diff --git a/scripts/course-matchmaking-routes.test.ts b/scripts/course-matchmaking-routes.test.ts
index b7129d4..5252db2 100644
--- a/scripts/course-matchmaking-routes.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/course-matchmaking-routes.test.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ globalThis.fetch = (async (input, init) => {
   if (body.action === "force_forbidden") {
     return new Response(JSON.stringify({ detail: "Invalid A2A auth token" }), { status: 403, headers: { "content-type": "application/json" } });
   }
+  if (body.action === "agent_error") {
+    return new Response(JSON.stringify({ task_id: "a2a-task", status: "completed", messages: [{ type: "agent_error", action: "search_failed", data: { code: "job_boards_unavailable" } }] }), { status: 200, headers: { "content-type": "application/json" } });
+  }
   return new Response(JSON.stringify({ task_id: "a2a-task", status: "completed", messages: [] }), { status: 200, headers: { "content-type": "application/json" } });
 }) as typeof fetch;
 const app = serviceRoutes({ skipAuth: true });
@@ -33,6 +36,10 @@ try {
   const forbiddenResponse = await app.request("http://backend.test/matchmaking/a2a", { method: "POST", headers: { "content-type": "application/json" }, body: JSON.stringify({ action: "force_forbidden" }) });
   assert.equal(forbiddenResponse.status, 502);
   assert.match(await forbiddenResponse.text(), /matchmaking service authentication failed/);
+
+  const agentErrorResponse = await app.request("http://backend.test/matchmaking/a2a", { method: "POST", headers: { "content-type": "application/json" }, body: JSON.stringify({ action: "agent_error" }) });
+  assert.equal(agentErrorResponse.status, 502);
+  assert.match(await agentErrorResponse.text(), /could not complete the search/);
 } finally {
   globalThis.fetch = originalFetch;
 }
diff --git a/src/routes/services.ts b/src/routes/services.ts
index 320ec87..65ffafc 100644
--- a/src/routes/services.ts
+++ b/src/routes/services.ts
@@ -1258,6 +1258,10 @@ export function serviceRoutes(options: { skipAuth?: boolean } = {}) {
     const userId = c.get("userId");
     const body = await c.req.json<JsonObject>().catch((): JsonObject => ({}));
     const { result } = await callMatchmakingA2a({ ...body, user_id: userId }, userId);
+    if (resultHasAgentError(result)) {
+      log.warn({ service: "matchmaking", action: body.action, userId }, "matchmaking agent reported task failure");
+      throw new HTTPException(502, { message: "matchmaking service could not complete the search" });
+    }
     // matchmaking-service emits canonical GrowEvents itself. The gateway is a
     // transport proxy only, avoiding a second event for the same action.
     return c.json(result);