diff --git a/doc/todo.md b/doc/todo.md
index f8673c1..8863eef 100644
--- a/doc/todo.md
+++ b/doc/todo.md
@@ -5,17 +5,15 @@
 - user pages
 - search form
 - page tags should link to the tag index
-- error pages: 404, 500, etc
 
 # wishlist
 
 - prefers-color-scheme
 - robots.txt, sitemap.xml
 - firefox alternative stylesheets too maybe (send more js for chrome to do the thing too)
-- explicitly block brave (also needs js)
+- make /unsupported-browser page for brave
 - rss/atom
 - indieweb: microformats2, webmentions, websub, rel=me
-- reject brave (lol)
 - support tor and opennic
 - activitypub
 - gopher and gemini variants
diff --git a/init.rkt b/init.rkt
index 87f2060..0438e41 100644
--- a/init.rkt
+++ b/init.rkt
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
   (define src (simple-form-path (build-path dir "src")))
   (define target (simple-form-path (build-path dir "target")))
   (make-directory* src)
+  (make-directory* target)
   (with-output-to-file
     (build-path src "index.md")
     (λ ()
@@ -37,6 +38,22 @@
     (build-path src "config.rktd")
     (λ () (pretty-write (list (list 'base "http://localhost:8080")))))
 
+  (with-output-to-file
+    (build-path src "40x.md")
+    (λ ()
+       (pretty-write
+         '((title "error page")
+           (lang "en")))
+       (write-string "\n# error\n\nno such page; or you are not authorized to view it")))
+
+  (with-output-to-file
+    (build-path src "50x.md")
+    (λ ()
+       (pretty-write
+         '((title "error page")
+           (lang "en")))
+       (write-string "\n# error\n\nthe server ran into an error :(")))
+
   (with-output-to-file
     (build-path dir "nginx.conf")
     (λ ()
diff --git a/render.rkt b/render.rkt
index d477428..7dbc6ea 100644
--- a/render.rkt
+++ b/render.rkt
@@ -22,7 +22,10 @@
 
 (define *reserved-slugs*
   (apply set (map build-path '("hashtag" "user" "tech" "capybara" "dynamic" "robots.txt"
-                               "sitemap.xml" "feeds"))))
+                               "sitemap.xml" "feeds" "unsupported-browser"))))
+
+(define *special-slugs*
+  (apply set (map build-path '("/40x" "/50x"))))
 
 (define (read-input-doc xref-name [port (current-input-port)])
   (define metadata (read port))
@@ -293,7 +296,8 @@
   ;; TODO : this sucks
   ;; we should have a radix tree
   (define xrefs-repo
-    (for/set ([spec (in-list rule-specs)])
+    (for/set ([spec (in-list rule-specs)]
+              #:unless (set-member? *special-slugs* (rule-spec-xref-name spec)))
       (define exploded (explode-path (rule-spec-xref-name spec)))
       (when (and (> (length exploded) 1)
                  (set-member? *reserved-slugs* (second exploded)))
diff --git a/support/nginx-dev.conf b/support/nginx-dev.conf
index a956180..5183a80 100644
--- a/support/nginx-dev.conf
+++ b/support/nginx-dev.conf
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ http {
         location / {
             try_files $uri $uri.html $uri/ =404;
             sub_filter "__X_MATHJAX_POLYFILL_PLACEHOLDER__" $mathjax_polyfill;
+            error_page 401 403 404 410 /40x.html;
+            error_page 500 502 503 504 /50x.html;
         }
     }
 }