diff --git a/api/search.js b/api/search.js
index 0fd668b..3e1dbaf 100644
--- a/api/search.js
+++ b/api/search.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-const fetch = require("node-fetch")
+const {request} = require("../utils/request")
 const {render} = require("pinski/plugins")
 const {getUser} = require("../utils/getuser")
 const converters = require("../utils/converters")
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ module.exports = [
 			const instanceOrigin = getUser(req).getSettingsOrDefaults().instance
 			const fetchURL = new URL(`${instanceOrigin}/api/v1/search`)
 			fetchURL.searchParams.set("q", query)
-			const results = await fetch(fetchURL.toString()).then(res => res.json())
+			const results = await request(fetchURL.toString()).then(res => res.json())
+			const error = results.error || results.message || results.code
+
+			if (error) throw new Error(`Instance said: ${error}`)
 
 			for (const video of results) {
 				converters.normaliseVideoInfo(video)
diff --git a/api/video.js b/api/video.js
index 3bb004d..e2d6a0a 100644
--- a/api/video.js
+++ b/api/video.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+const {request} = require("../utils/request")
 const fetch = require("node-fetch")
 const {render} = require("pinski/plugins")
 const db = require("../utils/db")
@@ -127,7 +128,7 @@ module.exports = [
 				if (!settings.local) {
 					const instanceOrigin = settings.instance
 					const outURL = `${instanceOrigin}/api/v1/videos/${id}`
-					const videoPromise = fetch(outURL).then(res => res.json())
+					const videoPromise = request(outURL).then(res => res.json())
 					return renderVideo(videoPromise, {user, id, instanceOrigin})
 				} else {
 					return render(200, "pug/local-video.pug", {id})
diff --git a/utils/converters.js b/utils/converters.js
index 1beb969..eab6807 100644
--- a/utils/converters.js
+++ b/utils/converters.js
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ function lengthSecondsToLengthText(seconds) {
  */
 function normaliseVideoInfo(video) {
 	if (!video.second__lengthText && video.lengthSeconds > 0) {
-		video.second__lengthText = converters.lengthSecondsToLengthText(video.lengthSeconds)
+		video.second__lengthText = lengthSecondsToLengthText(video.lengthSeconds)
 	}
 	if (!video.second__lengthText && video.lengthSeconds === 0) {
 		video.second__lengthText = "LIVE"
diff --git a/utils/request.js b/utils/request.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b08fe27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/request.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+const fetch = require("node-fetch")
+
+function request(url, options = {}) {
+	if (!options.headers) options.headers = {}
+	options.headers = {
+		"user-agent": "CloudTubeBackend/1.0"
+	}
+	return fetch(url, options)
+}
+
+module.exports.request = request
diff --git a/utils/youtube.js b/utils/youtube.js
index 1987394..cc7e15a 100644
--- a/utils/youtube.js
+++ b/utils/youtube.js
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-const fetch = require("node-fetch")
+const {request} = require("./request")
 const db = require("./db")
 
 async function fetchChannel(ucid, instance) {
 	if (!instance) throw new Error("No instance parameter provided")
 	// fetch
-	const channel = await fetch(`${instance}/api/v1/channels/${ucid}`).then(res => res.json())
+	const channel = await request(`${instance}/api/v1/channels/${ucid}`).then(res => res.json())
 	// update database
 	const bestIcon = channel.authorThumbnails.slice(-1)[0]
 	const iconURL = bestIcon ? bestIcon.url : null