diff --git a/control-plane/web/client/src/services/api.ts b/control-plane/web/client/src/services/api.ts
index b9f555c77..6feaf4903 100644
--- a/control-plane/web/client/src/services/api.ts
+++ b/control-plane/web/client/src/services/api.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import type {
   MCPHealthResponseModeAware,
   MCPServerMetrics,
 } from '../types/agentfield';
+import { getErrorMessage } from './errorMessage';
 
 const API_BASE_URL = import.meta.env.VITE_API_BASE_URL || '/api/ui/v1';
 const STORAGE_KEY = "af_api_key";
@@ -97,11 +98,11 @@ async function fetchWrapper<T>(url: string, options?: RequestInit & { timeout?:
     clearTimeout(timeoutId);
 
     if (!response.ok) {
-      const errorData = await response.json().catch(() => ({
-        message: 'Request failed with status ' + response.status
-      }));
+      const errorData: unknown = await response.json().catch(() => null);
 
-      throw new Error(errorData.message || `HTTP error! status: ${response.status}`);
+      throw new Error(
+        getErrorMessage(errorData, `HTTP error! status: ${response.status}`),
+      );
     }
 
     return response.json() as Promise<T>;
diff --git a/control-plane/web/client/src/services/errorMessage.ts b/control-plane/web/client/src/services/errorMessage.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..505891d8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/control-plane/web/client/src/services/errorMessage.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+const ERROR_MESSAGE_KEYS = ["message", "detail", "error", "reason", "msg"] as const;
+const MAX_ERROR_DEPTH = 4;
+
+function messageFromValue(value: unknown, depth = 0): string | null {
+  if (depth > MAX_ERROR_DEPTH || value == null) return null;
+
+  if (typeof value === "string") {
+    const message = value.trim();
+    return message || null;
+  }
+
+  if (value instanceof Error) return messageFromValue(value.message, depth + 1);
+
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) {
+    const messages = value
+      .map((entry) => messageFromValue(entry, depth + 1))
+      .filter((entry): entry is string => Boolean(entry));
+    return messages.length > 0 ? messages.join("; ") : null;
+  }
+
+  if (typeof value !== "object") return String(value);
+
+  const record = value as Record<string, unknown>;
+  for (const key of ERROR_MESSAGE_KEYS) {
+    const message = messageFromValue(record[key], depth + 1);
+    if (message) return message;
+  }
+
+  return null;
+}
+
+export function getErrorMessage(value: unknown, fallback: string): string {
+  return messageFromValue(value) ?? fallback;
+}
diff --git a/control-plane/web/client/src/services/sessionsApi.ts b/control-plane/web/client/src/services/sessionsApi.ts
index 2b8b2e351..53162f297 100644
--- a/control-plane/web/client/src/services/sessionsApi.ts
+++ b/control-plane/web/client/src/services/sessionsApi.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { getGlobalApiKey } from "./api";
+import { getErrorMessage } from "./errorMessage";
 
 const API_BASE = "/api/v1";
 
@@ -56,8 +57,10 @@ async function fetchJson<T>(url: string, options: RequestInit = {}): Promise<T>
     }),
   });
   if (!response.ok) {
-    const errorData = await response.json().catch(() => ({}));
-    throw new Error(errorData.message || errorData.error || `Request failed with status ${response.status}`);
+    const errorData: unknown = await response.json().catch(() => null);
+    throw new Error(
+      getErrorMessage(errorData, `Request failed with status ${response.status}`),
+    );
   }
   return response.json();
 }
diff --git a/control-plane/web/client/src/test/services/errorMessage.test.ts b/control-plane/web/client/src/test/services/errorMessage.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f5c18e40a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/control-plane/web/client/src/test/services/errorMessage.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { getErrorMessage } from "@/services/errorMessage";
+
+describe("getErrorMessage", () => {
+  it("extracts a nested backend error message", () => {
+    expect(
+      getErrorMessage(
+        {
+          error: {
+            code: "session_start_failed",
+            message: "No active node can start this session",
+          },
+        },
+        "fallback",
+      ),
+    ).toBe("No active node can start this session");
+  });
+
+  it("joins FastAPI validation messages", () => {
+    expect(
+      getErrorMessage(
+        {
+          detail: [
+            { loc: ["body", "target"], msg: "Field required" },
+            { loc: ["body", "model"], msg: "Unsupported model" },
+          ],
+        },
+        "fallback",
+      ),
+    ).toBe("Field required; Unsupported model");
+  });
+
+  it("uses the fallback for unknown structured errors instead of coercing them", () => {
+    expect(getErrorMessage({ code: "node_offline" }, "fallback")).toBe("fallback");
+  });
+
+  it("uses the fallback for empty and circular values", () => {
+    const circular: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+    circular.self = circular;
+
+    expect(getErrorMessage({}, "fallback")).toBe("fallback");
+    expect(getErrorMessage(circular, "fallback")).toBe("fallback");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/control-plane/web/client/src/test/services/sessionsApi.test.ts b/control-plane/web/client/src/test/services/sessionsApi.test.ts
index 0ef4717ee..1a49ce44c 100644
--- a/control-plane/web/client/src/test/services/sessionsApi.test.ts
+++ b/control-plane/web/client/src/test/services/sessionsApi.test.ts
@@ -74,4 +74,35 @@ describe("sessionsApi", () => {
       sessionsApi.invokeTool("sess-1", "missing", { input: {} }),
     ).rejects.toThrow("bad tool");
   });
+
+  it("extracts a message from a structured session error", async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      ok: false,
+      status: 503,
+      json: async () => ({
+        error: {
+          code: "node_offline",
+          message: "No active node can start this session",
+        },
+      }),
+    });
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
+
+    await expect(sessionsApi.startSession("support.voice")).rejects.toThrow(
+      "No active node can start this session",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to the HTTP status when the response has no safe message", async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      ok: false,
+      status: 503,
+      json: async () => ({ code: "node_offline" }),
+    });
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
+
+    await expect(sessionsApi.startSession("support.voice")).rejects.toThrow(
+      "Request failed with status 503",
+    );
+  });
 });