diff --git a/song-java-sdk/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/sdk/SongApi.java b/song-java-sdk/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/sdk/SongApi.java
index d1fbc17f1..21ee91628 100644
--- a/song-java-sdk/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/sdk/SongApi.java
+++ b/song-java-sdk/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/sdk/SongApi.java
@@ -16,9 +16,13 @@
  */
 package bio.overture.song.sdk;
 
+import static bio.overture.song.core.exceptions.ServerErrors.UNAUTHORIZED_TOKEN;
+import static bio.overture.song.core.exceptions.SongError.createSongError;
 import static bio.overture.song.core.utils.Booleans.convertToBoolean;
 
 import bio.overture.song.core.exceptions.BooleanConversionException;
+import bio.overture.song.core.exceptions.ServerException;
+import bio.overture.song.core.exceptions.SongError;
 import bio.overture.song.core.model.Analysis;
 import bio.overture.song.core.model.AnalysisType;
 import bio.overture.song.core.model.ExportedPayload;
@@ -35,11 +39,14 @@
 import lombok.RequiredArgsConstructor;
 import lombok.SneakyThrows;
 import lombok.val;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.springframework.web.client.ResourceAccessException;
 
 @RequiredArgsConstructor
 public class SongApi {
 
+  private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(SongApi.class);
   @NonNull private final RestClient restClient;
   @NonNull private final Endpoint endpoint;
 
@@ -51,7 +58,40 @@ public SongApi(RestClient restClient) {
   public SubmitResponse submit(
       @NonNull String studyId, @NonNull String json, boolean allowDuplicates) {
     val url = endpoint.submit(studyId, allowDuplicates);
-    return restClient.post(url, json, SubmitResponse.class).getBody();
+    val response = restClient.post(url, json, SubmitResponse.class);
+
+    if (response == null || response.getBody() == null) {
+      String rawBody = null;
+      int statusCode = -1;
+
+      try {
+        if (response != null && response.hasBody()) {
+          rawBody = response.getBody().toString();
+        }
+        if (response != null) {
+          statusCode = response.getStatusCode().value();
+        }
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        log.error("Exception occurred ", e);
+      }
+
+      SongError songError;
+      if (rawBody != null && rawBody.contains("invalid_token")) {
+        songError =
+            createSongError(UNAUTHORIZED_TOKEN, "Authentication failed: invalid or expired token.");
+      } else {
+        songError =
+            createSongError(
+                UNAUTHORIZED_TOKEN,
+                String.format(
+                    "Submit failed with status %s. Raw body: %s",
+                    statusCode == -1 ? "UNKNOWN" : statusCode,
+                    rawBody == null ? "No response body" : rawBody));
+      }
+      throw new ServerException(songError);
+    }
+
+    return response.getBody();
   }
 
   public List<FileDTO> getAnalysisFiles(@NonNull String studyId, @NonNull String analysisId) {
diff --git a/song-java-sdk/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/sdk/errors/ServerResponseErrorHandler.java b/song-java-sdk/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/sdk/errors/ServerResponseErrorHandler.java
index 7d96dcc7c..6c2ef625b 100644
--- a/song-java-sdk/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/sdk/errors/ServerResponseErrorHandler.java
+++ b/song-java-sdk/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/sdk/errors/ServerResponseErrorHandler.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 package bio.overture.song.sdk.errors;
 
 import static bio.overture.song.core.exceptions.ServerErrors.UNAUTHORIZED_TOKEN;
+import static bio.overture.song.core.exceptions.ServerErrors.UNKNOWN_ERROR;
 import static bio.overture.song.core.exceptions.SongError.createSongError;
 import static bio.overture.song.core.exceptions.SongError.parseErrorResponse;
 import static bio.overture.song.core.utils.Separators.NEWLINE;
@@ -43,10 +44,14 @@ public class ServerResponseErrorHandler extends DefaultResponseErrorHandler {
 
   @SneakyThrows
   private static boolean isInvalidToken(String error) {
-    val response = JsonUtils.readTree(error);
-    if (response.has(ERROR)) {
-      val errorValue = response.path(ERROR).textValue();
-      return errorValue.equals(INVALID_TOKEN);
+    try {
+      val response = JsonUtils.readTree(error);
+      if (response.has(ERROR)) {
+        val errorValue = response.path(ERROR).textValue();
+        return errorValue.equals(INVALID_TOKEN);
+      }
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      log.debug("Response body not JSON, cannot parse for token error: {}", error);
     }
     return false;
   }
@@ -57,9 +62,22 @@ public void handleError(ClientHttpResponse clientHttpResponse)
     val httpStatusCode = clientHttpResponse.getStatusCode();
     val br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(clientHttpResponse.getBody()));
     val body = NEWLINE.join(br.lines().iterator());
+
+    log.error(
+        "Server returned error: status={}({}), body={}",
+        httpStatusCode.value(),
+        httpStatusCode.getReasonPhrase(),
+        body);
+
     SongError songError = parseErrorResponse(httpStatusCode, body);
     if (isNull(songError.getErrorId()) && isInvalidToken(body)) {
       songError = createSongError(UNAUTHORIZED_TOKEN, "Invalid token");
+    } else if (isNull(songError.getMessage()) || songError.getMessage().isEmpty()) {
+      String fallbackMessage =
+          String.format(
+              "Request failed with status %s (%d). Response body: %s",
+              httpStatusCode.getReasonPhrase(), httpStatusCode.value(), body);
+      songError = createSongError(UNKNOWN_ERROR, fallbackMessage);
     }
     throw new ServerException(songError);
   }
diff --git a/song-server/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/server/exceptions/CustomErrorReportValve.java b/song-server/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/server/exceptions/CustomErrorReportValve.java
index 389389c72..40340ff33 100644
--- a/song-server/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/server/exceptions/CustomErrorReportValve.java
+++ b/song-server/src/main/java/bio/overture/song/server/exceptions/CustomErrorReportValve.java
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@
 public class CustomErrorReportValve extends ErrorReportValve {
   @Override
   protected void report(Request request, Response response, Throwable t) {
-    ServerExceptionHandler.report(request, response, t);
+    if(t==null){
+      ServerExceptionHandler.report(request,response, new RuntimeException("Unauthorized request"));
+    }else{
+      ServerExceptionHandler.report(request, response, t);
+    }
+
   }
 }