diff --git a/hbd/server/http.py b/hbd/server/http.py
index 4af214a..8550337 100644
--- a/hbd/server/http.py
+++ b/hbd/server/http.py
@@ -104,14 +104,8 @@ def _can_own_host(user, host) -> bool:
 
 def _mask_config_for_api(config) -> dict:
     """Return a JSON-serializable config dict with secrets masked."""
-    _SERVER_KEYS = [
-        "hbd_port", "hbd_host", "ws_port", "wss_port", "hb_port",
-        "interval", "grace", "base_url", "threshold_renotify_interval",
-        "logfile", "pidfile", "pickfile", "journal_enabled", "journal_dir",
-        "journal_max_size", "journal_max_backups", "default_owner",
-    ]
     result = {}
-    result["server"] = {k: config.get(k) for k in _SERVER_KEYS}
+    result["server"] = {k: config.get(k) for k in configio_mod._SERVER_KEYS}
 
     users = {}
     for username, attrs in (config.get("users") or {}).items():
@@ -1031,38 +1025,42 @@ async def start(
         if err:
             return err
         if user and not user.admin:
-            return web.json_response({"error": "Admin only"}, status=403)
+            return web.json_response({"error": "Forbidden"}, status=403)
         return web.json_response(_mask_config_for_api(config))
 
+    _YAML_EXTRACTORS = {
+        "notification_channels": lambda d: d.get("notification_channels") or {},
+        "thresholds": lambda d: d.get("threshold_configs") or {},
+        "hosts": lambda d: d.get("hosts") or {},
+        "dns": lambda d: {k: d[k] for k in configio_mod._DNS_KEYS if k in d},
+    }
+
     async def api_config_section_get(request):
         """GET /api/0/config/section/{name} — raw YAML text for a YAML-editor section."""
         user, err = _require_auth(request)
         if err:
             return err
         if user and not user.admin:
-            return web.json_response({"error": "Admin only"}, status=403)
+            return web.json_response({"error": "Forbidden"}, status=403)
         if not _config_path:
             return web.json_response({"error": "Config path not available"}, status=503)
 
         name = request.match_info["name"]
-        _DNS_KEYS = ["nsupdate_bin", "dyndomains", "dyndnshosts", "drophosts"]
-        _YAML_EXTRACTORS = {
-            "notification_channels": lambda d: d.get("notification_channels") or {},
-            "thresholds": lambda d: d.get("threshold_configs") or {},
-            "hosts": lambda d: d.get("hosts") or {},
-            "dns": lambda d: {k: d[k] for k in _DNS_KEYS if k in d},
-        }
         if name not in _YAML_EXTRACTORS:
             return web.json_response({"error": "Unknown section"}, status=404)
 
         import io as _io
         from ruamel.yaml import YAML as _YAML
-        data = configio_mod.read_roundtrip(_config_path)
-        section_data = _YAML_EXTRACTORS[name](data)
-        _sy = _YAML()
-        _sy.preserve_quotes = True
-        buf = _io.StringIO()
-        _sy.dump(section_data, buf)
+        try:
+            data = configio_mod.read_roundtrip(_config_path)
+            section_data = _YAML_EXTRACTORS[name](data)
+            _sy = _YAML()
+            _sy.preserve_quotes = True
+            buf = _io.StringIO()
+            _sy.dump(section_data, buf)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            logger.error("Config section read failed: %s", exc)
+            return web.json_response({"error": str(exc)}, status=500)
         return web.json_response({"yaml": buf.getvalue()})
 
     async def api_config_backups_get(request):
@@ -1071,7 +1069,7 @@ async def start(
         if err:
             return err
         if user and not user.admin:
-            return web.json_response({"error": "Admin only"}, status=403)
+            return web.json_response({"error": "Forbidden"}, status=403)
         if not _config_path:
             return web.json_response({"backups": []})
         backups = configio_mod.list_backups(_config_path)