How to send a custom http status message in node / express?

Question

My node.js app is modeled like the express/examples/mvc app.

In a controller action I want to spit out a HTTP 400 status with a custom http message. By default the

Answer 1

At server side(Express middleware):

if(err) return res.status(500).end('User already exists.');

Handle at Client side

Angular:-

$http().....
.error(function(data, status) {
  console.error('Repos error', status, data);//"Repos error" 500 "User already exists."
});

jQuery:-

$.ajax({
    type: "post",
    url: url,
    success: function (data, text) {
    },
    error: function (request, status, error) {
        alert(request.responseText);
    }
});