diff --git a/src/lingodotdev/engine.py b/src/lingodotdev/engine.py
index 293bead..dbdcbd7 100644
--- a/src/lingodotdev/engine.py
+++ b/src/lingodotdev/engine.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 # mypy: disable-error-code=unreachable
 
 import asyncio
+import json
 from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, List, Optional
 from urllib.parse import urljoin
 
@@ -80,6 +81,36 @@ async def close(self):
         if self._client and not self._client.is_closed:
             await self._client.aclose()
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _truncate_response(text: str, max_length: int = 200) -> str:
+        """Truncate response text for error messages"""
+        if len(text) > max_length:
+            return text[:max_length] + "..."
+        return text
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _safe_parse_json(response: httpx.Response) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        """
+        Safely parse JSON response, handling HTML error pages gracefully.
+
+        Args:
+            response: The httpx response object
+
+        Returns:
+            Parsed JSON as a dictionary
+
+        Raises:
+            RuntimeError: If the response cannot be parsed as JSON
+        """
+        try:
+            return response.json()
+        except json.JSONDecodeError:
+            preview = LingoDotDevEngine._truncate_response(response.text)
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f"Failed to parse API response as JSON (status {response.status_code}). "
+                f"This may indicate a gateway or proxy error. Response: {preview}"
+            )
+
     async def _localize_raw(
         self,
         payload: Dict[str, Any],
@@ -184,19 +215,23 @@ async def _localize_chunk(
             response = await self._client.post(url, json=request_data)
 
             if not response.is_success:
+                response_preview = self._truncate_response(response.text)
                 if 500 <= response.status_code < 600:
                     raise RuntimeError(
                         f"Server error ({response.status_code}): {response.reason_phrase}. "
-                        f"{response.text}. This may be due to temporary service issues."
+                        f"This may be due to temporary service issues. Response: {response_preview}"
                     )
                 elif response.status_code == 400:
                     raise ValueError(
-                        f"Invalid request ({response.status_code}): {response.reason_phrase}"
+                        f"Invalid request ({response.status_code}): {response.reason_phrase}. "
+                        f"Response: {response_preview}"
                     )
                 else:
-                    raise RuntimeError(response.text)
+                    raise RuntimeError(
+                        f"Request failed ({response.status_code}): {response_preview}"
+                    )
 
-            json_response = response.json()
+            json_response = self._safe_parse_json(response)
 
             # Handle streaming errors
             if not json_response.get("data") and json_response.get("error"):
@@ -426,16 +461,18 @@ async def recognize_locale(self, text: str) -> str:
             response = await self._client.post(url, json={"text": text})
 
             if not response.is_success:
+                response_preview = self._truncate_response(response.text)
                 if 500 <= response.status_code < 600:
                     raise RuntimeError(
                         f"Server error ({response.status_code}): {response.reason_phrase}. "
-                        "This may be due to temporary service issues."
+                        f"This may be due to temporary service issues. Response: {response_preview}"
                     )
                 raise RuntimeError(
-                    f"Error recognizing locale: {response.reason_phrase}"
+                    f"Error recognizing locale ({response.status_code}): {response.reason_phrase}. "
+                    f"Response: {response_preview}"
                 )
 
-            json_response = response.json()
+            json_response = self._safe_parse_json(response)
             return json_response.get("locale") or ""
 
         except httpx.RequestError as e:
@@ -456,14 +493,15 @@ async def whoami(self) -> Optional[Dict[str, str]]:
             response = await self._client.post(url)
 
             if response.is_success:
-                payload = response.json()
+                payload = self._safe_parse_json(response)
                 if payload.get("email"):
                     return {"email": payload["email"], "id": payload["id"]}
 
             if 500 <= response.status_code < 600:
+                response_preview = self._truncate_response(response.text)
                 raise RuntimeError(
                     f"Server error ({response.status_code}): {response.reason_phrase}. "
-                    "This may be due to temporary service issues."
+                    f"This may be due to temporary service issues. Response: {response_preview}"
                 )
 
             return None
diff --git a/tests/test_engine.py b/tests/test_engine.py
index d86aa69..2fb9317 100644
--- a/tests/test_engine.py
+++ b/tests/test_engine.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 import asyncio
 from unittest.mock import Mock, patch, AsyncMock
 
+import httpx
+
 from lingodotdev import LingoDotDevEngine
 from lingodotdev.engine import EngineConfig
 
@@ -55,6 +57,215 @@ def test_invalid_ideal_batch_item_size(self):
             EngineConfig(api_key="test_key", ideal_batch_item_size=3000)
 
 
+class TestErrorHandling:
+    """Test error handling utilities for non-JSON responses (e.g., 502 HTML errors)"""
+
+    def test_truncate_response_short_text(self):
+        """Test that short responses are not truncated"""
+        short_text = "Short error message"
+        result = LingoDotDevEngine._truncate_response(short_text)
+        assert result == short_text
+
+    def test_truncate_response_long_text(self):
+        """Test that long responses are truncated with ellipsis"""
+        long_text = "x" * 300
+        result = LingoDotDevEngine._truncate_response(long_text)
+        assert len(result) == 203  # 200 chars + "..."
+        assert result.endswith("...")
+
+    def test_truncate_response_custom_max_length(self):
+        """Test truncation with custom max length"""
+        text = "x" * 100
+        result = LingoDotDevEngine._truncate_response(text, max_length=50)
+        assert len(result) == 53  # 50 chars + "..."
+        assert result.endswith("...")
+
+    def test_truncate_response_exact_length(self):
+        """Test text exactly at max length is not truncated"""
+        text = "x" * 200
+        result = LingoDotDevEngine._truncate_response(text, max_length=200)
+        assert result == text
+        assert not result.endswith("...")
+
+    def test_safe_parse_json_valid_json(self):
+        """Test parsing valid JSON response"""
+        mock_response = Mock(spec=httpx.Response)
+        mock_response.json.return_value = {"data": "test"}
+
+        result = LingoDotDevEngine._safe_parse_json(mock_response)
+        assert result == {"data": "test"}
+
+    def test_safe_parse_json_html_response(self):
+        """Test handling HTML response (like 502 error page)"""
+        import json as json_module
+
+        # Use a large HTML body (>200 chars) to test truncation
+        html_body = """<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head><title>502 Bad Gateway</title></head>
+<body>
+<center><h1>502 Bad Gateway</h1></center>
+<p>The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request.</p>
+<p>Please try again in a few moments. If the problem persists, contact support.</p>
+<hr><center>nginx/1.18.0 (Ubuntu)</center>
+</body>
+</html>"""
+        mock_response = Mock(spec=httpx.Response)
+        mock_response.json.side_effect = json_module.JSONDecodeError(
+            "Expecting value", html_body, 0
+        )
+        mock_response.text = html_body
+        mock_response.status_code = 502
+
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as exc_info:
+            LingoDotDevEngine._safe_parse_json(mock_response)
+
+        error_msg = str(exc_info.value)
+        assert "Failed to parse API response as JSON" in error_msg
+        assert "status 502" in error_msg
+        assert "gateway or proxy error" in error_msg
+        # Verify HTML is truncated (original is ~400 chars, should be truncated to 200 + ...)
+        assert "..." in error_msg
+        assert len(error_msg) < len(html_body) + 150
+
+    def test_safe_parse_json_empty_response(self):
+        """Test handling empty response body"""
+        import json as json_module
+
+        mock_response = Mock(spec=httpx.Response)
+        mock_response.json.side_effect = json_module.JSONDecodeError(
+            "Expecting value", "", 0
+        )
+        mock_response.text = ""
+        mock_response.status_code = 500
+
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as exc_info:
+            LingoDotDevEngine._safe_parse_json(mock_response)
+
+        assert "status 500" in str(exc_info.value)
+
+    def test_safe_parse_json_malformed_json(self):
+        """Test handling malformed JSON response"""
+        import json as json_module
+
+        mock_response = Mock(spec=httpx.Response)
+        mock_response.json.side_effect = json_module.JSONDecodeError(
+            "Expecting value", '{"data": incomplete', 8
+        )
+        mock_response.text = '{"data": incomplete'
+        mock_response.status_code = 200
+
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as exc_info:
+            LingoDotDevEngine._safe_parse_json(mock_response)
+
+        assert "Failed to parse API response as JSON" in str(exc_info.value)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+class TestErrorHandlingIntegration:
+    """Integration tests for error handling with mocked HTTP responses"""
+
+    def setup_method(self):
+        """Set up test fixtures"""
+        self.config = {"api_key": "test_api_key", "api_url": "https://api.test.com"}
+        self.engine = LingoDotDevEngine(self.config)
+
+    @patch("lingodotdev.engine.httpx.AsyncClient.post")
+    async def test_localize_chunk_502_html_response(self, mock_post):
+        """Test that 502 with HTML body raises clean RuntimeError"""
+        html_body = "<html><body><h1>502 Bad Gateway</h1></body></html>"
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.is_success = False
+        mock_response.status_code = 502
+        mock_response.reason_phrase = "Bad Gateway"
+        mock_response.text = html_body
+        mock_post.return_value = mock_response
+
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as exc_info:
+            await self.engine._localize_chunk(
+                "en", "es", {"data": {"key": "value"}}, "workflow_id", False
+            )
+
+        error_msg = str(exc_info.value)
+        assert "Server error (502)" in error_msg
+        assert "Bad Gateway" in error_msg
+        assert "temporary service issues" in error_msg
+
+    @patch("lingodotdev.engine.httpx.AsyncClient.post")
+    async def test_localize_chunk_success_but_html_response(self, mock_post):
+        """Test handling when server returns 200 but with HTML body (edge case)"""
+        import json as json_module
+
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.is_success = True
+        mock_response.status_code = 200
+        mock_response.json.side_effect = json_module.JSONDecodeError(
+            "Expecting value", "<html>Unexpected HTML</html>", 0
+        )
+        mock_response.text = "<html>Unexpected HTML</html>"
+        mock_post.return_value = mock_response
+
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as exc_info:
+            await self.engine._localize_chunk(
+                "en", "es", {"data": {"key": "value"}}, "workflow_id", False
+            )
+
+        assert "Failed to parse API response as JSON" in str(exc_info.value)
+
+    @patch("lingodotdev.engine.httpx.AsyncClient.post")
+    async def test_recognize_locale_502_html_response(self, mock_post):
+        """Test recognize_locale handles 502 HTML gracefully"""
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.is_success = False
+        mock_response.status_code = 502
+        mock_response.reason_phrase = "Bad Gateway"
+        mock_response.text = "<html><body>502 Bad Gateway</body></html>"
+        mock_post.return_value = mock_response
+
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as exc_info:
+            await self.engine.recognize_locale("Hello world")
+
+        error_msg = str(exc_info.value)
+        assert "Server error (502)" in error_msg
+
+    @patch("lingodotdev.engine.httpx.AsyncClient.post")
+    async def test_whoami_502_html_response(self, mock_post):
+        """Test whoami handles 502 HTML gracefully"""
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.is_success = False
+        mock_response.status_code = 502
+        mock_response.reason_phrase = "Bad Gateway"
+        mock_response.text = "<html><body>502 Bad Gateway</body></html>"
+        mock_post.return_value = mock_response
+
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as exc_info:
+            await self.engine.whoami()
+
+        error_msg = str(exc_info.value)
+        assert "Server error (502)" in error_msg
+
+    @patch("lingodotdev.engine.httpx.AsyncClient.post")
+    async def test_error_message_truncation_in_api_call(self, mock_post):
+        """Test that large HTML error pages are truncated in error messages"""
+        large_html = "<html>" + "x" * 1000 + "</html>"
+        mock_response = Mock()
+        mock_response.is_success = False
+        mock_response.status_code = 503
+        mock_response.reason_phrase = "Service Unavailable"
+        mock_response.text = large_html
+        mock_post.return_value = mock_response
+
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError) as exc_info:
+            await self.engine._localize_chunk(
+                "en", "es", {"data": {"key": "value"}}, "workflow_id", False
+            )
+
+        error_msg = str(exc_info.value)
+        # Error message should be much shorter than the full HTML
+        assert len(error_msg) < 500
+        assert "..." in error_msg  # Truncation indicator
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 class TestLingoDotDevEngine:
     """Test the LingoDotDevEngine class"""
@@ -164,6 +375,7 @@ async def test_localize_chunk_bad_request(self, mock_post):
         mock_response.is_success = False
         mock_response.status_code = 400
         mock_response.reason_phrase = "Bad Request"
+        mock_response.text = "Invalid parameters"
         mock_post.return_value = mock_response
 
         with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Invalid request \\(400\\)"):
@@ -284,6 +496,7 @@ async def test_recognize_locale_server_error(self, mock_post):
         mock_response.is_success = False
         mock_response.status_code = 500
         mock_response.reason_phrase = "Internal Server Error"
+        mock_response.text = "Server error details"
         mock_post.return_value = mock_response
 
         with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="Server error"):
@@ -324,6 +537,7 @@ async def test_whoami_server_error(self, mock_post):
         mock_response.is_success = False
         mock_response.status_code = 500
         mock_response.reason_phrase = "Internal Server Error"
+        mock_response.text = "Server error details"
         mock_post.return_value = mock_response
 
         with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="Server error"):
diff --git a/tests/test_integration.py b/tests/test_integration.py
index ce31076..288df8d 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration.py
@@ -9,15 +9,25 @@
 
 from lingodotdev import LingoDotDevEngine
 
-
 # Skip integration tests if no API key is provided
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.skipif(
     not os.getenv("LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY"),
     reason="Integration tests require LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY environment variable",
 )
 
+# Check if running in CI environment
+IS_CI = (
+    os.getenv("CI", "false").lower() == "true"
+    or os.getenv("GITHUB_ACTIONS") is not None
+)
+
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.xfail(
+    IS_CI,
+    reason="Real API tests may fail in CI due to intermittent server errors (502)",
+    strict=False,
+)
 class TestRealAPIIntegration:
     """Integration tests against the real API"""