than blanks.
* **Never substitute a default.** Do not render `0` days at sea, and do not
  treat an unavailable [membership](/membership) as `"free"` — that puts an
  upgrade prompt in front of members who are already paying.
* **If it persists beyond a few minutes**, check the
  [status page](https://status.digitalseaservice.com), then
  [contact us](mailto:admin@digitalseaservice.com) quoting the `instance`
  request ID.

## Related

* [Membership status](/membership)
* [Errors overview](/errors)