Historical DB Is Too Stale (stale_history)

HTTP 503Horizon RFC 7807 ProblemCode: stale_history

Type URI: https://orion.stellarchain.io/horizon-errors/stale_history

The node's ingested history is lagging behind the Stellar network tip beyond the configured staleness threshold.

Quick Fix & Resolution

Check GET / (history_latest_ledger vs core_latest_ledger) and retry.

Response Payload & SDK Handling

RFC 7807 JSON Response

{
  "type": "https://orion.stellarchain.io/horizon-errors/stale_history",
  "title": "Historical DB Is Too Stale",
  "status": 503,
  "detail": "This horizon instance is configured to reject client requests when it can determine that the history database is lagging too far behind the connected instance of Stellar-Core or read replica."
}

TypeScript (@stellar/stellar-sdk)

import { Horizon } from '@stellar/stellar-sdk';

const server = new Horizon.Server('https://pubnet.stellarchain.io');

try {
  const res = await server.ledgers().limit(10).call();
} catch (err: any) {
  const problem = err?.response?.data;
  if (problem?.type === 'https://orion.stellarchain.io/horizon-errors/stale_history') {
    console.error('[stale_history] HTTP 503:', problem.detail, problem.extras);
  }
}

Go (horizonclient)

client := &horizonclient.Client{
    HorizonURL: "https://pubnet.stellarchain.io",
}
_, err := client.Root()
if hErr := horizonclient.GetError(err); hErr != nil {
    if hErr.Problem.Status == 503 {
        log.Printf("Problem (%s): %s - extras=%v", hErr.Problem.Type, hErr.Problem.Detail, hErr.Problem.Extras)
    }
}

cURL Diagnostic

curl -i -s "https://pubnet.stellarchain.io/" \
  -H "Accept: application/hal+json"

Common Root Causes

• Archive snapshot or live ingestion pipeline fell behind the network tip.

---

← Back to All 23 Horizon Error Codes