diff --git a/mcp/app/backend_client.py b/mcp/app/backend_client.py
index e260c39..4487db1 100644
--- a/mcp/app/backend_client.py
+++ b/mcp/app/backend_client.py
@@ -1,7 +1,50 @@
+import json
+
 import httpx
+
 from .config import settings
 
 
+class BackendError(RuntimeError):
+    """A non-2xx answer from the backend, carrying the reason it gave.
+
+    httpx's own error text stops at the status line and the URL, so FastAPI's
+    `{"detail": ...}` — the half that says what to do about it — never reached
+    the calling client. A rejected connection point, a duplicate device, a
+    missing design: all of them arrived as a bare '422 Unprocessable Content'.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, method: str, path: str, status_code: int, detail: str):
+        self.status_code = status_code
+        self.detail = detail
+        suffix = f": {detail}" if detail else ""
+        super().__init__(f"{method} {path} failed with {status_code}{suffix}")
+
+
+# Enough for a FastAPI detail — a structured one included — without pasting a
+# whole HTML error page into the client's context.
+_MAX_DETAIL = 500
+
+
+def _detail_of(resp: httpx.Response) -> str:
+    """The backend's explanation for a failed response, as a single string.
+
+    `detail` is a string for most errors and an object for the structured ones
+    (the approve-duplicate prompt); anything else falls back to the raw body.
+    """
+    try:
+        payload = resp.json()
+    except ValueError:
+        text = resp.text.strip()
+    else:
+        detail = payload.get("detail") if isinstance(payload, dict) else None
+        if detail is None:
+            text = json.dumps(payload)
+        else:
+            text = detail if isinstance(detail, str) else json.dumps(detail)
+    return text[:_MAX_DETAIL]
+
+
 class BackendClient:
     def __init__(self):
         self._client: httpx.AsyncClient | None = None
@@ -19,7 +62,8 @@ class BackendClient:
 
     async def request(self, method: str, path: str, **kwargs) -> dict:
         resp = await self._client.request(method, path, **kwargs)
-        resp.raise_for_status()
+        if resp.is_error:
+            raise BackendError(method, path, resp.status_code, _detail_of(resp))
         if resp.status_code == 204:
             return {}
         return resp.json()
diff --git a/mcp/tests/test_backend_client.py b/mcp/tests/test_backend_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..563bfc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mcp/tests/test_backend_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+"""The backend's own explanation must survive the trip to the MCP client.
+
+httpx's error text stops at the status line, so a rejected call used to reach the
+caller as a bare "Client error '422 Unprocessable Content'" — the reason, which is
+the only part that says what to do next, was dropped.
+"""
+
+import httpx
+import pytest
+
+from app.backend_client import BackendClient, BackendError
+
+
+def _client_answering(response: httpx.Response) -> BackendClient:
+    backend = BackendClient()
+    backend._client = httpx.AsyncClient(
+        base_url="http://backend",
+        transport=httpx.MockTransport(lambda _request: response),
+    )
+    return backend
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_a_string_detail_reaches_the_caller():
+    detail = "source_handle 'right-2' does not exist: node n1 has 0 connection point(s) on its right side."
+    backend = _client_answering(httpx.Response(422, json={"detail": detail}))
+
+    with pytest.raises(BackendError) as exc:
+        await backend.post("/api/v1/edges", {})
+
+    assert detail in str(exc.value)
+    assert "422" in str(exc.value)
+    assert exc.value.status_code == 422
+    assert exc.value.detail == detail
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_a_structured_detail_is_serialized():
+    # The approve-duplicate prompt answers with an object, not a string.
+    backend = _client_answering(httpx.Response(409, json={"detail": {"code": "duplicate", "node_id": "n1"}}))
+
+    with pytest.raises(BackendError) as exc:
+        await backend.post("/api/v1/scan/pending/d1/approve", {})
+
+    assert "duplicate" in str(exc.value)
+    assert "n1" in str(exc.value)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_a_non_json_body_falls_back_to_its_text():
+    backend = _client_answering(httpx.Response(500, text="Internal Server Error"))
+
+    with pytest.raises(BackendError) as exc:
+        await backend.get("/api/v1/nodes")
+
+    assert "Internal Server Error" in str(exc.value)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_the_method_and_path_are_named():
+    backend = _client_answering(httpx.Response(404, json={"detail": "Edge not found"}))
+
+    with pytest.raises(BackendError) as exc:
+        await backend.patch("/api/v1/edges/e1", {})
+
+    assert "PATCH" in str(exc.value)
+    assert "/api/v1/edges/e1" in str(exc.value)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_a_long_detail_is_truncated():
+    # An HTML error page must not land whole in the client's context.
+    backend = _client_answering(httpx.Response(500, text="x" * 5000))
+
+    with pytest.raises(BackendError) as exc:
+        await backend.get("/api/v1/nodes")
+
+    assert len(exc.value.detail) == 500
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_a_204_still_returns_an_empty_dict():
+    backend = _client_answering(httpx.Response(204))
+
+    assert await backend.delete("/api/v1/edges/e1") == {}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_a_success_is_returned_unchanged():
+    backend = _client_answering(httpx.Response(200, json={"id": "e1"}))
+
+    assert await backend.get("/api/v1/edges/e1") == {"id": "e1"}