# 50305: Routing layer could not service the request

Identifier: `routing_layer_request_failed`



Ably's routing layer encountered an unexpected error while handling the request and could not complete it. The condition is usually transient.

## What you should do

Usually nothing: Ably SDKs retry this automatically, switching to a [fallback endpoint](https://ably.com/docs/platform/architecture/edge-network.md#fallback-endpoints) if it keeps happening. If you call the [REST API](https://ably.com/docs/api/rest-api.md) directly, retry after a short delay, increasing the delay if it recurs. A sustained run of these is worth reporting: [contact Ably support](https://ably.com/support) with the request IDs and roughly when they started.

## Why it happens

This is the catch-all for routing failures that have no more specific code, so the request never reached the service that would have handled it. The failures that can be identified get their own codes: 50205 when the service refused the connection, 50405 when it did not respond in time.

## What you'll see

The error is reported with code 50305 and HTTP status 503. The message is `Ably's routing layer was unable to service this request`, ending with the request ID (`reqID`).