diff --git a/agent/auxiliary_client.py b/agent/auxiliary_client.py
index ee0ec917f5d..96ad615bf6f 100644
--- a/agent/auxiliary_client.py
+++ b/agent/auxiliary_client.py
@@ -1456,8 +1456,21 @@ def _try_nous(vision: bool = False) -> Tuple[Optional[OpenAI], Optional[str]]:
     nous = _read_nous_auth()
     runtime = _resolve_nous_runtime_api(force_refresh=False)
     if runtime is None and not nous:
+        logger.warning(
+            "Auxiliary Nous client unavailable: no Nous authentication found "
+            "(run: hermes auth)."
+        )
         _mark_provider_unhealthy("nous", ttl=60)
         return None, None
+    if runtime is None and nous:
+        # Runtime credential mint failed but stored Nous auth is still present.
+        # Falls back to the raw stored token below; surface a debug line so
+        # operators investigating expired/invalid sessions have a breadcrumb,
+        # without blocking the fallback path the rest of this function relies on.
+        logger.debug(
+            "Auxiliary Nous: runtime credential mint failed; falling back to "
+            "stored auth.json token."
+        )
     global auxiliary_is_nous
     auxiliary_is_nous = True
     logger.debug("Auxiliary client: Nous Portal")