diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/pages/ai.php b/Plugin/unraid/pages/ai.php
index f8d7c7c..1410962 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/pages/ai.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/pages/ai.php
@@ -399,18 +399,44 @@
     $('vv-ai-input').value = '';
     addPending();
 
-    const fd = new FormData();
-    fd.append('action', 'ask');
-    fd.append('question', q);
-    fd.append('history', JSON.stringify(history.slice(-MAXTURN * 2)));
-    fd.append('kind', $('vv-ai-kind').value);
-    fd.append('think', $('vv-ai-think').checked ? '1' : '0');
+    // Wrapped: a synchronous throw here — from building the request, or from a fetch wrapper
+    // installed elsewhere on the page — would escape the promise chain entirely and leave the
+    // pending indicator up forever with nothing logged anywhere. A hang is the one failure
+    // that tells you nothing, so every path below has to end in a visible message.
+    let res;
+    try {
+      const fd = new FormData();
+      fd.append('action', 'ask');
+      fd.append('question', q);
+      fd.append('history', JSON.stringify(history.slice(-MAXTURN * 2)));
+      fd.append('kind', $('vv-ai-kind').value);
+      fd.append('think', $('vv-ai-think').checked ? '1' : '0');
+      res = fetch(API, { method: 'POST', body: fd });
+    } catch (e) {
+      addError('Could not send the request: ' + (e && e.message ? e.message : e)
+             + ' — this failed in the browser before reaching the server.');
+      finish();
+      return;
+    }
 
-    fetch(API, { method: 'POST', body: fd }).then(r => r.json()).then(d => {
-      if (!d.ok) { addError(d.error || 'Failed to start'); finish(); return; }
-      history.push({ role: 'user', content: q });
-      poll(d.token, Date.now());
-    }).catch(e => { addError('Request failed: ' + e); finish(); });
+    res.then(r => r.text().then(t => ({ status: r.status, text: t })))
+      .then(({ status, text }) => {
+        if (!text.trim()) {
+          // The CSRF prepend terminates with an empty body, so this is the shape that failure
+          // takes. Naming it beats a bare JSON parse error.
+          addError('Empty response (HTTP ' + status + '). This usually means the request was '
+                 + 'rejected before the endpoint ran — check the CSRF token shim.');
+          finish(); return;
+        }
+        let d;
+        try { d = JSON.parse(text); }
+        catch (e) { addError('Unparseable response (HTTP ' + status + '): ' + text.slice(0, 160));
+                    finish(); return; }
+        if (!d.ok) { addError(d.error || 'Failed to start'); finish(); return; }
+        history.push({ role: 'user', content: q });
+        poll(d.token, Date.now());
+      })
+      .catch(e => { addError('Request failed: ' + (e && e.message ? e.message : e)); finish(); });
   }
 
   function finish() { busy = false; $('vv-ai-send').disabled = false; }
@@ -467,6 +493,21 @@
   });
   document.addEventListener('keydown', e => { if (e.key === 'Escape') vvAiCloseView(); });
 
+  // Surface any script error on this tab into the transcript. Without it a throw anywhere in
+  // the page is invisible unless the console happens to be open, which is how a silent hang
+  // survives a diagnosis session.
+  window.addEventListener('error', e => {
+    if (!busy) return;
+    addError('Script error: ' + (e.message || 'unknown')
+           + (e.filename ? ' (' + e.filename.split('/').pop() + ':' + e.lineno + ')' : ''));
+    finish();
+  });
+  window.addEventListener('unhandledrejection', e => {
+    if (!busy) return;
+    addError('Unhandled rejection: ' + (e.reason && e.reason.message ? e.reason.message : e.reason));
+    finish();
+  });
+
   loadBanner();
   setInterval(loadBanner, 30000);
 })();