diff --git a/src/lib/error-reporting.ts b/src/lib/error-reporting.ts
index f3004786b..aa88860ce 100644
--- a/src/lib/error-reporting.ts
+++ b/src/lib/error-reporting.ts
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@
  * Provides two things:
  *
  * 1. **Silencing rules** — `OutputError`, `ContextError` (a required value the
- *    user omitted), expected-state `AuthError`, and 401–499 `ApiError` are not
- *    sent to Sentry as issues. A `cli.error.silenced` metric preserves volume +
+ *    user omitted), expected-state `AuthError`, 401–499 `ApiError`, and 400
+ *    `ApiError`s that report an unparseable user search query are not sent to
+ *    Sentry as issues. A `cli.error.silenced` metric preserves volume +
  *    user/org context.
  *
  * 2. **Grouping tags** — enriches every error event with `cli_error.*` tags
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ import {
   ContextError,
   DeviceFlowError,
   HostScopeError,
+  isSearchQueryParseError,
   OutputError,
   ResolutionError,
   SeerError,
@@ -47,7 +49,8 @@ type SilenceReason =
   | "output_error"
   | "context_missing"
   | "auth_expected"
-  | "api_user_error";
+  | "api_user_error"
+  | "api_query_error";
 
 /**
  * Classify whether an error should be silenced.
@@ -78,6 +81,14 @@ export function classifySilenced(error: unknown): SilenceReason | null {
   if (error instanceof ApiError && error.status > 400 && error.status < 500) {
     return "api_user_error";
   }
+  // A 400 normally signals a malformed request the CLI built (a code defect),
+  // so it is captured by default. The exception: when the server reports it
+  // could not parse the user's search query, the `--query` syntax is wrong
+  // (CLI-FA: ~450 users across issue/explore/trace list). That is a user input
+  // error, and the API already returns an actionable message, so silence it.
+  if (error instanceof ApiError && isSearchQueryParseError(error)) {
+    return "api_query_error";
+  }
   return null;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/errors.ts b/src/lib/errors.ts
index 8427cf14c..386a9ba56 100644
--- a/src/lib/errors.ts
+++ b/src/lib/errors.ts
@@ -754,6 +754,32 @@ export function getExitCode(error: unknown): number {
   return 1;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Sentry's search-query parser emits a 400 whose detail begins with this phrase
+ * when the user's `--query` cannot be parsed (e.g. `is:403`, `lastSeen:>=-24h`,
+ * an empty `status:`). The server is telling us the user-supplied query is
+ * malformed — a user input error, not the CLI constructing a bad request.
+ */
+const SEARCH_QUERY_PARSE_MARKER = "Error parsing search query";
+
+/**
+ * Whether an {@link ApiError} is a Sentry search-query parse failure (HTTP 400
+ * whose detail reports an unparseable query). The CLI preserves the server's
+ * detail when re-wrapping list errors (`enrichIssueListError` in
+ * `commands/issue/list.ts` prepends the original detail), so a substring match
+ * is robust to that wrapping.
+ *
+ * Shared by the three 4xx classifiers so they agree on these 400s:
+ * `classifySilenced` (Sentry capture), {@link isUserError} (upgrade nudge), and
+ * `isUserApiError` (span attribution).
+ */
+export function isSearchQueryParseError(error: ApiError): boolean {
+  return (
+    error.status === 400 &&
+    (error.detail?.includes(SEARCH_QUERY_PARSE_MARKER) ?? false)
+  );
+}
+
 /**
  * Classify errors caused by user input, configuration, auth state, or account
  * settings. These errors already tell the user what to fix, so upgrade nudges
@@ -765,11 +791,15 @@ export function getExitCode(error: unknown): number {
 export function isUserError(error: unknown): boolean {
   if (error instanceof ApiError) {
     // Status 0 = network-level failure (DNS, ECONNREFUSED) — user environment,
-    // not a CLI bug. 400 usually means the CLI constructed a bad request.
-    // Other 4xx statuses are user/account/API-state problems.
+    // not a CLI bug. 400 usually means the CLI constructed a bad request, so it
+    // is treated as a CLI bug — except when the server reports the user's search
+    // query was unparseable, which is a user input mistake.
     if (error.status === 0) {
       return true;
     }
+    if (isSearchQueryParseError(error)) {
+      return true;
+    }
     return error.status > 400 && error.status < 500;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/telemetry.ts b/src/lib/telemetry.ts
index 9bdd1529b..e29fb3f0f 100644
--- a/src/lib/telemetry.ts
+++ b/src/lib/telemetry.ts
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ import {
   enrichEventWithGroupingTags,
   reportCliError,
 } from "./error-reporting.js";
-import { ApiError } from "./errors.js";
+import { ApiError, isSearchQueryParseError } from "./errors.js";
 import { attachSentryReporter, logger } from "./logger.js";
 import { getSentryBaseUrl, isSentrySaasUrl } from "./sentry-urls.js";
 import { makeCompressedTransport } from "./telemetry/zstd-transport.js";
@@ -347,8 +347,10 @@ export function isEbadfError(event: Sentry.ErrorEvent): boolean {
  * Check if an error is a user-caused (401–499) API error.
  *
  * 401–499 errors are user errors — wrong issue IDs, no access, rate limited —
- * not CLI bugs. 400 Bad Request is **excluded** because it indicates the CLI
- * constructed a malformed API request, which is a code defect.
+ * not CLI bugs. 400 Bad Request is **excluded** because it usually indicates
+ * the CLI constructed a malformed API request, which is a code defect — except
+ * when the server reports the user's search query was unparseable, which is a
+ * user input mistake (kept in sync with `classifySilenced` / `isUserError`).
  *
  * These should be recorded as span attributes for volume-spike detection in
  * Discover, but should NOT be captured as Sentry exceptions.
@@ -356,7 +358,12 @@ export function isEbadfError(event: Sentry.ErrorEvent): boolean {
  * @internal Exported for testing
  */
 export function isUserApiError(error: unknown): boolean {
-  return error instanceof ApiError && error.status > 400 && error.status < 500;
+  if (!(error instanceof ApiError)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return (
+    isSearchQueryParseError(error) || (error.status > 400 && error.status < 500)
+  );
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/lib/error-reporting.test.ts b/test/lib/error-reporting.test.ts
index 95db79506..c89fcc66d 100644
--- a/test/lib/error-reporting.test.ts
+++ b/test/lib/error-reporting.test.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import {
   ConfigError,
   ContextError,
   HostScopeError,
+  isSearchQueryParseError,
   OutputError,
   ResolutionError,
   SeerError,
@@ -238,6 +239,42 @@ describe("classifySilenced", () => {
     expect(classifySilenced(new ApiError("bad", 400))).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  test("silences ApiError 400 with a search-query parse detail", () => {
+    expect(
+      classifySilenced(
+        new ApiError(
+          "Failed to list issues: 400 Bad Request",
+          400,
+          "Error parsing search query: invalid status value of '403'"
+        )
+      )
+    ).toBe("api_query_error");
+  });
+
+  test("silences a wrapped issue-list query 400 (detail prepended)", () => {
+    // enrichIssueListError prepends the server detail, then appends CLI hints.
+    const detail =
+      "Error parsing search query: Empty string after 'status:'\n\n" +
+      "Suggestions:\n  • Check your --query syntax";
+    expect(
+      classifySilenced(new ApiError("Failed to fetch issues", 400, detail))
+    ).toBe("api_query_error");
+  });
+
+  test("does NOT silence a 400 whose detail is not a query parse error", () => {
+    expect(
+      classifySilenced(
+        new ApiError("bad", 400, "Invalid dashboard widget configuration")
+      )
+    ).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  test("does NOT treat a 4xx-with-query-marker as a query 400", () => {
+    // status must be exactly 400; other 4xx already silence via api_user_error.
+    const err = new ApiError("x", 422, "Error parsing search query: ...");
+    expect(isSearchQueryParseError(err)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   test.each([
     500, 502, 503,
   ])("does NOT silence ApiError with 5xx status %i", (status) => {
diff --git a/test/lib/errors.test.ts b/test/lib/errors.test.ts
index 7f53e0aa7..bc7a4d05c 100644
--- a/test/lib/errors.test.ts
+++ b/test/lib/errors.test.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
   formatError,
   getExitCode,
   HostScopeError,
+  isSearchQueryParseError,
   isUserError,
   OutputError,
   ResolutionError,
@@ -499,6 +500,11 @@ describe("isUserError", () => {
     ["WizardError", new WizardError("wizard failed"), true],
     ["ApiError 0 (network)", new ApiError("network error", 0), true],
     ["ApiError 400", new ApiError("bad request", 400), false],
+    [
+      "ApiError 400 (search query parse)",
+      new ApiError("bad", 400, "Error parsing search query: invalid status"),
+      true,
+    ],
     ["ApiError 401", new ApiError("unauthorized", 401), true],
     ["ApiError 418", new ApiError("teapot", 418), true],
     ["ApiError 499", new ApiError("client closed", 499), true],
@@ -514,6 +520,39 @@ describe("isUserError", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("isSearchQueryParseError", () => {
+  test("true for a 400 whose detail reports an unparseable query", () => {
+    expect(
+      isSearchQueryParseError(
+        new ApiError("bad", 400, "Error parsing search query: invalid status")
+      )
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("true when the parser detail is prepended by error enrichment", () => {
+    const detail =
+      "Error parsing search query: Empty string after 'status:'\n\nSuggestions:";
+    expect(isSearchQueryParseError(new ApiError("wrapped", 400, detail))).toBe(
+      true
+    );
+  });
+
+  test("false for a 400 without a query parse detail", () => {
+    expect(
+      isSearchQueryParseError(new ApiError("bad", 400, "Other failure"))
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(isSearchQueryParseError(new ApiError("no detail", 400))).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("false when status is not 400 (other 4xx handled elsewhere)", () => {
+    expect(
+      isSearchQueryParseError(
+        new ApiError("x", 422, "Error parsing search query: ...")
+      )
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("exit codes", () => {
   test("CliError base defaults to EXIT.GENERAL (1)", () => {
     expect(new CliError("err").exitCode).toBe(EXIT.GENERAL);
diff --git a/test/lib/telemetry.test.ts b/test/lib/telemetry.test.ts
index c32271342..f493243f2 100644
--- a/test/lib/telemetry.test.ts
+++ b/test/lib/telemetry.test.ts
@@ -320,6 +320,14 @@ describe("isUserApiError", () => {
     expect(isUserApiError(new ApiError("Bad request", 400))).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  test("returns true for 400 search-query parse error (user input)", () => {
+    expect(
+      isUserApiError(
+        new ApiError("bad", 400, "Error parsing search query: invalid status")
+      )
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   test("returns true for 401 Unauthorized", () => {
     expect(isUserApiError(new ApiError("Unauthorized", 401))).toBe(true);
   });