diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/capabilities/core/access/rest.py b/surfsense_backend/app/capabilities/core/access/rest.py
index df37c79ed..70bcf1b7f 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/capabilities/core/access/rest.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/capabilities/core/access/rest.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from app.capabilities.core.billing import charge_capability, gate_capability
 from app.capabilities.core.store import all_capabilities
 from app.capabilities.core.types import Capability, CapabilityContext
 from app.db import get_async_session
+from app.exceptions import ExternalServiceError, SurfSenseError
 from app.services.web_crawl_credit_service import InsufficientCreditsError
 from app.users import get_auth_context
 from app.utils.rbac import check_workspace_access
@@ -55,7 +56,17 @@ def _register_verb(router: APIRouter, capability: Capability) -> None:
                     "required_micros": exc.required_micros,
                 },
             ) from exc
-        output = await executor(payload)
+
+        try:
+            output = await executor(payload)
+        except (SurfSenseError, HTTPException):
+            raise
+        except Exception as exc:
+            raise ExternalServiceError(
+                f"The '{capability.name}' capability failed due to an upstream error.",
+                code="CAPABILITY_UPSTREAM_ERROR",
+            ) from exc
+
         await charge_capability(output, unit, ctx)
         return output
 
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/capabilities/access/test_rest_router.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/capabilities/access/test_rest_router.py
index e3bc387e9..63d46f0be 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/capabilities/access/test_rest_router.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/tests/unit/capabilities/access/test_rest_router.py
@@ -148,6 +148,76 @@ async def test_rate_limit_blocks_the_workspace(monkeypatch):
     assert resp.status_code == 429
 
 
+def _register_surfsense_handler(app: FastAPI) -> None:
+    """Minimal stand-in for the app's global SurfSenseError handler."""
+    from starlette.responses import JSONResponse
+
+    from app.exceptions import SurfSenseError
+
+    async def _handler(_request, exc: SurfSenseError):
+        return JSONResponse(
+            status_code=exc.status_code,
+            content={"code": exc.code, "message": exc.message},
+        )
+
+    app.add_exception_handler(SurfSenseError, _handler)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_executor_fault_becomes_502(monkeypatch):
+    """Any non-SurfSense executor error is surfaced as a clean 502, not a 500."""
+
+    async def _boom(_payload: _EchoInput) -> _EchoOutput:
+        raise RuntimeError("upstream provider exploded")
+
+    boom = Capability(
+        name="test.boom",
+        description="Always fails for tests.",
+        input_schema=_EchoInput,
+        output_schema=_EchoOutput,
+        executor=_boom,
+        billing_unit=None,
+    )
+
+    app = _build_app([boom], monkeypatch)
+    _register_surfsense_handler(app)
+    async with _client(app) as client:
+        resp = await client.post(
+            "/api/v1/workspaces/7/capabilities/test.boom",
+            json={"value": "hi"},
+        )
+    assert resp.status_code == 502
+    assert resp.json()["code"] == "CAPABILITY_UPSTREAM_ERROR"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_surfsense_error_passes_through(monkeypatch):
+    """Intentional, status-carrying errors (e.g. a 403 wall) are not remapped."""
+    from app.exceptions import ForbiddenError
+
+    async def _forbidden(_payload: _EchoInput) -> _EchoOutput:
+        raise ForbiddenError("sign in required", code="GOOGLE_SIGNIN_REQUIRED")
+
+    forbidden = Capability(
+        name="test.forbidden",
+        description="Raises a domain 403 for tests.",
+        input_schema=_EchoInput,
+        output_schema=_EchoOutput,
+        executor=_forbidden,
+        billing_unit=None,
+    )
+
+    app = _build_app([forbidden], monkeypatch)
+    _register_surfsense_handler(app)
+    async with _client(app) as client:
+        resp = await client.post(
+            "/api/v1/workspaces/7/capabilities/test.forbidden",
+            json={"value": "hi"},
+        )
+    assert resp.status_code == 403
+    assert resp.json()["code"] == "GOOGLE_SIGNIN_REQUIRED"
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_success_charges_once(monkeypatch):
     from unittest.mock import AsyncMock