diff --git a/internal/api/auth.go b/internal/api/auth.go
index 7dbcbd2..434ee2b 100644
--- a/internal/api/auth.go
+++ b/internal/api/auth.go
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ func Login(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	db.Where("username = ?", username).First(&result)
 
 	if result.Username == "" {
-		APIError(w, r, genericResponseFields{"message": "login failed", "status": http.StatusUnauthorized, "Realm": "authentication"})
+		APIError(w, r, genericResponseFields{"message": "login failed", "status": http.StatusUnauthorized, "realm": "authentication"})
 
 		return
 	}
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func Login(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	err = bcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword([]byte(result.HashedPassword), []byte(password))
 
 	if err != nil {
-		APIError(w, r, genericResponseFields{"message": "login failed", "status": http.StatusUnauthorized, "Realm": "authentication"})
+		APIError(w, r, genericResponseFields{"message": "login failed", "status": http.StatusUnauthorized, "realm": "authentication"})
 
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/internal/api/helpers.go b/internal/api/helpers.go
index 7d2af27..e31a1bc 100644
--- a/internal/api/helpers.go
+++ b/internal/api/helpers.go
@@ -44,16 +44,19 @@ func APIError[T map[string]any](w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, v map[st
 	logHandler(v)
 
 	switch v["realm"] {
-	case nil:
-		w.Header().Add("API Error", v["message"].(string))
 	default:
 		w.Header().Add("WWW-Authenticate", fmt.Sprintf(`realm="%s"`, v["realm"].(string)))
+
+		fallthrough
+	case nil:
 		w.Header().Add("API Error", v["message"].(string))
 	}
 
 	w.WriteHeader(v["status"].(int))
 
+	// remove unnecessary items from response
 	delete(v, "error")
+	delete(v, "status")
 
 	render.JSON(w, r, v)
 }
@@ -66,10 +69,9 @@ func logHandler(v map[string]any) {
 	switch v["error"] {
 	default:
 		logger.Error().Msg(v["error"].(string))
+
 		fallthrough
 	case nil:
 		logger.Info().Msg(v["message"].(string))
-
 	}
-
 }
diff --git a/internal/util/util.go b/internal/util/util.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 393de33..0000000
--- a/internal/util/util.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-package util
-
-// ValidateQuery does nothing.
-func ValidateQuery(request string) (string, error) {
-	return "", nil
-}