diff --git a/src/components/ops/doc-intelligence-drawer.tsx b/src/components/ops/doc-intelligence-drawer.tsx
index 71923c4..0928aa2 100644
--- a/src/components/ops/doc-intelligence-drawer.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ops/doc-intelligence-drawer.tsx
@@ -95,11 +95,25 @@ export function DocIntelligenceBody({ documentId }: { documentId: string }) {
           icon={<Network className="size-6" />}
           title="No entities found"
           hint={
-            <>
-              No entities are stored for this document. Extraction may not have run yet (enable
-              it with <code>KB_INTELLIGENCE_ENABLED</code>), or the document yielded none. Try
-              Re-extract.
-            </>
+            intel.data?.capability && !intel.data.capability.intelligence_enabled ? (
+              <>
+                Intelligence extraction is disabled — enable it with{" "}
+                <code>KB_INTELLIGENCE_ENABLED</code>, or use <em>Re-extract</em>, which works
+                while disabled.
+              </>
+            ) : intel.data?.capability &&
+              intel.data.capability.credential_configured === false ? (
+              <>
+                Extraction is enabled but no API key resolves for the extraction endpoint, so
+                extraction fails silently. Add a key under Knowledge Base settings (or set{" "}
+                <code>OPENROUTER_API_KEY</code>), then <em>Re-extract</em>.
+              </>
+            ) : (
+              <>
+                No entities are stored for this document — it may genuinely yield none. Try{" "}
+                <em>Re-extract</em>.
+              </>
+            )
           }
         />
       ) : (
diff --git a/src/components/ops/graph-lens-helpers.test.ts b/src/components/ops/graph-lens-helpers.test.ts
index 06bfec4..2f180a5 100644
--- a/src/components/ops/graph-lens-helpers.test.ts
+++ b/src/components/ops/graph-lens-helpers.test.ts
@@ -1,43 +1,49 @@
-import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
-import { deriveGraphState, isSmallModel, fromIntelligence } from "./graph-lens-helpers";
-import type { KbCapability, KbDocumentIntelligence } from "@/lib/types";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
-const on: KbCapability = { intelligence_enabled: true, extraction_model: "x" };
-const off: KbCapability = { intelligence_enabled: false, extraction_model: "x" };
+import type { KbCapability } from "@/lib/types";
 
-describe("deriveGraphState", () => {
-  it("loading before first data", () =>
-    expect(deriveGraphState(undefined, undefined, true, false)).toBe("loading"));
-  it("disabled when capability is off", () =>
-    expect(deriveGraphState(off, 0, false, true)).toBe("disabled"));
-  it("empty when enabled with 0 entities", () =>
-    expect(deriveGraphState(on, 0, false, true)).toBe("empty"));
-  it("ready when entities present", () =>
-    expect(deriveGraphState(on, 5, false, true)).toBe("ready"));
+import { deriveGraphState } from "./graph-lens-helpers";
+
+// Plan 097 (RantAIClaw): the console's honesty about WHY a graph is empty
+// lives entirely in this pure function — these are the only tests pinning it.
+
+const cap = (over: Partial<KbCapability> = {}): KbCapability => ({
+  intelligence_enabled: true,
+  extraction_model: "openai/gpt-4.1-nano",
+  credential_configured: true,
+  ...over,
 });
 
-describe("isSmallModel", () => {
-  it("flags nano/mini, not large models", () => {
-    expect(isSmallModel("openai/gpt-4.1-nano")).toBe(true);
-    expect(isSmallModel("openai/gpt-4o")).toBe(false);
-    expect(isSmallModel(undefined)).toBe(false);
+describe("deriveGraphState", () => {
+  it("loading before the first response", () => {
+    expect(deriveGraphState(undefined, undefined, true, false)).toBe("loading");
+  });
+
+  it("disabled when intelligence is off", () => {
+    expect(deriveGraphState(cap({ intelligence_enabled: false }), 0, false, true)).toBe(
+      "disabled",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("no-credential when enabled but no key resolves", () => {
+    expect(deriveGraphState(cap({ credential_configured: false }), 0, false, true)).toBe(
+      "no-credential",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("empty when enabled with a key and zero entities", () => {
+    expect(deriveGraphState(cap(), 0, false, true)).toBe("empty");
+  });
+
+  it("ready when entities exist", () => {
+    expect(deriveGraphState(cap(), 12, false, true)).toBe("ready");
   });
-});
 
-describe("fromIntelligence", () => {
-  it("builds nodes/edges and computes degree from relations", () => {
-    const intel: KbDocumentIntelligence = {
-      entities: [
-        { id: "a", name: "A", entity_type: "person", confidence: 1 },
-        { id: "b", name: "B", entity_type: "person", confidence: 1 },
-      ],
-      relations: [{ id: "r", source: "a", target: "b", relation_type: "knows", confidence: 1 }],
-      stats: {},
-    };
-    const g = fromIntelligence(intel);
-    expect(g.nodes.length).toBe(2);
-    expect(g.edges.length).toBe(1);
-    expect(g.nodes.find((n) => n.id === "a")!.degree).toBe(1);
-    expect(g.stats?.corpus_entities).toBe(2);
+  it("older gateways without the credential field fall through to empty, never no-credential", () => {
+    // credential_configured is optional in the wire type; undefined must not
+    // be treated as "missing credential".
+    expect(deriveGraphState(cap({ credential_configured: undefined }), 0, false, true)).toBe(
+      "empty",
+    );
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/components/ops/graph-lens-helpers.ts b/src/components/ops/graph-lens-helpers.ts
index 4f9ddb1..31fba4e 100644
--- a/src/components/ops/graph-lens-helpers.ts
+++ b/src/components/ops/graph-lens-helpers.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import type {
   KbGraphNode,
 } from "@/lib/types";
 
-export type GraphState = "loading" | "disabled" | "empty" | "ready";
+export type GraphState = "loading" | "disabled" | "no-credential" | "empty" | "ready";
 
 /**
  * Derive the honest render state from the capability signal + scope-wide entity
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ export function deriveGraphState(
 ): GraphState {
   if (loading && !hasData) return "loading";
   if (cap && !cap.intelligence_enabled) return "disabled";
+  // Enabled but no key resolves: extraction fails per chunk and is
+  // swallowed server-side, so without this distinction the operator sees
+  // the same "empty" state as a genuinely entity-free corpus.
+  if (cap && cap.intelligence_enabled && cap.credential_configured === false)
+    return "no-credential";
   return (corpusEntities ?? 0) === 0 ? "empty" : "ready";
 }
 
diff --git a/src/components/ops/graph-lens.tsx b/src/components/ops/graph-lens.tsx
index 4aabfaf..0c6f02f 100644
--- a/src/components/ops/graph-lens.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ops/graph-lens.tsx
@@ -159,6 +159,21 @@ export function GraphLens({ scope, lockScope }: { scope: GraphScope; lockScope?:
               </>
             }
           />
+        ) : graphState === "no-credential" ? (
+          <EmptyState
+            icon={<Network className="size-6" />}
+            title="Extraction is on, but no credential resolves"
+            hint={
+              <>
+                Intelligence extraction is enabled but no API key resolves for the extraction
+                endpoint, so every extraction attempt fails silently. Add a key under Knowledge
+                Base settings (or set <code>OPENROUTER_API_KEY</code>).
+                {data?.capability?.extraction_model && (
+                  <ModelNote model={data.capability.extraction_model} />
+                )}
+              </>
+            }
+          />
         ) : graphState === "empty" ? (
           <EmptyState
             icon={<Network className="size-6" />}
diff --git a/src/lib/types.ts b/src/lib/types.ts
index 601e3b9..3697a0a 100644
--- a/src/lib/types.ts
+++ b/src/lib/types.ts
@@ -232,6 +232,10 @@ export interface KbGraphEdge {
 export interface KbCapability {
   intelligence_enabled: boolean;
   extraction_model: string;
+  /** Presence-only credential signal — the key itself never crosses the API. */
+  credential_configured?: boolean;
+  graphrag_enabled?: boolean;
+  resolution?: string;
 }
 export interface KbGraph {
   nodes: KbGraphNode[];