diff --git a/cmd/waku/server/rest/filter.go b/cmd/waku/server/rest/filter.go
index 30666c6f..d6719e03 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/server/rest/filter.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/server/rest/filter.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
-	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
@@ -327,24 +326,24 @@ func (s FilterService) getRandomFilterPeer(ctx context.Context, requestId []byte
 }
 
 func (s *FilterService) getMessagesByContentTopic(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
-	contentTopic := s.topicFromPath(w, req, "contentTopic")
+	contentTopic := topicFromPath(w, req, "contentTopic", s.log)
 	if contentTopic == "" {
 		return
 	}
 	pubsubTopic, err := protocol.GetPubSubTopicFromContentTopic(contentTopic)
 	if err != nil {
-		s.writeGetMessageErr(w, fmt.Errorf("bad content topic"), http.StatusBadRequest)
+		writeGetMessageErr(w, fmt.Errorf("bad content topic"), http.StatusBadRequest, s.log)
 		return
 	}
 	s.getMessages(w, req, pubsubTopic, contentTopic)
 }
 
 func (s *FilterService) getMessagesByPubsubTopic(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
-	contentTopic := s.topicFromPath(w, req, "contentTopic")
+	contentTopic := topicFromPath(w, req, "contentTopic", s.log)
 	if contentTopic == "" {
 		return
 	}
-	pubsubTopic := s.topicFromPath(w, req, "pubsubTopic")
+	pubsubTopic := topicFromPath(w, req, "pubsubTopic", s.log)
 	if pubsubTopic == "" {
 		return
 	}
@@ -358,33 +357,8 @@ func (s *FilterService) getMessagesByPubsubTopic(w http.ResponseWriter, req *htt
 func (s *FilterService) getMessages(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, pubsubTopic, contentTopic string) {
 	msgs, err := s.cache.getMessages(pubsubTopic, contentTopic)
 	if err != nil {
-		s.writeGetMessageErr(w, err, http.StatusNotFound)
+		writeGetMessageErr(w, err, http.StatusNotFound, s.log)
 		return
 	}
 	writeResponse(w, msgs, http.StatusOK)
 }
-
-func (s *FilterService) topicFromPath(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, field string) string {
-	cTopic := chi.URLParam(req, field)
-	if cTopic == "" {
-		errMissing := fmt.Errorf("missing %s", field)
-		s.writeGetMessageErr(w, errMissing, http.StatusBadRequest)
-		return ""
-	}
-	cTopic, err := url.QueryUnescape(cTopic)
-	if err != nil {
-		errInvalid := fmt.Errorf("invalid %s format", field)
-		s.writeGetMessageErr(w, errInvalid, http.StatusBadRequest)
-		return ""
-	}
-	return cTopic
-}
-
-func (s *FilterService) writeGetMessageErr(w http.ResponseWriter, err error, code int) {
-	// write status before the body
-	w.WriteHeader(code)
-	s.log.Error("get message", zap.Error(err))
-	if _, err := w.Write([]byte(err.Error())); err != nil {
-		s.log.Error("writing response", zap.Error(err))
-	}
-}
diff --git a/cmd/waku/server/rest/filter_cache.go b/cmd/waku/server/rest/filter_cache.go
index 49fb57bf..6e684ab8 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/server/rest/filter_cache.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/server/rest/filter_cache.go
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func (c *filterCache) getMessages(pubsubTopic string, contentTopic string) ([]*p
 	defer c.mu.RUnlock()
 
 	if c.data[pubsubTopic] == nil || c.data[pubsubTopic][contentTopic] == nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Not subscribed to pubsubTopic:%s contentTopic: %s", pubsubTopic, contentTopic)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("not subscribed to pubsubTopic:%s contentTopic: %s", pubsubTopic, contentTopic)
 	}
 	msgs := c.data[pubsubTopic][contentTopic]
 	c.data[pubsubTopic][contentTopic] = []*pb.WakuMessage{}
diff --git a/cmd/waku/server/rest/relay.go b/cmd/waku/server/rest/relay.go
index 1261f6ed..968ed338 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/server/rest/relay.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/server/rest/relay.go
@@ -166,20 +166,17 @@ func (r *RelayService) postV1Subscriptions(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Requ
 }
 
 func (r *RelayService) getV1Messages(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
-	topic := chi.URLParam(req, "topic")
+	topic := topicFromPath(w, req, "topic", r.log)
 	if topic == "" {
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
 
-	var err error
-
 	r.messagesMutex.Lock()
 	defer r.messagesMutex.Unlock()
 
 	if _, ok := r.messages[topic]; !ok {
 		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
-		_, err = w.Write([]byte("not subscribed to topic"))
+		_, err := w.Write([]byte("not subscribed to topic"))
 		r.log.Error("writing response", zap.Error(err))
 		return
 	}
@@ -191,9 +188,8 @@ func (r *RelayService) getV1Messages(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 }
 
 func (r *RelayService) postV1Message(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
-	topic := chi.URLParam(req, "topic")
+	topic := topicFromPath(w, req, "topic", r.log)
 	if topic == "" {
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -205,7 +201,6 @@ func (r *RelayService) postV1Message(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	}
 	defer req.Body.Close()
 
-	var err error
 	if topic == "" {
 		topic = relay.DefaultWakuTopic
 	}
@@ -215,12 +210,12 @@ func (r *RelayService) postV1Message(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	if err = server.AppendRLNProof(r.node, message); err != nil {
+	if err := server.AppendRLNProof(r.node, message); err != nil {
 		writeErrOrResponse(w, err, nil)
 		return
 	}
 
-	_, err = r.node.Relay().Publish(req.Context(), message, relay.WithPubSubTopic(strings.Replace(topic, "\n", "", -1)))
+	_, err := r.node.Relay().Publish(req.Context(), message, relay.WithPubSubTopic(strings.Replace(topic, "\n", "", -1)))
 	if err != nil {
 		r.log.Error("publishing message", zap.Error(err))
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/waku/server/rest/utils.go b/cmd/waku/server/rest/utils.go
index 0178bc0c..caa81c59 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/server/rest/utils.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/server/rest/utils.go
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@ package rest
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
+
+	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
 func writeErrOrResponse(w http.ResponseWriter, err error, value interface{}) {
@@ -40,3 +45,28 @@ func writeResponse(w http.ResponseWriter, value interface{}, code int) {
 	w.WriteHeader(code)
 	_, _ = w.Write(jsonResponse)
 }
+
+func topicFromPath(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, field string, logger *zap.Logger) string {
+	topic := chi.URLParam(req, field)
+	if topic == "" {
+		errMissing := fmt.Errorf("missing %s", field)
+		writeGetMessageErr(w, errMissing, http.StatusBadRequest, logger)
+		return ""
+	}
+	topic, err := url.QueryUnescape(topic)
+	if err != nil {
+		errInvalid := fmt.Errorf("invalid %s format", field)
+		writeGetMessageErr(w, errInvalid, http.StatusBadRequest, logger)
+		return ""
+	}
+	return topic
+}
+
+func writeGetMessageErr(w http.ResponseWriter, err error, code int, logger *zap.Logger) {
+	// write status before the body
+	w.WriteHeader(code)
+	logger.Error("get message", zap.Error(err))
+	if _, err := w.Write([]byte(err.Error())); err != nil {
+		logger.Error("writing response", zap.Error(err))
+	}
+}