diff --git a/src/__tests__/commands/agent-status.test.ts b/src/__tests__/commands/agent-status.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4d94fc5077
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/__tests__/commands/agent-status.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+import { execFile } from 'node:child_process';
+import { createServer, type Server } from 'node:http';
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { promisify } from 'node:util';
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+const exec = promisify(execFile);
+let server: Server;
+let baseUrl: string;
+let payload: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+let responseStatus = 200;
+const home = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'agent-status-cli-'));
+
+beforeAll(async () => {
+  server = createServer((req, res) => {
+    res.writeHead(responseStatus, { 'content-type': 'application/json' });
+    res.end(JSON.stringify(payload));
+  });
+  await new Promise<void>((resolve) => server.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', resolve));
+  baseUrl = `http://127.0.0.1:${(server.address() as { port: number }).port}`;
+});
+
+afterAll(async () => {
+  await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) =>
+    server.close((error) => (error ? reject(error) : resolve()))
+  );
+  rmSync(home, { recursive: true, force: true });
+});
+
+async function cli(args: string[]) {
+  try {
+    return {
+      code: 0,
+      ...(await exec(process.execPath, ['dist/index.js', ...args], {
+        timeout: 10000,
+        env: {
+          ...process.env,
+          HOME: home,
+          USERPROFILE: home,
+          FIRECRAWL_API_KEY: 'fc-test',
+          FIRECRAWL_API_URL: baseUrl,
+          FIRECRAWL_NO_UPDATE_CHECK: '1',
+        },
+      })),
+    };
+  } catch (error) {
+    return error as { code: number; stdout: string; stderr: string };
+  }
+}
+
+const JOB_ID = '019e5299-8235-7538-9f62-bc39d4b058f1';
+
+it('exits nonzero and surfaces the server error when checking a failed agent without --wait', async () => {
+  payload = {
+    success: true,
+    status: 'failed',
+    error: 'Refusal: Error: Agent reached max credits',
+    data: null,
+  };
+  const result = await cli(['agent', JOB_ID, '--json']);
+  expect(result.code).toBe(1);
+  expect(result.stderr).toContain('Agent reached max credits');
+});
+
+it('keeps success semantics for a completed agent status', async () => {
+  payload = {
+    success: true,
+    status: 'completed',
+    data: { answer: 'done' },
+    creditsUsed: 12,
+  };
+  const result = await cli(['agent', JOB_ID, '--json']);
+  expect(result.code).toBe(0);
+  const parsed = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
+  expect(parsed.success).toBe(true);
+  expect(parsed.status).toBe('completed');
+  expect(parsed.data).toEqual({ answer: 'done' });
+});
+
+it('keeps success semantics for a processing agent status', async () => {
+  payload = { success: true, status: 'processing' };
+  const result = await cli(['agent', JOB_ID, '--json']);
+  expect(result.code).toBe(0);
+  const parsed = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
+  expect(parsed.success).toBe(true);
+  expect(parsed.status).toBe('processing');
+});
+
+it('keeps success semantics for a cancelled agent status', async () => {
+  payload = { success: true, status: 'cancelled' };
+  const result = await cli(['agent', JOB_ID, '--json']);
+  expect(result.code).toBe(0);
+  const parsed = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
+  expect(parsed.success).toBe(true);
+  expect(parsed.status).toBe('cancelled');
+});
+
+it('keeps failure semantics when the server rejects the status request', async () => {
+  payload = { success: false, error: 'Unauthorized: Invalid API key' };
+  responseStatus = 401;
+  const result = await cli(['agent', JOB_ID, '--json']);
+  responseStatus = 200;
+  expect(result.code).toBe(1);
+  expect(result.stderr).toContain('Unauthorized: Invalid API key');
+});
+
+it.each([undefined, null, ''])(
+  'uses the failure fallback for a missing or empty error (%j)',
+  async (error) => {
+    payload = { success: true, status: 'failed', data: null, error };
+    const result = await cli(['agent', JOB_ID, '--json']);
+    expect(result.code).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain('Agent failed');
+  }
+);
diff --git a/src/commands/agent.ts b/src/commands/agent.ts
index 28832cdd41..a4fd1ed7a0 100644
--- a/src/commands/agent.ts
+++ b/src/commands/agent.ts
@@ -113,6 +113,14 @@ async function checkAgentStatus(
       const normalizedStatus = normalizeAgentStatus(
         status.status as AgentStatusFromApi
       );
+      if (normalizedStatus === 'failed') {
+        return {
+          success: false,
+          data: toStatusData(jobId, status, normalizedStatus),
+          error: status.error || 'Agent failed',
+        };
+      }
+
       const isCancelled = normalizedStatus === 'cancelled';
 
       return {