diff --git a/apps/mana/apps/web/src/lib/modules/companion/engine.ts b/apps/mana/apps/web/src/lib/modules/companion/engine.ts
index a153d7d1e..459133cdb 100644
--- a/apps/mana/apps/web/src/lib/modules/companion/engine.ts
+++ b/apps/mana/apps/web/src/lib/modules/companion/engine.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
  * routes through text-completion).
  */
 
-import { llmOrchestrator } from '@mana/shared-llm';
+import { llmOrchestrator, NoTierAvailableError } from '@mana/shared-llm';
 import { isLocalLlmSupported, getLocalLlmStatus, loadLocalLlm } from '@mana/local-llm';
 import { companionChatTask } from '$lib/llm-tasks/companion-chat';
 import { generateContextDocument } from '$lib/data/projections/context-document';
@@ -54,8 +54,11 @@ async function callLlm(messages: LlmMessage[], onToken?: (token: string) => void
 		});
 		return result.value.content;
 	} catch (err) {
+		if (err instanceof NoTierAvailableError) {
+			return err.getUserMessage();
+		}
 		const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-		return `LLM nicht verfuegbar: ${msg}`;
+		return `LLM nicht verfügbar: ${msg}`;
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/shared-llm/src/errors.ts b/packages/shared-llm/src/errors.ts
index dd0520cd4..91c52c6a8 100644
--- a/packages/shared-llm/src/errors.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-llm/src/errors.ts
@@ -13,15 +13,70 @@ export class LlmError extends Error {
 	}
 }
 
+/** Why a specific tier was skipped. */
+export type TierSkipReason =
+	| 'no-consent'
+	| 'no-backend'
+	| 'not-available'
+	| 'not-ready'
+	| 'no-tiers-configured'
+	| 'runtime-error';
+
+export interface SkippedTier {
+	tier: LlmTier;
+	reason: TierSkipReason;
+}
+
 /** No tier from the user's preference list was able to run the task. */
 export class NoTierAvailableError extends LlmError {
 	constructor(
 		public readonly taskName: string,
-		public readonly attempted: LlmTier[]
+		public readonly attempted: LlmTier[],
+		public readonly skipped: SkippedTier[] = []
 	) {
 		super(`No tier could run task '${taskName}' (attempted: ${attempted.join(', ') || 'none'})`);
 		this.name = 'NoTierAvailableError';
 	}
+
+	/** User-friendly German explanation of what went wrong. */
+	getUserMessage(): string {
+		if (this.skipped.length === 0 && this.attempted.length === 0) {
+			return 'Kein KI-Modell konfiguriert. Aktiviere ein Modell unter Einstellungen → KI.';
+		}
+
+		const reasons = this.skipped.map((s) => {
+			switch (s.reason) {
+				case 'no-consent':
+					return `**${tierLabel(s.tier)}**: Cloud-Einwilligung fehlt. Aktiviere sie unter Einstellungen → KI.`;
+				case 'no-backend':
+					return `**${tierLabel(s.tier)}**: Backend nicht registriert.`;
+				case 'not-available':
+					return `**${tierLabel(s.tier)}**: Nicht verfügbar (Service läuft nicht oder WebGPU nicht unterstützt).`;
+				case 'not-ready':
+					return `**${tierLabel(s.tier)}**: Modell noch nicht geladen.`;
+				case 'runtime-error':
+					return `**${tierLabel(s.tier)}**: Fehler bei der Ausführung.`;
+				case 'no-tiers-configured':
+					return 'Kein KI-Modell konfiguriert.';
+			}
+		});
+		return reasons.join('\n');
+	}
+}
+
+function tierLabel(tier: LlmTier): string {
+	switch (tier) {
+		case 'browser':
+			return 'Browser (lokal)';
+		case 'mana-server':
+			return 'Mana Server';
+		case 'cloud':
+			return 'Cloud (Gemini)';
+		case 'byok':
+			return 'Eigener API-Key';
+		default:
+			return String(tier);
+	}
 }
 
 /** The user's chosen tier is below the task's declared minimum tier. */
diff --git a/packages/shared-llm/src/orchestrator.ts b/packages/shared-llm/src/orchestrator.ts
index 505c1b139..aae95ee75 100644
--- a/packages/shared-llm/src/orchestrator.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-llm/src/orchestrator.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ import {
 	NoTierAvailableError,
 	ProviderBlockedError,
 	TierTooLowError,
+	type SkippedTier,
 } from './errors';
 import type { LlmTask } from './task';
 import type { LlmTier } from './tiers';
@@ -146,6 +147,7 @@ export class LlmOrchestrator {
 		const orderedTiers = override ? [override].filter((t) => candidates.includes(t)) : candidates;
 
 		// Rule 4-5: try the first runnable tier
+		const skipped: SkippedTier[] = [];
 		for (const tier of orderedTiers) {
 			if (tier === 'none') {
 				if (task.runRules) {
@@ -164,21 +166,25 @@ export class LlmOrchestrator {
 			// Cloud-consent gate
 			if (tier === 'cloud' && !this.settings.cloudConsentGiven) {
 				attempted.push('cloud');
+				skipped.push({ tier: 'cloud', reason: 'no-consent' });
 				continue;
 			}
 
 			const backend = this.backendsByTier.get(tier);
 			if (!backend) {
 				attempted.push(tier);
+				skipped.push({ tier, reason: 'no-backend' });
 				continue;
 			}
 			if (!backend.isAvailable()) {
 				attempted.push(tier);
+				skipped.push({ tier, reason: 'not-available' });
 				continue;
 			}
 			const ready = await backend.isReady();
 			if (!ready) {
 				attempted.push(tier);
+				skipped.push({ tier, reason: 'not-ready' });
 				continue;
 			}
 
@@ -226,11 +232,15 @@ export class LlmOrchestrator {
 					throw err;
 				}
 				// Unknown error — try the next tier in the list
+				skipped.push({ tier, reason: 'runtime-error' });
 				continue;
 			}
 		}
 
-		throw new NoTierAvailableError(task.name, attempted);
+		if (attempted.length === 0) {
+			skipped.push({ tier: 'none' as LlmTier, reason: 'no-tiers-configured' });
+		}
+		throw new NoTierAvailableError(task.name, attempted, skipped);
 	}
 
 	/** Highest tier in the user's allowedTiers list (by rank). */