diff --git a/.changeset/artifact-tool-call-failures.md b/.changeset/artifact-tool-call-failures.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..809ff05552
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/artifact-tool-call-failures.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"executor": patch
+---
+
+**Fix: broken artifact bindings showed empty data instead of an error.** An artifact call is a single tool invocation, so a code-mode `{ ok: false, error }` result is the call's failure — but the shell passed it through as query data, settling the query as success with no payload. Every artifact then coerced that to an empty list, so a deleted or renamed connection read as "0 results, synced just now" rather than an error. The shell now rejects on that envelope, so the component renders its error state.
diff --git a/e2e/scenarios/openapi-unreachable-artifact.test.ts b/e2e/scenarios/openapi-unreachable-artifact.test.ts
index 1b5adae46e..5ac303d3a4 100644
--- a/e2e/scenarios/openapi-unreachable-artifact.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/scenarios/openapi-unreachable-artifact.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Cross-target: an artifact whose OpenAPI query cannot reach its upstream gets
-// an actionable network error, not the opaque defect mask. This walks the real
-// path from a saved artifact through the nested shell, execute-action, sandbox,
-// OpenAPI transport, and back into ArtifactError.
+// an actionable query error, not a success-looking empty state. This walks the
+// real path from a saved artifact through the nested shell, execute-action,
+// sandbox, OpenAPI transport, and back into ArtifactError.
 import { randomBytes } from "node:crypto";
 import { createServer } from "node:http";
 
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ const executeApproved = (session: McpSession, code: string) =>
 const artifactSource = (slug: string) => `
 function App() {
   const query = useQuery(tools.${slug}.things.listThings.queryOptions({}));
-  const result = query.data;
+  const things = query.data?.data ?? [];
   return (
     <div className="flex h-full flex-col gap-4">
       <h2>Upstream status</h2>
@@ -116,10 +116,10 @@ function App() {
           <ArtifactLoading />
         ) : query.error ? (
           <ArtifactError error={query.error} onRetry={query.refetch} />
-        ) : result?.ok === false ? (
-          <ArtifactError error={result.error} onRetry={query.refetch} />
+        ) : things.length === 0 ? (
+          <ArtifactEmpty title="No things returned" />
         ) : (
-          <p>Unexpected upstream success</p>
+          <p>{things.length} things returned</p>
         )}
       </div>
     </div>
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ const artifactContent = (page: Page) =>
   page.frameLocator('[data-testid="artifact-shell-frame"]').frameLocator("iframe");
 
 scenario(
-  "Artifacts · an unreachable OpenAPI host shows actionable retry guidance instead of an internal error",
+  "Artifacts · a failed tool call shows an error instead of empty data",
   { timeout: 180_000 },
   Effect.scoped(
     Effect.gen(function* () {
@@ -184,12 +184,16 @@ scenario(
             });
 
             await step(
-              "The artifact explains that the upstream host could not be reached",
+              "The failed tool call renders an error instead of an empty state",
               async () => {
                 const state = artifactContent(page).getByTestId("upstream-state");
                 await state.locator('[data-slot="artifact-error"]').waitFor({ timeout: 30_000 });
                 const message = await state.innerText();
 
+                expect(
+                  await state.getByText("No things returned").count(),
+                  "the failure is not empty data",
+                ).toBe(0);
                 expect(message, "the user gets actionable network guidance").toContain(
                   `Could not reach the upstream server for "${slug}"`,
                 );
diff --git a/packages/hosts/mcp-apps-shell/src/shell/proxy.ts b/packages/hosts/mcp-apps-shell/src/shell/proxy.ts
index b0983344d9..2dbeca5517 100644
--- a/packages/hosts/mcp-apps-shell/src/shell/proxy.ts
+++ b/packages/hosts/mcp-apps-shell/src/shell/proxy.ts
@@ -142,7 +142,22 @@ async function resolveToolResult(
     return resolveToolResult(app, resumed, requestTrustedInteraction);
   }
 
-  return unwrapResult(structured) ?? parseTextContent(result);
+  const value = unwrapResult(structured) ?? parseTextContent(result);
+
+  const failure = toolCallFailure(value);
+  if (failure !== null) throw new Error(failure);
+
+  return value;
+}
+
+function toolCallFailure(value: unknown): string | null {
+  if (typeof value !== "object" || value === null) return null;
+  const { ok, error } = value as { ok?: unknown; error?: unknown };
+  if (ok !== false) return null;
+  const { message, code } = (error ?? {}) as { message?: unknown; code?: unknown };
+  if (typeof message === "string" && message.length > 0) return message;
+  if (typeof code === "string" && code.length > 0) return code;
+  return "Tool call failed";
 }
 
 function parseTrustedInteraction(
diff --git a/packages/hosts/mcp-apps-shell/src/shell/tool-call-failure.test.ts b/packages/hosts/mcp-apps-shell/src/shell/tool-call-failure.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..da84498ee2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/hosts/mcp-apps-shell/src/shell/tool-call-failure.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "@effect/vitest";
+import type { CallToolResult } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js";
+
+import { createToolCaller } from "./proxy";
+
+describe("artifact tool-call failure surfacing", () => {
+  const hostReturning = (structuredContent: Record<string, unknown>) => ({
+    callServerTool: (): Promise<CallToolResult> =>
+      Promise.resolve({
+        content: [{ type: "text", text: "" }],
+        structuredContent,
+      }),
+  });
+
+  const call = (host: { callServerTool: () => Promise<CallToolResult> }) =>
+    createToolCaller(host, () => Promise.resolve({ action: "cancel" as const }))(
+      ["github_com", "search_pull_requests"],
+      [{ query: "is:open" }],
+    );
+
+  it("rejects with the error message of a code-mode failure envelope", async () => {
+    const host = hostReturning({
+      status: "completed",
+      result: {
+        ok: false,
+        error: {
+          code: "tool_not_found",
+          message: "Tool not found: github_com.search_pull_requests",
+        },
+      },
+    });
+    await expect(call(host)).rejects.toThrow("Tool not found: github_com.search_pull_requests");
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to the error code when no message is present", async () => {
+    const host = hostReturning({
+      status: "completed",
+      result: { ok: false, error: { code: "binding_unresolved" } },
+    });
+    await expect(call(host)).rejects.toThrow("binding_unresolved");
+  });
+
+  it("passes a successful envelope through as data", async () => {
+    const host = hostReturning({
+      status: "completed",
+      result: { ok: true, data: { total_count: 2, items: [{ id: 1 }, { id: 2 }] } },
+    });
+    await expect(call(host)).resolves.toEqual({
+      ok: true,
+      data: { total_count: 2, items: [{ id: 1 }, { id: 2 }] },
+    });
+  });
+});