diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/store/createChatStore.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/store/createChatStore.ts
index 55c6d4c88..6811f0f6f 100644
--- a/packages/react-headless/src/store/createChatStore.ts
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/store/createChatStore.ts
@@ -245,6 +245,8 @@ export const createChatStore = (config: StoreConfig) => {
           throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
         }
 
+        const messageCountBefore = get().messages.length;
+
         await processStreamedMessage({
           response,
           createMessage: (msg) => set((s) => ({ messages: [...s.messages, msg] })),
@@ -255,9 +257,15 @@ export const createChatStore = (config: StoreConfig) => {
           deleteMessage: (id) => set((s) => ({ messages: s.messages.filter((m) => m.id !== id) })),
           adapter: streamProtocol,
         });
+
+        if (get().messages.length === messageCountBefore) {
+          throw new Error("Failed to get a response. Please check your connection and try again.");
+        }
       } catch (e) {
         if (!abortController.signal.aborted) {
-          set({ threadError: e instanceof Error ? e : new Error(String(e)) });
+          const error = e instanceof Error ? e : new Error(String(e));
+          console.error("[OpenUI] processMessage failed:", error);
+          set({ threadError: error });
         }
       } finally {
         set({ _abortController: null, isRunning: false });
diff --git a/packages/react-headless/src/stream/processStreamedMessage.ts b/packages/react-headless/src/stream/processStreamedMessage.ts
index fb8002f69..5c59da1d5 100644
--- a/packages/react-headless/src/stream/processStreamedMessage.ts
+++ b/packages/react-headless/src/stream/processStreamedMessage.ts
@@ -91,9 +91,10 @@ export const processStreamedMessage = async ({
         }
         break;
 
-      case EventType.RUN_ERROR:
-        console.error("Stream error:", (event as any).error);
-        break;
+      case EventType.RUN_ERROR: {
+        const msg = (event as any).message || (event as any).error || "Stream error";
+        throw new Error(typeof msg === "string" ? msg : JSON.stringify(msg));
+      }
     }
 
     if (isFirst) {
diff --git a/packages/react-ui/src/components/Shell/Thread.tsx b/packages/react-ui/src/components/Shell/Thread.tsx
index 68af847da..86aaf21d8 100644
--- a/packages/react-ui/src/components/Shell/Thread.tsx
+++ b/packages/react-ui/src/components/Shell/Thread.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import clsx from "clsx";
 import React, { memo, useEffect, useRef } from "react";
 import { useLayoutContext } from "../../context/LayoutContext";
 import { ScrollVariant, useScrollToBottom } from "../../hooks/useScrollToBottom";
+import { Callout } from "../Callout";
 import { MarkDownRenderer } from "../MarkDownRenderer";
 import { MessageLoading as MessageLoadingComponent } from "../MessageLoading";
 import type { AssistantMessageComponent, UserMessageComponent } from "../OpenUIChat/types";
@@ -320,6 +321,21 @@ export const MessageLoading = () => {
   );
 };
 
+export const ThreadError = () => {
+  const threadError = useThread((s) => s.threadError);
+  if (!threadError) return null;
+
+  return (
+    <div className="openui-shell-thread-error">
+      <Callout
+        variant="danger"
+        title="Something went wrong"
+        description={threadError.message || "An unexpected error occurred. Please try again."}
+      />
+    </div>
+  );
+};
+
 export const Messages = ({
   className,
   loader,
@@ -333,6 +349,7 @@ export const Messages = ({
 }) => {
   const messages = useThread((s) => s.messages);
   const isRunning = useThread((s) => s.isRunning);
+  const threadError = useThread((s) => s.threadError);
 
   return (
     <div className={clsx("openui-shell-thread-messages", className)}>
@@ -349,6 +366,7 @@ export const Messages = ({
         );
       })}
       {isRunning && <div>{loader}</div>}
+      {!isRunning && threadError && <ThreadError />}
     </div>
   );
 };
diff --git a/packages/react-ui/src/components/Shell/thread.scss b/packages/react-ui/src/components/Shell/thread.scss
index 63ec352f8..8b2ed712b 100644
--- a/packages/react-ui/src/components/Shell/thread.scss
+++ b/packages/react-ui/src/components/Shell/thread.scss
@@ -264,6 +264,15 @@ $center-align-spacing: calc(32px + cssUtils.$space-s);
   }
 }
 
+.openui-shell-thread-error {
+  padding: 0 $center-align-spacing;
+  min-height: auto !important;
+
+  .openui-shell-container--mobile & {
+    padding: 0;
+  }
+}
+
 .openui-shell-thread-message-loading {
   display: flex;
   padding: 0 $center-align-spacing;