diff --git a/lib/error.php b/lib/error.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9842053d88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/error.php
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * Error action.
+ *
+ * PHP version 5
+ *
+ * @category Action
+ * @package  Laconica
+ * @author   Evan Prodromou <evan@controlyourself.ca>
+ * @author   Zach Copley <zach@controlyourself.ca>
+ * @license  http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl.html AGPLv3
+ * @link     http://laconi.ca/
+ *
+ * Laconica - a distributed open-source microblogging tool
+ * Copyright (C) 2008, Controlez-Vous, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+if (!defined('LACONICA')) {
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Base class for displaying HTTP errors
+ *
+ * @category Action
+ * @package  Laconica
+ * @author   Zach Copley <zach@controlyourself.ca>
+ * @license  http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl.html AGPLv3
+ * @link     http://laconi.ca/
+ */
+class ErrorAction extends Action
+{
+    var $code    = null;
+    var $message = null;
+    var $status  = null;
+    var $default = null;
+
+    function __construct($message, $code, $output='php://output', $indent=true)
+    {
+        parent::__construct($output, $indent);
+
+        $this->code = $code;
+        $this->message = $message;
+
+        // XXX: hack alert: usually we aren't going to
+        // call this page directly, but because it's
+        // an action it needs an args array anyway
+        $this->prepare($_REQUEST);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     *  To specify additional HTTP headers for the action
+     *
+     *  @return void
+     */
+    function extraHeaders()
+    {
+        $status_string = $this->status[$this->code];
+        header('HTTP/1.1 '.$this->code.' '.$status_string);
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Display content.
+     *
+     * @return nothing
+     */
+    function showContent()
+    {
+        $this->element('div', array('class' => 'error'), $this->message);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Page title.
+     *
+     * @return page title
+     */
+    function title()
+    {
+        return $this->message;
+    }
+
+    function isReadOnly()
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+    
+    function showPage() 
+    {
+        parent::showPage();
+        
+        // We don't want to have any more output after this
+        exit();
+    }
+
+    // Overload a bunch of stuff so the page isn't too bloated
+
+    function showBody()
+    {
+        $this->elementStart('body', array('id' => 'error'));
+        $this->elementStart('div', 'wrap');
+        $this->showHeader();
+        $this->showCore();
+        $this->showFooter();
+        $this->elementEnd('div');
+        $this->elementEnd('body');
+    }
+
+    function showCore()
+    {
+        $this->elementStart('div', array('id' => 'core'));
+        $this->showContentBlock();
+        $this->elementEnd('div');
+    }
+
+    function showHeader()
+    {
+        $this->elementStart('div', array('id' => 'header'));
+        $this->showLogo();
+        $this->elementEnd('div');
+    }
+
+}