fix(ui): actionable 413/504/401 toasts + VPS nginx deploy template

Production QA reported "Submit failed 413" on /generation and plain
"Upload failed" (no detail) on resource upload. Root cause is the
outer reverse-proxy nginx on the VPS — still on default
`client_max_body_size 1m` — rejecting requests before they reach
Odoo. The inner docker-nginx and Odoo limits were already raised in
earlier commits; only the VPS proxy was left unpatched.

UI side
- Add `describeApiError(err, fallback, context)` helper in
  lib/api-client.ts. Maps common HTTP codes to human-readable,
  actionable toast descriptions (413 → "ask ops to raise nginx
  client_max_body_size", 504 → "server took too long, retry", 502
  → "Odoo is restarting", 401 → "sign in again", 4xx/5xx → server
  error body + status code).
- Use it in GenerationPage submit, ResourceManager upload,
  TeacherLibrary upload, CustomExamCreate save/publish. Replaces
  four slightly-different ad-hoc mappings with one source of truth.

Deploy side
- Add deploy/nginx-vps.conf.example: full TLS reverse-proxy template
  with the body/timeout knobs that must match Odoo's limit_request
  (128 MB) and limit_time_real (900 s).
- Add docs/DEPLOY_413_504_FIX.md: step-by-step remediation guide for
  the team lead covering the 3 layers that can block large bodies
  (outer nginx, Cloudflare, Odoo worker) and how to verify each.

Made-with: Cursor

frontend/src/pages/GenerationPage.tsx

@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ import AiTipBanner from "@/components/ai/AiTipBanner";
 import { generationService } from "@/services/generation.service";
 import { mediaService, type Avatar } from "@/services/media.service";
 import { examsService } from "@/services/exams.service";
-import { api } from "@/lib/api-client";
+import { api, describeApiError } from "@/lib/api-client";
 import { useToast } from "@/hooks/use-toast";
 import type { ExamStructure, ExamStructureConfig } from "@/types";
 
@@ -807,7 +807,12 @@ export default function GenerationPage() {
       description: `Exam #${res.exam_id} created with status "${res.status}". ${res.status === "published" ? "The exam is now live." : "Pending approval."}`,
       duration: 8000,
     }),
-    onError: (err: Error) => toast({ variant: "destructive", title: "Submit failed", description: err.message }),
+    onError: (err) =>
+      toast({
+        variant: "destructive",
+        title: "Submit failed",
+        description: describeApiError(err, "Submit failed", "module"),
+      }),
   });
 
   const anyGenerating = generatePassageMut.isPending || generateExercisesMut.isPending ||

frontend/src/pages/admin/CustomExamCreate.tsx

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { Checkbox } from "@/components/ui/checkbox";
 import { Label } from "@/components/ui/label";
 import { ScrollArea } from "@/components/ui/scroll-area";
 import { useCreateCustomExam, useSaveAsTemplate } from "@/hooks/queries/useExamTemplates";
+import { describeApiError } from "@/lib/api-client";
 import { useSubjects } from "@/hooks/queries/useAdaptive";
 import type { CustomExamCreateRequest, CustomScoringMethod } from "@/types";
 import { toast } from "sonner";
@@ -139,14 +140,11 @@ export default function CustomExamCreate() {
     return raw?.id ?? raw?.exam_id ?? raw?.data?.id ?? raw?.data?.exam_id;
   };
 
-  const describeError = (err: unknown, fallback: string): string => {
-    const e = err as { status?: number; message?: string };
-    if (e?.status === 413) return "Payload too large (HTTP 413). Please reduce the number of questions per section and try again.";
-    if (e?.status === 504) return "Server took too long to respond (HTTP 504). Please retry in a moment.";
-    if (e?.status === 401) return "Session expired — please sign in again.";
-    if (e?.message) return `${fallback}: ${e.message}`;
-    return fallback;
-  };
+  // Thin wrapper around the shared helper so the existing call-sites below
+  // keep working; the helper lives in api-client so every page gets the same
+  // actionable 413/504/401 messaging.
+  const describeError = (err: unknown, fallback: string): string =>
+    describeApiError(err, fallback, "exam");
 
   const onSaveDraft = async () => {
     // Validate everything before firing the request — previously the Save

frontend/src/pages/admin/ResourceManager.tsx

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { useQuery, useMutation, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { resourcesService } from "@/services/resources.service";
 import { coursewareService } from "@/services/courseware.service";
 import { taxonomyService } from "@/services/taxonomy.service";
+import { describeApiError } from "@/lib/api-client";
 import { useToast } from "@/hooks/use-toast";
 import { TaxonomyCascade } from "@/components/TaxonomyCascade";
 import type { Resource, ResourceTag } from "@/types";
@@ -274,17 +275,16 @@ export default function ResourceManager() {
   const uploadMutation = useMutation({
     mutationFn: (formData: FormData) => resourcesService.upload(formData),
     onSuccess: () => { qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ["resources"] }); toast({ title: "Resource uploaded" }); setShowUpload(false); setUploadTagIds([]); setUploadSubjectId("none"); setUploadDomainId("none"); setUploadTopicIds([]); setUploadObjectiveIds([]); },
-    onError: (err: unknown) => {
-      // Surface status / server message so users can tell 413 (file too big)
-      // from 401 (session expired) from 500 (server error) without opening
-      // devtools. Default "Upload failed" hid real failures during QA.
-      const e = err as { status?: number; message?: string };
-      const status = e?.status;
-      let description = e?.message || "Upload failed";
-      if (status === 413) description = "File is too large for the server (HTTP 413). Ask an admin to raise nginx/odoo upload limits.";
-      else if (status === 401) description = "Session expired — please sign in again.";
-      else if (status === 504) description = "Server timed out while saving the file (HTTP 504). Try a smaller file or retry.";
-      toast({ title: "Upload failed", description, variant: "destructive" });
+    onError: (err) => {
+      // describeApiError surfaces status code + actionable next step so QA /
+      // ops can tell 413 (payload limit) from 504 (timeout) from 401 (session
+      // expired) without opening DevTools. Default "Upload failed" was
+      // reported as non-actionable during the Apr-2026 deployment.
+      toast({
+        title: "Upload failed",
+        description: describeApiError(err, "Upload failed", "file"),
+        variant: "destructive",
+      });
     },
   });
 

frontend/src/pages/teacher/TeacherLibrary.tsx

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {
 } from "lucide-react";
 import { useQuery, useMutation, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { resourcesService } from "@/services/resources.service";
+import { describeApiError } from "@/lib/api-client";
 import { coursewareService } from "@/services/courseware.service";
 import { taxonomyService } from "@/services/taxonomy.service";
 import { useToast } from "@/hooks/use-toast";
@@ -116,14 +117,12 @@ export default function TeacherLibrary() {
       setUploadTopicIds([]);
       setUploadObjectiveIds([]);
     },
-    onError: (err: unknown) => {
-      const e = err as { status?: number; message?: string };
-      const status = e?.status;
-      let description = e?.message || "Upload failed";
-      if (status === 413) description = "File is too large for the server (HTTP 413). Try a smaller file or ask an admin to raise the upload limit.";
-      else if (status === 401) description = "Session expired — please sign in again.";
-      else if (status === 504) description = "Server timed out while saving the file (HTTP 504). Try a smaller file or retry.";
-      toast({ title: "Upload failed", description, variant: "destructive" });
+    onError: (err) => {
+      toast({
+        title: "Upload failed",
+        description: describeApiError(err, "Upload failed", "file"),
+        variant: "destructive",
+      });
     },
   });