diff --git a/packages/app/src/components/add-host-modal.tsx b/packages/app/src/components/add-host-modal.tsx
index bf364f1040..653d69c4f1 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/components/add-host-modal.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/components/add-host-modal.tsx
@@ -11,10 +11,7 @@ import {
   serializeConnectionUri,
   serializeConnectionUriForStorage,
 } from "@/utils/daemon-endpoints";
-import {
-  DaemonConnectionTestError,
-  getConnectionAuthFailureReason,
-} from "@/utils/test-daemon-connection";
+import { buildConnectionFailureCopy } from "./connection-failure-copy";
 import { AdaptiveModalSheet, AdaptiveTextInput, type SheetHeader } from "./adaptive-modal-sheet";
 import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
 import { PairingTargetTracker } from "./pair-link-credentials";
@@ -195,92 +192,6 @@ function draftFromConnectionUri(uri: string): DirectConnectionDraft {
   };
 }
 
-function normalizeTransportMessage(message: string | null | undefined): string | null {
-  if (!message) return null;
-  const trimmed = message.trim();
-  if (!trimmed) return null;
-  return trimmed;
-}
-
-function formatTechnicalTransportDetails(
-  details: (string | null)[],
-  labels: DirectConnectionLabels,
-): string | null {
-  const unique = Array.from(
-    new Set(
-      details
-        .map((value) => normalizeTransportMessage(value))
-        .filter((value): value is string => Boolean(value))
-        .map((value) => value.trim())
-        .filter((value) => value.length > 0),
-    ),
-  );
-
-  if (unique.length === 0) return null;
-
-  const allGeneric = unique.every((value) => {
-    const lower = value.toLowerCase();
-    return lower === "transport error" || lower === "transport closed";
-  });
-
-  if (allGeneric) {
-    return labels.noAdditionalDetails(unique[0] ?? "");
-  }
-
-  return unique.join(" — ");
-}
-
-function buildConnectionFailureCopy(input: {
-  endpoint: string;
-  error: unknown;
-  labels: DirectConnectionLabels;
-}): { title: string; detail: string | null; raw: string | null } {
-  const { endpoint, error, labels } = input;
-  const title = labels.failedToConnect(endpoint);
-
-  const raw = (() => {
-    if (error instanceof DaemonConnectionTestError) {
-      return (
-        formatTechnicalTransportDetails([error.reason, error.lastError], labels) ??
-        normalizeTransportMessage(error.message)
-      );
-    }
-    if (error instanceof Error) {
-      return normalizeTransportMessage(error.message);
-    }
-    return null;
-  })();
-
-  const rawLower = raw?.toLowerCase() ?? "";
-  let detail: string | null = null;
-
-  if (getConnectionAuthFailureReason(error)) {
-    detail = error instanceof Error ? error.message : raw;
-  } else if (rawLower.includes("timed out")) {
-    detail = labels.timedOut;
-  } else if (
-    rawLower.includes("econnrefused") ||
-    rawLower.includes("connection refused") ||
-    rawLower.includes("err_connection_refused")
-  ) {
-    detail = labels.refused;
-  } else if (rawLower.includes("enotfound") || rawLower.includes("not found")) {
-    detail = labels.hostNotFound;
-  } else if (rawLower.includes("ehostunreach") || rawLower.includes("host is unreachable")) {
-    detail = labels.hostUnreachable;
-  } else if (
-    rawLower.includes("certificate") ||
-    rawLower.includes("tls") ||
-    rawLower.includes("ssl")
-  ) {
-    detail = labels.tlsError;
-  } else {
-    detail = labels.unableToConnect;
-  }
-
-  return { title, detail, raw };
-}
-
 export interface AddHostModalProps {
   visible: boolean;
   onClose: () => void;
diff --git a/packages/app/src/components/connection-failure-copy.test.ts b/packages/app/src/components/connection-failure-copy.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..21cfcd40e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/app/src/components/connection-failure-copy.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { DaemonConnectionTestError } from "@/utils/test-daemon-connection";
+import { buildConnectionFailureCopy } from "./connection-failure-copy";
+
+const labels = {
+  hostRequired: "host required",
+  invalidPort: "invalid port",
+  invalidConnection: "invalid connection",
+  failedToConnect: (endpoint: string) => `Failed: ${endpoint}`,
+  noAdditionalDetails: (detail: string) => `No details: ${detail}`,
+  timedOut: "timeout",
+  refused: "refused",
+  hostNotFound: "DNS failure",
+  hostUnreachable: "unreachable",
+  tlsError: "TLS failure",
+  unableToConnect: "connection failure",
+};
+
+function failure(message: string) {
+  return buildConnectionFailureCopy({
+    endpoint: "tcp://example.test:443?ssl=true",
+    error: new DaemonConnectionTestError(message, {
+      reason: "transport error",
+      lastError: message,
+    }),
+    labels,
+  });
+}
+
+describe("direct connection failure copy", () => {
+  it("identifies Android certificate validation errors without calling them DNS failures", () => {
+    const message =
+      "java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: Trust anchor for certification path not found.";
+    expect(failure(message)).toEqual({
+      title: "Failed: tcp://example.test:443?ssl=true",
+      detail: labels.tlsError,
+      raw: `transport error — ${message}`,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["certificate not found", labels.tlsError],
+    ["SSL handshake failed", labels.tlsError],
+    ["TLS handshake failed", labels.tlsError],
+    ["getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND example.test", labels.hostNotFound],
+    ["Host not found", labels.hostNotFound],
+    ["connect ECONNREFUSED", labels.refused],
+    ["connection timed out", labels.timedOut],
+    ["EHOSTUNREACH", labels.hostUnreachable],
+    ["unexpected transport failure", labels.unableToConnect],
+  ])("classifies %s", (message, expected) => {
+    expect(failure(message).detail).toBe(expected);
+  });
+
+  it("preserves authentication failures and their technical details", () => {
+    const message = "Invalid daemon password";
+    expect(
+      buildConnectionFailureCopy({
+        endpoint: "example.test:6767",
+        error: new DaemonConnectionTestError(message, {
+          reason: message,
+          lastError: message,
+          authFailureReason: "incorrect_password",
+        }),
+        labels,
+      }),
+    ).toMatchObject({ detail: message, raw: message });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/app/src/components/connection-failure-copy.ts b/packages/app/src/components/connection-failure-copy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1491ed01d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/app/src/components/connection-failure-copy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+import {
+  DaemonConnectionTestError,
+  getConnectionAuthFailureReason,
+} from "@/utils/test-daemon-connection";
+
+interface ConnectionFailureLabels {
+  failedToConnect: (endpoint: string) => string;
+  noAdditionalDetails: (detail: string) => string;
+  timedOut: string;
+  refused: string;
+  hostNotFound: string;
+  hostUnreachable: string;
+  tlsError: string;
+  unableToConnect: string;
+}
+
+function normalizeTransportMessage(message: string | null | undefined): string | null {
+  if (!message) return null;
+  const trimmed = message.trim();
+  if (!trimmed) return null;
+  return trimmed;
+}
+
+function formatTechnicalTransportDetails(
+  details: (string | null)[],
+  labels: ConnectionFailureLabels,
+): string | null {
+  const unique = Array.from(
+    new Set(
+      details
+        .map((value) => normalizeTransportMessage(value))
+        .filter((value): value is string => Boolean(value))
+        .map((value) => value.trim())
+        .filter((value) => value.length > 0),
+    ),
+  );
+
+  if (unique.length === 0) return null;
+
+  const allGeneric = unique.every((value) => {
+    const lower = value.toLowerCase();
+    return lower === "transport error" || lower === "transport closed";
+  });
+
+  if (allGeneric) {
+    return labels.noAdditionalDetails(unique[0] ?? "");
+  }
+
+  return unique.join(" — ");
+}
+
+export function buildConnectionFailureCopy(input: {
+  endpoint: string;
+  error: unknown;
+  labels: ConnectionFailureLabels;
+}): { title: string; detail: string | null; raw: string | null } {
+  const { endpoint, error, labels } = input;
+  const title = labels.failedToConnect(endpoint);
+
+  const raw = (() => {
+    if (error instanceof DaemonConnectionTestError) {
+      return (
+        formatTechnicalTransportDetails([error.reason, error.lastError], labels) ??
+        normalizeTransportMessage(error.message)
+      );
+    }
+    if (error instanceof Error) {
+      return normalizeTransportMessage(error.message);
+    }
+    return null;
+  })();
+
+  const rawLower = raw?.toLowerCase() ?? "";
+  let detail: string | null = null;
+
+  if (getConnectionAuthFailureReason(error)) {
+    detail = error instanceof Error ? error.message : raw;
+  } else if (rawLower.includes("timed out")) {
+    detail = labels.timedOut;
+  } else if (
+    rawLower.includes("econnrefused") ||
+    rawLower.includes("connection refused") ||
+    rawLower.includes("err_connection_refused")
+  ) {
+    detail = labels.refused;
+  } else if (
+    rawLower.includes("certificate") ||
+    rawLower.includes("certpathvalidator") ||
+    rawLower.includes("trust anchor") ||
+    rawLower.includes("tls") ||
+    rawLower.includes("ssl")
+  ) {
+    detail = labels.tlsError;
+  } else if (rawLower.includes("enotfound") || rawLower.includes("not found")) {
+    detail = labels.hostNotFound;
+  } else if (rawLower.includes("ehostunreach") || rawLower.includes("host is unreachable")) {
+    detail = labels.hostUnreachable;
+  } else {
+    detail = labels.unableToConnect;
+  }
+
+  return { title, detail, raw };
+}