diff --git a/run_agent.py b/run_agent.py
index 855b67a847..68d7ed2d78 100644
--- a/run_agent.py
+++ b/run_agent.py
@@ -3290,6 +3290,29 @@ class AIAgent:
         """
         raw = str(error)
 
+        # Empty-message errors (bare `assert`, empty `raise`, or third-party
+        # SDK accumulators that swallow the original payload) leave users
+        # staring at `📝 Error:` with no content.  Dump the traceback's last
+        # frame so the real root cause is visible without re-running under
+        # a debugger.  Known trigger: the anthropic SDK's streaming
+        # accumulator raises `RuntimeError('Unexpected event order, got
+        # error before "message_start"')` when Bedrock/Anthropic returns
+        # a service-level error event first (throttling, overload, etc.) —
+        # the raised exception has a message, but bare AssertionErrors in
+        # user-authored code paths often don't.
+        if not raw.strip():
+            import traceback as _tb
+            tb = getattr(error, "__traceback__", None)
+            if tb is not None:
+                frames = _tb.extract_tb(tb)
+                if frames:
+                    last = frames[-1]
+                    return (
+                        f"{type(error).__name__} at {last.filename}:{last.lineno} "
+                        f"in {last.name}() — {last.line or '(no source)'}"
+                    )
+            return f"{type(error).__name__} (no message, no traceback)"
+
         # Cloudflare / proxy HTML pages: grab the <title> for a clean summary
         if "<!DOCTYPE" in raw or "<html" in raw:
             m = re.search(r"<title[^>]*>([^<]+)</title>", raw, re.IGNORECASE)
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_summarize_api_error.py b/tests/agent/test_summarize_api_error.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9a5cffbfe1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/agent/test_summarize_api_error.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+"""Tests for AIAgent._summarize_api_error — the error-line formatter
+used by the retry loop's `📝 Error:` display.
+
+Regression tests for a gap where exceptions with empty string payloads
+(bare `raise`, bare `assert`, or third-party SDK assertions that don't
+carry the original error message) would surface as `📝 Error:` with no
+content, forcing users to re-run under a debugger to see what failed.
+"""
+from run_agent import AIAgent
+
+
+def _raise_and_catch(exc: Exception) -> Exception:
+    """Raise and immediately re-catch so the exception has a real traceback."""
+    try:
+        raise exc
+    except type(exc) as caught:
+        return caught
+
+
+class TestSummarizeApiErrorEmptyMessage:
+    """Empty-message errors still surface actionable context."""
+
+    def test_bare_assertion_error_shows_traceback_frame(self):
+        # `raise AssertionError()` produces a truly empty-message error
+        # (unlike `assert False` which Python annotates with source).
+        def _trigger():
+            raise AssertionError()
+
+        try:
+            _trigger()
+        except AssertionError as e:
+            result = AIAgent._summarize_api_error(e)
+
+        assert "AssertionError" in result
+        assert "_trigger" in result
+        assert ".py:" in result
+
+    def test_empty_raise_shows_type_only_when_no_traceback(self):
+        # Construct an exception without raising it — no __traceback__
+        err = RuntimeError("")
+        result = AIAgent._summarize_api_error(err)
+
+        assert "RuntimeError" in result
+        assert "no message" in result
+
+    def test_whitespace_only_message_treated_as_empty(self):
+        err = _raise_and_catch(RuntimeError("   \n\t  "))
+        result = AIAgent._summarize_api_error(err)
+
+        assert "RuntimeError" in result
+        # Must include a frame locator — not just the empty payload
+        assert ".py:" in result or "no message" in result
+
+    def test_non_empty_message_falls_through_to_normal_path(self):
+        """Non-empty errors must not be captured by the new branch."""
+        err = _raise_and_catch(RuntimeError("some real error"))
+        result = AIAgent._summarize_api_error(err)
+
+        # The normal path returns the raw string (possibly truncated),
+        # NOT the traceback-frame format introduced by this fix.
+        assert "some real error" in result
+        assert ".py:" not in result