diff --git a/apps/backend/src/server/app.ts b/apps/backend/src/server/app.ts
index 2bc0c5dba..f126b4baa 100644
--- a/apps/backend/src/server/app.ts
+++ b/apps/backend/src/server/app.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { getEnvVariable, getNodeEnvironment } from "@hexclave/shared/dist/utils/
 import { Elysia } from "elysia";
 import { createBackendRequest } from "./backend-request";
 import { handleUncaughtBackendError } from "./error-handler";
-import { runRequestPipeline } from "./middleware";
+import { getCorsHeadersInit, runRequestPipeline } from "./middleware";
 import { MalformedRouteParamError, matchRoute } from "./registry";
 
 const globalSecurityHeaders = {
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ export const app = new Elysia({
       developmentRequestStartTimes.set(request, performance.now());
     }
   })
-  .onAfterResponse(({ request, set }) => {
+  .onAfterResponse(({ request, response, set }) => {
     if (!shouldLogDevelopmentRequests) {
       return;
     }
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ export const app = new Elysia({
     const startTime = developmentRequestStartTimes.get(request);
     const elapsedMilliseconds = startTime == null ? "unknown" : (performance.now() - startTime).toFixed(1);
     const pathname = new URL(request.url).pathname;
-    console.log(`[Elysia] ${request.method} ${pathname} ${set.status} ${elapsedMilliseconds}ms`);
+    console.log(`[Elysia] ${request.method} ${pathname} ${getLoggedResponseStatus(response, set.status)} ${elapsedMilliseconds}ms`);
   })
-  .onError(({ error }) => withGlobalHeaders(handleUncaughtBackendError(error)))
+  .onError(({ error, request }) => withResponseHeaders(handleUncaughtBackendError(error), getCorsHeadersInit(request)))
   .get("/", () => htmlResponse(homeHtml()))
   .get("/dev-stats", () => htmlResponse(devStatsHtml()))
   .get("/health/error-handler-debug", () => htmlResponse(errorHandlerDebugHtml()))
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export const app = new Elysia({
 export async function dispatch(request: Request) {
   const pipeline = await runRequestPipeline(request);
   if (pipeline.shortCircuitResponse != null) {
-    return withGlobalHeaders(pipeline.shortCircuitResponse);
+    return withResponseHeaders(pipeline.shortCircuitResponse, pipeline.corsHeadersInit);
   }
 
   let match;
@@ -62,30 +62,30 @@ export async function dispatch(request: Request) {
     match = matchRoute(pipeline.dispatchPath);
   } catch (error) {
     if (error instanceof MalformedRouteParamError) {
-      return withGlobalHeaders(new Response("Bad Request", { status: 400 }));
+      return withResponseHeaders(new Response("Bad Request", { status: 400 }), pipeline.corsHeadersInit);
     }
     throw error;
   }
   if (match == null) {
-    return withGlobalHeaders(new Response("<div>404 Not Found</div>", {
+    return withResponseHeaders(new Response("<div>404 Not Found</div>", {
       status: 404,
       headers: {
         "content-type": "text/html; charset=utf-8",
       },
-    }));
+    }), pipeline.corsHeadersInit);
   }
 
   const method = request.method.toUpperCase();
   if (!isHttpMethod(method)) {
-    return withGlobalHeaders(new Response(null, {
+    return withResponseHeaders(new Response(null, {
       status: 405,
-    }));
+    }), pipeline.corsHeadersInit);
   }
   const handler = match.methods.get(method) ?? (method === "HEAD" ? match.methods.get("GET") : undefined);
   if (handler == null) {
-    return withGlobalHeaders(new Response(null, {
+    return withResponseHeaders(new Response(null, {
       status: 405,
-    }));
+    }), pipeline.corsHeadersInit);
   }
 
   const backendRequest = createBackendRequest(request, pipeline.mergedHeaders, pipeline.originalUrl);
@@ -129,14 +129,18 @@ export async function dispatch(request: Request) {
   for (const cookie of context.deletedCookies) {
     finalResponse.headers.append("Set-Cookie", serializeSetCookie(cookie.name, cookie.value, cookie.options));
   }
-  if (pipeline.corsHeadersInit != null) {
-    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(pipeline.corsHeadersInit)) {
-      finalResponse.headers.set(key, value);
-    }
-  }
-  return withGlobalHeaders(finalResponse);
+  return withResponseHeaders(finalResponse, pipeline.corsHeadersInit);
 }
 
+function getLoggedResponseStatus(response: unknown, fallbackStatus: number | string | undefined) {
+  return response instanceof Response ? response.status : fallbackStatus;
+}
+
+import.meta.vitest?.test("development logging uses the returned Response status", ({ expect }) => {
+  expect(getLoggedResponseStatus(new Response(null, { status: 404 }), 200)).toBe(404);
+  expect(getLoggedResponseStatus("response body", 201)).toBe(201);
+});
+
 function isRedirectError(error: unknown): error is { redirectStatus: 307 | 308, redirectUrl: string } {
   if (!(error instanceof Error) || !("digest" in error) || !("redirectUrl" in error) || !("redirectStatus" in error)) {
     return false;
@@ -154,6 +158,15 @@ function withGlobalHeaders(response: Response) {
   return response;
 }
 
+function withResponseHeaders(response: Response, corsHeadersInit?: HeadersInit) {
+  if (corsHeadersInit != null) {
+    for (const [key, value] of new Headers(corsHeadersInit)) {
+      response.headers.set(key, value);
+    }
+  }
+  return withGlobalHeaders(response);
+}
+
 function htmlResponse(body: string, status = 200) {
   return withGlobalHeaders(new Response(body, {
     status,
@@ -178,6 +191,39 @@ import.meta.vitest?.test("API version migrations do not expose their internal re
   }
 });
 
+import.meta.vitest?.test("dispatcher-generated API errors retain CORS headers", async ({ expect }) => {
+  const { vi } = import.meta.vitest!;
+  vi.stubEnv("HEXCLAVE_ARTIFICIAL_DEVELOPMENT_DELAY_MS", "0");
+  vi.stubEnv("STACK_ARTIFICIAL_DEVELOPMENT_DELAY_MS", "0");
+
+  try {
+    const [notFound, methodNotAllowed] = await Promise.all([
+      app.handle(new Request("http://localhost/api/latest/this-route-does-not-exist")),
+      app.handle(new Request("http://localhost/api/v2beta1/migration-tests/smart-route-handler", {
+        method: "POST",
+      })),
+    ]);
+
+    expect([
+      { status: notFound.status, allowOrigin: notFound.headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") },
+      { status: methodNotAllowed.status, allowOrigin: methodNotAllowed.headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") },
+    ]).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      [
+        {
+          "allowOrigin": "*",
+          "status": 404,
+        },
+        {
+          "allowOrigin": "*",
+          "status": 405,
+        },
+      ]
+    `);
+  } finally {
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+  }
+});
+
 import.meta.vitest?.test("uncaught dispatch errors use the global sanitized error boundary", async ({ expect }) => {
   const { vi } = import.meta.vitest!;
   vi.stubEnv("NODE_ENV", "production");
@@ -190,10 +236,12 @@ import.meta.vitest?.test("uncaught dispatch errors use the global sanitized erro
     expect({
       status: response.status,
       body: await response.text(),
+      accessControlAllowOrigin: response.headers.get("access-control-allow-origin"),
       contentType: response.headers.get("content-type"),
       contentTypeOptions: response.headers.get("x-content-type-options"),
     }).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
+        "accessControlAllowOrigin": "*",
         "body": "Internal Server Error",
         "contentType": "text/plain; charset=utf-8",
         "contentTypeOptions": "nosniff",
diff --git a/apps/backend/src/server/middleware.ts b/apps/backend/src/server/middleware.ts
index 93ec12903..178f9c376 100644
--- a/apps/backend/src/server/middleware.ts
+++ b/apps/backend/src/server/middleware.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,17 @@ function withHexclaveHeaderAliases(headers: string[]): string[] {
 const corsAllowedRequestHeadersWithAliases = withHexclaveHeaderAliases(corsAllowedRequestHeaders);
 const corsAllowedResponseHeadersWithAliases = withHexclaveHeaderAliases(corsAllowedResponseHeaders);
 
+export function getCorsHeadersInit(request: Request): HeadersInit | undefined {
+  return new URL(request.url).pathname.startsWith("/api/") ? {
+    "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*",
+    "Access-Control-Allow-Methods": "GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, OPTIONS",
+    "Access-Control-Max-Age": "86400",
+    "Access-Control-Allow-Headers": corsAllowedRequestHeadersWithAliases.join(", "),
+    "Access-Control-Expose-Headers": corsAllowedResponseHeadersWithAliases.join(", "),
+    "Vary": corsAllowedRequestHeadersWithAliases.join(", "),
+  } : undefined;
+}
+
 export type PipelineResult = {
   corsHeadersInit?: HeadersInit,
   dispatchPath: string,
@@ -59,27 +70,21 @@ export async function runRequestPipeline(request: Request): Promise<PipelineResu
   const url = new URL(request.url);
   const mergedHeaders = mergeHexclaveHeaderAliases(request.headers);
   ensureForwardedForHeader(mergedHeaders, request);
+  const artificialDevelopmentBehaviorDisabled = isArtificialDevelopmentBehaviorDisabled(mergedHeaders);
   const delay = +getEnvVariable("STACK_ARTIFICIAL_DEVELOPMENT_DELAY_MS", "0");
   if (delay) {
     if (getNodeEnvironment().includes("production")) {
       throw new Error("STACK_ARTIFICIAL_DEVELOPMENT_DELAY_MS environment variable is only allowed in development");
     }
-    if (!request.headers.get("x-stack-disable-artificial-development-delay")) {
+    if (!artificialDevelopmentBehaviorDisabled) {
       await wait(delay);
     }
   }
 
   const isApiRequest = url.pathname.startsWith("/api/");
-  const corsHeadersInit = isApiRequest ? {
-    "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*",
-    "Access-Control-Allow-Methods": "GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, OPTIONS",
-    "Access-Control-Max-Age": "86400",
-    "Access-Control-Allow-Headers": corsAllowedRequestHeadersWithAliases.join(", "),
-    "Access-Control-Expose-Headers": corsAllowedResponseHeadersWithAliases.join(", "),
-    "Vary": corsAllowedRequestHeadersWithAliases.join(", "),
-  } : undefined;
+  const corsHeadersInit = getCorsHeadersInit(request);
 
-  if (isApiRequest && !request.headers.get("x-stack-disable-artificial-development-delay") && getNodeEnvironment() === "development" && request.method !== "OPTIONS" && !request.url.includes(".well-known") && !request.url.includes("/api/latest/internal/external-db-sync/")) {
+  if (isApiRequest && !artificialDevelopmentBehaviorDisabled && getNodeEnvironment() === "development" && request.method !== "OPTIONS" && !request.url.includes(".well-known") && !request.url.includes("/api/latest/internal/external-db-sync/")) {
     const now = performance.now();
     while (devRateLimitMarks.length > 0 && now - devRateLimitMarks[0] > DEV_RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS) {
       devRateLimitMarks.shift();
@@ -146,6 +151,18 @@ function mergeHexclaveHeaderAliases(headers: Headers) {
   return newRequestHeaders;
 }
 
+function isArtificialDevelopmentBehaviorDisabled(headers: Headers) {
+  return Boolean(headers.get("x-stack-disable-artificial-development-delay"));
+}
+
+import.meta.vitest?.test("Hexclave header aliases control artificial development behavior", ({ expect }) => {
+  const mergedHeaders = mergeHexclaveHeaderAliases(new Headers({
+    "x-hexclave-disable-artificial-development-delay": "true",
+  }));
+
+  expect(isArtificialDevelopmentBehaviorDisabled(mergedHeaders)).toBe(true);
+});
+
 const clientIpForwardingHeaders = ["x-forwarded-for", "x-real-ip", "x-vercel-forwarded-for", "cf-connecting-ip"];
 
 function ensureForwardedForHeader(headers: Headers, request: Request) {
diff --git a/apps/e2e/tests/backend/endpoints/api/migration-tests.test.ts b/apps/e2e/tests/backend/endpoints/api/migration-tests.test.ts
index c7a36b778..49e559dc6 100644
--- a/apps/e2e/tests/backend/endpoints/api/migration-tests.test.ts
+++ b/apps/e2e/tests/backend/endpoints/api/migration-tests.test.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ describe("SmartRouteHandler", () => {
           "headers": Headers { <some fields may have been hidden> },
         }
       `);
+      expect(response.headers.get("access-control-allow-origin")).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`"*"`);
     });
   });