diff --git a/api/add_comment.php b/api/add_comment.php
index 6fecce9..0a17e8b 100644
--- a/api/add_comment.php
+++ b/api/add_comment.php
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 <?php
 
 // Disable error display in the output
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Apply rate limiting
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/bootstrap.php b/api/bootstrap.php
index dd2e70c..2c08265 100644
--- a/api/bootstrap.php
+++ b/api/bootstrap.php
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
  *   // $conn, $currentUser, $userId, $isAdmin are now available
  */
 
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Rate limiting (also starts session)
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/bulk_operation.php b/api/bulk_operation.php
index 7029c7f..57fa6ec 100644
--- a/api/bulk_operation.php
+++ b/api/bulk_operation.php
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 <?php
 
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
+
 // Apply rate limiting
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 RateLimitMiddleware::apply('api');
diff --git a/api/clone_ticket.php b/api/clone_ticket.php
index 6862277..beed7f8 100644
--- a/api/clone_ticket.php
+++ b/api/clone_ticket.php
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  * Creates a copy of an existing ticket with the same properties
  */
 
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 
diff --git a/api/custom_fields.php b/api/custom_fields.php
index fa3b5ba..0de3584 100644
--- a/api/custom_fields.php
+++ b/api/custom_fields.php
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  * CRUD operations for custom field definitions
  */
 
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 RateLimitMiddleware::apply('api');
diff --git a/api/delete_attachment.php b/api/delete_attachment.php
index 8a4cf82..35896b4 100644
--- a/api/delete_attachment.php
+++ b/api/delete_attachment.php
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
  */
 
 // Capture errors for debugging
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Apply rate limiting (also starts session)
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/delete_comment.php b/api/delete_comment.php
index 8576497..7888df3 100644
--- a/api/delete_comment.php
+++ b/api/delete_comment.php
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  */
 
 // Disable error display in the output
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Apply rate limiting
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/download_attachment.php b/api/download_attachment.php
index 3665d8b..21ad217 100644
--- a/api/download_attachment.php
+++ b/api/download_attachment.php
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
  * Serves file downloads for ticket attachments
  */
 
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
+
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 RateLimitMiddleware::apply('api');
 
diff --git a/api/export_tickets.php b/api/export_tickets.php
index 5972694..c649fbf 100644
--- a/api/export_tickets.php
+++ b/api/export_tickets.php
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
  */
 
 // Disable error display in the output
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Apply rate limiting
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/generate_api_key.php b/api/generate_api_key.php
index 92fdf19..394c203 100644
--- a/api/generate_api_key.php
+++ b/api/generate_api_key.php
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 <?php
 
 // API endpoint for generating API keys (Admin only)
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Apply rate limiting
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/health.php b/api/health.php
index dabf0fd..040badf 100644
--- a/api/health.php
+++ b/api/health.php
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
  * - 503 Service Unavailable: System has issues
  */
 
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
+
 // Don't apply rate limiting to health checks - they should always respond
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate');
diff --git a/api/manage_recurring.php b/api/manage_recurring.php
index 85cb156..4289f9c 100644
--- a/api/manage_recurring.php
+++ b/api/manage_recurring.php
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  * CRUD operations for recurring_tickets table
  */
 
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 RateLimitMiddleware::apply('api');
diff --git a/api/manage_templates.php b/api/manage_templates.php
index 31bcc56..da6af73 100644
--- a/api/manage_templates.php
+++ b/api/manage_templates.php
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  * CRUD operations for ticket_templates table
  */
 
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 RateLimitMiddleware::apply('api');
diff --git a/api/manage_workflows.php b/api/manage_workflows.php
index e6d12aa..90ba6dd 100644
--- a/api/manage_workflows.php
+++ b/api/manage_workflows.php
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  * CRUD operations for status_transitions table
  */
 
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/WorkflowModel.php';
diff --git a/api/revoke_api_key.php b/api/revoke_api_key.php
index beede25..d2a5a89 100644
--- a/api/revoke_api_key.php
+++ b/api/revoke_api_key.php
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 <?php
 
 // API endpoint for revoking API keys (Admin only)
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Apply rate limiting
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/ticket_comment_api.php b/api/ticket_comment_api.php
index da9f303..0e07246 100644
--- a/api/ticket_comment_api.php
+++ b/api/ticket_comment_api.php
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
 
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 RateLimitMiddleware::apply('api');
diff --git a/api/ticket_status_api.php b/api/ticket_status_api.php
index c7007dd..cce86f3 100644
--- a/api/ticket_status_api.php
+++ b/api/ticket_status_api.php
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
 
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 RateLimitMiddleware::apply('api');
diff --git a/api/tickets_api.php b/api/tickets_api.php
index 5a04ee0..95e220c 100644
--- a/api/tickets_api.php
+++ b/api/tickets_api.php
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@
 
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Rate limiting (same pattern as the other Bearer API endpoints)
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/update_comment.php b/api/update_comment.php
index 0961053..f650031 100644
--- a/api/update_comment.php
+++ b/api/update_comment.php
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  */
 
 // Disable error display in the output
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Apply rate limiting
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/update_ticket.php b/api/update_ticket.php
index 0b51442..67e42a8 100644
--- a/api/update_ticket.php
+++ b/api/update_ticket.php
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 <?php
 
 // Enable error reporting for debugging
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
-ini_set('display_errors', 0); // Don't display errors in the response
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Apply rate limiting
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/upload_attachment.php b/api/upload_attachment.php
index 43c8625..9d2ae49 100644
--- a/api/upload_attachment.php
+++ b/api/upload_attachment.php
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
  */
 
 // Capture errors for debugging
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 // Apply rate limiting (also starts session)
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/api/user_avatar.php b/api/user_avatar.php
index bb4f07c..58393fc 100644
--- a/api/user_avatar.php
+++ b/api/user_avatar.php
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
  *   Returns 404 if the user has no avatar set in lldap.
  */
 
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 RateLimitMiddleware::apply('api');
diff --git a/create_ticket_api.php b/create_ticket_api.php
index 17d35be..d8e8b21 100644
--- a/create_ticket_api.php
+++ b/create_ticket_api.php
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
-ini_set('display_errors', 0);
+require_once __DIR__ . '/helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init();
 
 require_once __DIR__ . '/middleware/RateLimitMiddleware.php';
 RateLimitMiddleware::apply('api');
diff --git a/helpers/ErrorHandler.php b/helpers/ErrorHandler.php
index e12a0cd..d05cd2b 100644
--- a/helpers/ErrorHandler.php
+++ b/helpers/ErrorHandler.php
@@ -10,26 +10,36 @@ class ErrorHandler
 {
     private static ?string $logFile = null;
     private static bool $initialized = false;
+    private static string $responseMode = 'json';
 
     /**
      * Initialize error handling
      *
-     * @param bool $displayErrors Whether to display errors (false in production)
+     * @param bool   $displayErrors Whether to display errors (false in production)
+     * @param string $responseMode 'json' (API endpoints) or 'html' (page views —
+     *                              renders views/error_500.php instead of a JSON body)
      */
-    public static function init(bool $displayErrors = false): void
+    public static function init(bool $displayErrors = false, string $responseMode = 'json'): void
     {
         if (self::$initialized) {
             return;
         }
 
+        self::$responseMode = $responseMode;
+
         // Set error reporting
         error_reporting(E_ALL);
         ini_set('display_errors', $displayErrors ? '1' : '0');
         ini_set('log_errors', '1');
 
-        // Set up log file
-        self::$logFile = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/tinker_tickets_errors.log';
-        ini_set('error_log', self::$logFile);
+        // Deliberately does NOT override the 'error_log' ini setting: doing so
+        // used to redirect every error_log() call in the request to a fixed
+        // /tmp file, silently diverting logs away from wherever the server is
+        // actually configured to send them (php-fpm's error_log, stdout in a
+        // container, etc.) the moment this got wired into more than one
+        // endpoint. self::$logFile / getRecentErrors() are unused (no callers
+        // app-wide) and exist only as an opt-in helper if something later
+        // wants a dedicated log file.
 
         // Register handlers
         set_error_handler([self::class, 'handleError']);
@@ -151,6 +161,17 @@ class ErrorHandler
     {
         http_response_code($httpCode);
 
+        if (self::$responseMode === 'html') {
+            if (!headers_sent()) {
+                header('Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8');
+            }
+            // Deliberately not passed $message/$exception — see error_500.php's
+            // docblock on why the fatal-error page must render with zero
+            // dependency on request-specific state.
+            include dirname(__DIR__) . '/views/error_500.php';
+            exit;
+        }
+
         if (!headers_sent()) {
             header('Content-Type: application/json');
         }
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 248f1cd..f18bc99 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 <?php
 
 // Main entry point for the application
+
+// Registered first, before anything else, so a genuine fatal anywhere below
+// (including during config.php's own env parsing) renders the styled 500
+// page instead of falling through to PHP's raw default error handling.
+require_once 'helpers/ErrorHandler.php';
+ErrorHandler::init(false, 'html');
+
 require_once 'config/config.php';
 require_once 'middleware/SecurityHeadersMiddleware.php';
 require_once 'middleware/AuthMiddleware.php';
diff --git a/views/error_500.php b/views/error_500.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6c5695
--- /dev/null
+++ b/views/error_500.php
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * Standalone 500/fatal-error page, rendered by ErrorHandler for page-view
+ * (non-API) requests.
+ *
+ * Deliberately self-contained: a genuine fatal can happen before config.php
+ * finishes loading, mid-session-start, or mid-DB-query, so this view must
+ * not depend on $GLOBALS['config'], $GLOBALS['currentUser'], a session, or a
+ * DB connection being available/working. It links the static base.css
+ * stylesheet (served directly by the webserver, independent of PHP) to
+ * match the app's look without going through layout_header.php's app-state
+ * dependent setup.
+ */
+
+?>
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html lang="en" data-theme="dark">
+<head>
+  <meta charset="UTF-8">
+  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
+  <title>500 &mdash; Something Went Wrong</title>
+  <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/css/base.css">
+</head>
+<body>
+  <div class="lt-frame" style="max-width:32rem;margin:4rem auto">
+    <span class="lt-frame-bl">╚</span><span class="lt-frame-br">╝</span>
+    <div class="lt-section-header lt-text-danger">[ 500 ] SOMETHING WENT WRONG</div>
+    <div class="lt-section-body lt-text-center">
+      <p class="lt-text-muted lt-mb-md">
+        An unexpected error occurred. It's been logged; please try again shortly.
+      </p>
+      <a href="/" class="lt-btn lt-btn-primary">&larr; Dashboard</a>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</body>
+</html>