diff --git a/src/internal/error/errors.go b/src/internal/error/errors.go
index 4b4d36131..4a7c8ac97 100644
--- a/src/internal/error/errors.go
+++ b/src/internal/error/errors.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+
 	"github.com/goharbor/harbor/src/common/utils/log"
 )
 
@@ -155,3 +156,19 @@ func IsErr(err error, code string) bool {
 func IsConflictErr(err error) bool {
 	return IsErr(err, ConflictCode)
 }
+
+// ErrCode returns code of err
+func ErrCode(err error) string {
+	if err == nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	var e *Error
+	if ok := errors.As(err, &e); ok && e.Code != "" {
+		return e.Code
+	} else if ok && e.Cause != nil {
+		return ErrCode(e.Cause)
+	}
+
+	return GeneralCode
+}
diff --git a/src/internal/error/errors_test.go b/src/internal/error/errors_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..89db07087
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/internal/error/errors_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+// Copyright Project Harbor Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package error
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestErrCode(t *testing.T) {
+	type args struct {
+		err error
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args args
+		want string
+	}{
+		{"nil", args{nil}, ""},
+		{"general err", args{errors.New("general err")}, GeneralCode},
+		{"code in err", args{&Error{Code: "code in err"}}, "code in err"},
+		{"code in cause", args{&Error{Cause: &Error{Code: "code in cause"}}}, "code in cause"},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := ErrCode(tt.args.err); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("ErrCode() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/server/error/error.go b/src/server/error/error.go
index 6a94b7e47..8343a3a71 100644
--- a/src/server/error/error.go
+++ b/src/server/error/error.go
@@ -16,8 +16,11 @@ package error
 
 import (
 	"errors"
-	ierror "github.com/goharbor/harbor/src/internal/error"
 	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/go-openapi/runtime"
+	"github.com/go-openapi/runtime/middleware"
+	ierror "github.com/goharbor/harbor/src/internal/error"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -34,14 +37,7 @@ var (
 
 // APIError generates the HTTP status code and error payload based on the input err
 func APIError(err error) (int, string) {
-	var e *ierror.Error
-	statusCode := 0
-	if errors.As(err, &e) {
-		statusCode = getHTTPStatusCode(e.Code)
-	} else {
-		statusCode = http.StatusInternalServerError
-	}
-	return statusCode, ierror.NewErrs(err).Error()
+	return getHTTPStatusCode(ierror.ErrCode(err)), ierror.NewErrs(err).Error()
 }
 
 func getHTTPStatusCode(errCode string) int {
@@ -51,3 +47,33 @@ func getHTTPStatusCode(errCode string) int {
 	}
 	return statusCode
 }
+
+var _ middleware.Responder = &ErrResponder{}
+
+// ErrResponder error responder
+type ErrResponder struct {
+	err error
+}
+
+// WriteResponse ...
+func (r *ErrResponder) WriteResponse(rw http.ResponseWriter, producer runtime.Producer) {
+	code := ierror.ErrCode(r.err)
+	rw.WriteHeader(getHTTPStatusCode(code))
+
+	var e *ierror.Error
+	if !errors.As(r.err, &e) {
+		e = &ierror.Error{
+			Code:    code,
+			Message: r.err.Error(),
+		}
+	}
+
+	if err := producer.Produce(rw, e); err != nil {
+		panic(err) // let the recovery middleware deal with this
+	}
+}
+
+// NewErrResponder returns responder for err
+func NewErrResponder(err error) *ErrResponder {
+	return &ErrResponder{err: err}
+}
diff --git a/src/server/v2.0/handler/base.go b/src/server/v2.0/handler/base.go
index 0f1495c88..c8f3683ec 100644
--- a/src/server/v2.0/handler/base.go
+++ b/src/server/v2.0/handler/base.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/runtime/middleware"
+	errs "github.com/goharbor/harbor/src/server/error"
 )
 
 // BaseAPI base API handler
@@ -30,6 +31,5 @@ func (*BaseAPI) Prepare(ctx context.Context, operation string, params interface{
 
 // SendError returns response for the err
 func (*BaseAPI) SendError(ctx context.Context, err error) middleware.Responder {
-	// TODO: implement send error
-	return nil
+	return errs.NewErrResponder(err)
 }