diff --git a/src/interface/emacs/khoj.el b/src/interface/emacs/khoj.el
index 8bfaf782..604bdc0a 100644
--- a/src/interface/emacs/khoj.el
+++ b/src/interface/emacs/khoj.el
@@ -655,8 +655,14 @@ Render results in BUFFER-NAME using QUERY, CONTENT-TYPE."
          (encoded-query (url-hexify-string query))
          (query-url (format "%s/api/chat?q=%s" khoj-server-url encoded-query)))
     (with-temp-buffer
-      (url-insert-file-contents query-url)
-      (json-parse-buffer :object-type 'alist))))
+      (condition-case ex
+          (progn
+            (url-insert-file-contents query-url)
+            (json-parse-buffer :object-type 'alist))
+        ('file-error (cond ((string-match "Internal server error" (nth 2 ex))
+                      (message "Chat processor not configured. Configure OpenAI API key and restart it. Exception: [%s]" ex))
+                     (t (message "Chat exception: [%s]" ex))))))))
+
 
 (defun khoj--render-chat-message (message sender &optional receive-date)
   "Render chat messages as `org-mode' list item.
diff --git a/src/khoj/routers/api.py b/src/khoj/routers/api.py
index 312c1ffc..8ee6de13 100644
--- a/src/khoj/routers/api.py
+++ b/src/khoj/routers/api.py
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ def get_default_config_data():
 @api.get("/config/types", response_model=List[str])
 def get_config_types():
     """Get configured content types"""
+    if state.config is None or state.config.content_type is None:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=500,
+            detail="Content types not configured. Configure at least one content type on server and restart it.",
+        )
+
     configured_content_types = state.config.content_type.dict(exclude_none=True)
     return [
         search_type.value
@@ -190,6 +196,15 @@ def update(t: Optional[SearchType] = None, force: Optional[bool] = False):
 
 @api.get("/chat")
 def chat(q: Optional[str] = None):
+    if (
+        state.processor_config is None
+        or state.processor_config.conversation is None
+        or state.processor_config.conversation.openai_api_key is None
+    ):
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=500, detail="Chat processor not configured. Configure OpenAI API key on server and restart it."
+        )
+
     # Initialize Variables
     api_key = state.processor_config.conversation.openai_api_key
     model = state.processor_config.conversation.model