diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/bounties/[id]/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/bounties/[id]/route.ts
index 96aee2f..77410fc 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/bounties/[id]/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/bounties/[id]/route.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { getDb } from '@/lib/db';
+import { dbErrorResponse } from '@/lib/api-error';
 
 export async function GET(_req: NextRequest, { params }: { params: Promise<{ id: string }> }) {
   const { id } = await params;
@@ -17,6 +18,6 @@ export async function GET(_req: NextRequest, { params }: { params: Promise<{ id:
     return NextResponse.json(rows[0]);
   } catch (e) {
     console.error(e);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to fetch bounty' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(e, 'Failed to fetch bounty');
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/bounties/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/bounties/route.ts
index 11a6d8f..dfa01f2 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/bounties/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/bounties/route.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { createCoinPayClient } from '@profullstack/stack/coinpay';
 import { getDb } from '@/lib/db';
+import { dbErrorResponse } from '@/lib/api-error';
 import { getSessionDid } from '@/lib/auth';
 import { generatePublicId } from '@/lib/id';
 
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ export async function GET() {
     return NextResponse.json(bounties);
   } catch (e) {
     console.error(e);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to fetch bounties' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(e, 'Failed to fetch bounties');
   }
 }
 
@@ -91,6 +92,6 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
     }, { status: 201 });
   } catch (e) {
     console.error('Failed to create bounty:', e);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to create bounty. Please try again.' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(e, 'Failed to create bounty. Please try again.');
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/coupons/[id]/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/coupons/[id]/route.ts
index d234db7..987d002 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/coupons/[id]/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/coupons/[id]/route.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { getDb } from '@/lib/db';
+import { dbErrorResponse } from '@/lib/api-error';
 
 export async function GET(_req: NextRequest, { params }: { params: Promise<{ id: string }> }) {
   const { id } = await params;
@@ -15,6 +16,6 @@ export async function GET(_req: NextRequest, { params }: { params: Promise<{ id:
     return NextResponse.json(rows[0]);
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(err);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to fetch coupon' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(err, 'Failed to fetch coupon');
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/coupons/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/coupons/route.ts
index 814bdf3..458193e 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/coupons/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/coupons/route.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { getDb } from '@/lib/db';
+import { dbErrorResponse } from '@/lib/api-error';
 import { getSessionDid } from '@/lib/auth';
 import type { DiscountType } from '@/lib/types';
 
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ export async function GET(req: NextRequest) {
     return NextResponse.json(coupons);
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(err);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to fetch coupons' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(err, 'Failed to fetch coupons');
   }
 }
 
@@ -128,6 +129,6 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
     return NextResponse.json({ success: true }, { status: 201 });
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(err);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to create coupon' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(err, 'Failed to create coupon');
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/coupons/vote/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/coupons/vote/route.ts
index e0da6f4..cb3b8d0 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/coupons/vote/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/coupons/vote/route.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { getSessionDid } from '@/lib/auth';
 import { getDb } from '@/lib/db';
+import { dbErrorResponse } from '@/lib/api-error';
 
 export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
   const did = await getSessionDid();
@@ -33,6 +34,6 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
     return NextResponse.json({ success: true, votes: rows[0]?.votes ?? 0 });
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(err);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to vote' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(err, 'Failed to vote');
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/search/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/search/route.ts
index 5e1aa01..4337763 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/search/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/search/route.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { getDb } from '@/lib/db';
+import { dbErrorResponse } from '@/lib/api-error';
 
 export async function GET(req: NextRequest) {
   const { searchParams } = new URL(req.url);
@@ -24,6 +25,6 @@ export async function GET(req: NextRequest) {
     return NextResponse.json(results);
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(err);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Search failed' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(err, 'Search failed');
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/stores/[slug]/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/stores/[slug]/route.ts
index a24e0db..94b1f3b 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/stores/[slug]/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/stores/[slug]/route.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { getDb } from '@/lib/db';
+import { dbErrorResponse } from '@/lib/api-error';
 
 export async function GET(_req: NextRequest, { params }: { params: Promise<{ slug: string }> }) {
   const { slug } = await params;
@@ -16,6 +17,6 @@ export async function GET(_req: NextRequest, { params }: { params: Promise<{ slu
     return NextResponse.json({ store, coupons });
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(err);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to fetch store' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(err, 'Failed to fetch store');
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/stores/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/stores/route.ts
index 63fa1a3..3a1e838 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/stores/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/stores/route.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { getDb } from '@/lib/db';
+import { dbErrorResponse } from '@/lib/api-error';
 import { getSessionDid } from '@/lib/auth';
 
 export async function GET() {
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ export async function GET() {
     return NextResponse.json(stores);
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(err);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to fetch stores' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(err, 'Failed to fetch stores');
   }
 }
 
@@ -37,6 +38,6 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
     return NextResponse.json({ success: true }, { status: 201 });
   } catch (err) {
     console.error(err);
-    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to create store' }, { status: 500 });
+    return dbErrorResponse(err, 'Failed to create store');
   }
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/lib/api-error.ts b/apps/web/lib/api-error.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2800e0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/lib/api-error.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import 'server-only';
+import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';
+import { isDbPaused } from './db';
+
+/**
+ * What a caller sees when the database node is parked. It names the cause
+ * rather than the fix: the dashboard restart is an operator action, and the
+ * person hitting the API can only wait.
+ */
+export const DB_PAUSED_MESSAGE =
+  'The coupon database is temporarily unavailable and should be back shortly.';
+
+/**
+ * Map an error caught in a route handler onto a response.
+ *
+ * A paused database is a transient infrastructure state, not a bad request and
+ * not a bug, so it answers 503 + Retry-After instead of a blanket 500. Anything
+ * else keeps the route's own 500 and message, so a genuine defect still reads
+ * as a defect. `code` is stable for clients to branch on — the CLI prints its
+ * own wording for `database_paused` rather than echoing a raw HTTP status.
+ */
+export function dbErrorResponse(err: unknown, fallback: string): NextResponse {
+  if (isDbPaused(err)) {
+    return NextResponse.json(
+      { error: DB_PAUSED_MESSAGE, code: 'database_paused' },
+      { status: 503, headers: { 'Retry-After': '60' } }
+    );
+  }
+  return NextResponse.json({ error: fallback }, { status: 500 });
+}
diff --git a/apps/web/lib/db.ts b/apps/web/lib/db.ts
index 14b301e..fa89cec 100644
--- a/apps/web/lib/db.ts
+++ b/apps/web/lib/db.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,20 @@ function isDisconnect(err: unknown): boolean {
   );
 }
 
+// SQLite Cloud parks a free-tier node after a stretch of inactivity. Every
+// query then fails with error 10010 until someone restarts it from the
+// dashboard, and the node refuses new sockets too — so reconnecting cannot fix
+// it. That is why this is deliberately NOT folded into isDisconnect() above:
+// retrying a paused node just pays the connection cost twice before failing
+// identically. Callers use it to tell "c0upons is down" (transient, 503) apart
+// from "c0upons is broken" (a real 500).
+export function isDbPaused(err: unknown): boolean {
+  const code = (err as { errorCode?: string | number } | null)?.errorCode;
+  if (code != null && String(code) === '10010') return true;
+  const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+  return /node has been paused|paused due to inactivity/i.test(msg);
+}
+
 async function runSql(args: unknown[]): Promise<unknown> {
   if (!client) client = createClient();
   try {
diff --git a/apps/web/public/cli/c0upons b/apps/web/public/cli/c0upons
index 896cb25..d180170 100644
--- a/apps/web/public/cli/c0upons
+++ b/apps/web/public/cli/c0upons
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-VERSION="1.1.0"
+VERSION="1.2.0"
 BASE_URL="${C0UPONS_API:-https://c0upons.com/api}"
 # Website root (for login + share links). Defaults to BASE_URL without /api.
 WEB_URL="${C0UPONS_WEB:-${BASE_URL%/api}}"
@@ -90,6 +90,35 @@ api_post() {
   exit 1
 }
 
+# api_get <path> — fetches a public endpoint.
+# On success, leaves the response body in $API_BODY. On failure, prints the
+# server's own message and exits. The read commands used to pipe `curl -fsSL`
+# straight into jq, so an outage surfaced as `curl: (22) The requested URL
+# returned error: 500` — which says nothing about whose fault it is or whether
+# retrying helps. The API distinguishes those cases now; this reads them out.
+api_get() {
+  local path="$1" resp code
+  # -L keeps the redirect-following the previous `curl -fsSL` had, so a
+  # canonical-host redirect still resolves instead of surfacing as a bare 301.
+  resp=$(curl -sSL -w $'\n%{http_code}' "${BASE_URL}${path}") \
+    || { echo -e "${RED}Network error.${RESET} Could not reach ${BASE_URL}."; exit 1; }
+  code=$(printf '%s' "$resp" | tail -n1)
+  API_BODY=$(printf '%s' "$resp" | sed '$d')
+  if [ "$code" -ge 200 ] && [ "$code" -lt 300 ]; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+  local msg
+  msg=$(printf '%s' "$API_BODY" | jq -r '.error // empty' 2>/dev/null || true)
+  # 503 is the API saying "down, not broken" — worth its own wording so people
+  # retry rather than reinstall the CLI or file a bug.
+  if [ "$code" = "503" ]; then
+    echo -e "${ORANGE}c0upons is temporarily unavailable.${RESET} ${msg:-Please try again shortly.}"
+  else
+    echo -e "${RED}Error (${code}):${RESET} ${msg:-request failed}"
+  fi
+  exit 1
+}
+
 urlencode() {
   local raw="$1"
   if command -v python3 &>/dev/null; then
@@ -130,7 +159,8 @@ cmd_search() {
   local encoded
   encoded=$(urlencode "$q")
   local results
-  results=$(curl -fsSL "${BASE_URL}/search?q=${encoded}")
+  api_get "/search?q=${encoded}"
+  results="$API_BODY"
   local count
   count=$(echo "$results" | jq 'length')
   if [ "$count" -eq 0 ]; then
@@ -142,14 +172,18 @@ cmd_search() {
   while IFS= read -r row; do
     print_coupon "$row"
     i=$((i + 1))
-    [ "$i" -ge 20 ] && break
+    # `[ … ] && break` would leave its own status 1 behind on the last pass
+    # through the loop, and that becomes the script's exit code — so a search
+    # that printed results perfectly still reported failure to `&&`/CI.
+    if [ "$i" -ge 20 ]; then break; fi
   done < <(echo "$results" | jq -c '.[]')
 }
 
 cmd_latest() {
   require_jq
   local results
-  results=$(curl -fsSL "${BASE_URL}/coupons")
+  api_get "/coupons"
+  results="$API_BODY"
   local count
   count=$(echo "$results" | jq 'length')
   echo -e "${BOLD}Latest ${count} coupon(s)${RESET}\n"
@@ -157,14 +191,16 @@ cmd_latest() {
   while IFS= read -r row; do
     print_coupon "$row"
     i=$((i + 1))
-    [ "$i" -ge 10 ] && break
+    # Same trailing-status trap as cmd_search above.
+    if [ "$i" -ge 10 ]; then break; fi
   done < <(echo "$results" | jq -c '.[]')
 }
 
 cmd_stores() {
   require_jq
   local results
-  results=$(curl -fsSL "${BASE_URL}/stores")
+  api_get "/stores"
+  results="$API_BODY"
   local count
   count=$(echo "$results" | jq 'length')
   echo -e "${BOLD}${count} stores${RESET}\n"
@@ -179,7 +215,8 @@ cmd_store() {
     exit 1
   fi
   local result
-  result=$(curl -fsSL "${BASE_URL}/stores/${slug}")
+  api_get "/stores/${slug}"
+  result="$API_BODY"
   local name
   name=$(echo "$result" | jq -r '.name // "Unknown"')
   local coupons