diff --git a/src/tools/tools.ts b/src/tools/tools.ts
index e07a254..ff13825 100644
--- a/src/tools/tools.ts
+++ b/src/tools/tools.ts
@@ -128,6 +128,14 @@ export function createDATools(
           }
           return await client.getSource(org, repo, ensureHtmlExtension(path));
         } catch (e) {
+          // A missing file is not a failure for the agent — it may be probing an
+          // optional file that doesn't exist yet (e.g. a workflow/approvals JSON
+          // when the backing MCP server isn't wired). Return a graceful not-found
+          // result (no `error` field) so the client doesn't render a red
+          // OUTPUT-ERROR badge and the model can reason about the absence directly.
+          if (isAPIError(e) && e.status === 404) {
+            return { path: ensureHtmlExtension(path), content: null, found: false, status: 404 };
+          }
           if (isAPIError(e)) return { error: e.message, status: e.status };
           return { error: String(e) };
         }
diff --git a/test/eds-tools.test.ts b/test/eds-tools.test.ts
index 5712825..83c4739 100644
--- a/test/eds-tools.test.ts
+++ b/test/eds-tools.test.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,25 @@
-import {
-  describe, it, expect, vi,
-} from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { EDSAdminClient } from '../src/eds-admin/client';
 import { createDATools, createEDSTools } from '../src/tools/tools';
 
 // Minimal mock for EDSAdminClient
 function makeEdsClient(overrides: Partial<EDSAdminClient> = {}): EDSAdminClient {
   return {
-    preview: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ status: 200, path: '/docs/index', url: 'https://main--repo--org.hlx.page/docs/index' }),
+    preview: vi
+      .fn()
+      .mockResolvedValue({
+        status: 200,
+        path: '/docs/index',
+        url: 'https://main--repo--org.hlx.page/docs/index',
+      }),
     unpreview: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ status: 200, path: '/docs/index' }),
-    publishLive: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ status: 200, path: '/docs/index', url: 'https://main--repo--org.hlx.live/docs/index' }),
+    publishLive: vi
+      .fn()
+      .mockResolvedValue({
+        status: 200,
+        path: '/docs/index',
+        url: 'https://main--repo--org.hlx.live/docs/index',
+      }),
     unpublishLive: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ status: 200, path: '/docs/index' }),
     ...overrides,
   } as unknown as EDSAdminClient;
@@ -25,7 +35,10 @@ describe('eds_preview tool', () => {
     const edsClient = makeEdsClient();
     const tools = createEDSTools(edsClient);
 
-    const result = await tools.content_preview.execute({ org: 'myorg', repo: 'myrepo', path: '/docs/index' }, {} as any);
+    const result = await tools.content_preview.execute(
+      { org: 'myorg', repo: 'myrepo', path: '/docs/index' },
+      {} as any,
+    );
 
     expect(edsClient.preview).toHaveBeenCalledWith('myorg', 'myrepo', '/docs/index');
     expect(result).toMatchObject({ status: 200, path: '/docs/index' });
@@ -37,7 +50,10 @@ describe('eds_preview tool', () => {
     });
     const tools = createEDSTools(edsClient);
 
-    const result = await tools.content_preview.execute({ org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' }, {} as any);
+    const result = await tools.content_preview.execute(
+      { org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' },
+      {} as any,
+    );
     expect(result).toMatchObject({ error: 'Not Found', status: 404 });
   });
 });
@@ -52,7 +68,10 @@ describe('eds_publish tool', () => {
     const edsClient = makeEdsClient();
     const tools = createEDSTools(edsClient);
 
-    const result = await tools.content_publish.execute({ org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/docs/index' }, {} as any);
+    const result = await tools.content_publish.execute(
+      { org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/docs/index' },
+      {} as any,
+    );
 
     expect(edsClient.preview).toHaveBeenCalledWith('o', 'r', '/docs/index');
     expect(edsClient.publishLive).toHaveBeenCalledWith('o', 'r', '/docs/index');
@@ -68,7 +87,10 @@ describe('eds_publish tool', () => {
     });
     const tools = createEDSTools(edsClient);
 
-    const result = await tools.content_publish.execute({ org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' }, {} as any);
+    const result = await tools.content_publish.execute(
+      { org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' },
+      {} as any,
+    );
 
     expect(edsClient.publishLive).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(result).toMatchObject({ error: 'Preview failed', status: 500 });
@@ -80,7 +102,10 @@ describe('eds_publish tool', () => {
     });
     const tools = createEDSTools(edsClient);
 
-    const result = await tools.content_publish.execute({ org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' }, {} as any);
+    const result = await tools.content_publish.execute(
+      { org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' },
+      {} as any,
+    );
 
     expect(result).toMatchObject({ error: 'Live failed', status: 502 });
     expect(result).not.toHaveProperty('preview');
@@ -97,7 +122,10 @@ describe('content_unpreview tool', () => {
     const edsClient = makeEdsClient();
     const tools = createEDSTools(edsClient);
 
-    const result = await tools.content_unpreview.execute({ org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/docs/index' }, {} as any);
+    const result = await tools.content_unpreview.execute(
+      { org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/docs/index' },
+      {} as any,
+    );
 
     expect(edsClient.unpreview).toHaveBeenCalledWith('o', 'r', '/docs/index');
     expect(result).toMatchObject({ status: 200, path: '/docs/index' });
@@ -109,7 +137,10 @@ describe('content_unpreview tool', () => {
     });
     const tools = createEDSTools(edsClient);
 
-    const result = await tools.content_unpreview.execute({ org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' }, {} as any);
+    const result = await tools.content_unpreview.execute(
+      { org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' },
+      {} as any,
+    );
     expect(result).toMatchObject({ error: 'Not Found', status: 404 });
   });
 });
@@ -124,7 +155,10 @@ describe('content_unpublish tool', () => {
     const edsClient = makeEdsClient();
     const tools = createEDSTools(edsClient);
 
-    const result = await tools.content_unpublish.execute({ org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/docs/index' }, {} as any);
+    const result = await tools.content_unpublish.execute(
+      { org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/docs/index' },
+      {} as any,
+    );
 
     expect(edsClient.unpublishLive).toHaveBeenCalledWith('o', 'r', '/docs/index');
     expect(result).toMatchObject({ status: 200, path: '/docs/index' });
@@ -136,7 +170,10 @@ describe('content_unpublish tool', () => {
     });
     const tools = createEDSTools(edsClient);
 
-    const result = await tools.content_unpublish.execute({ org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' }, {} as any);
+    const result = await tools.content_unpublish.execute(
+      { org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: '/p' },
+      {} as any,
+    );
     expect(result).toMatchObject({ error: 'Live error', status: 502 });
   });
 });
@@ -168,3 +205,33 @@ describe('DA tools still registered when client provided', () => {
     expect(tools).not.toHaveProperty('content_list');
   });
 });
+
+describe('content_read missing-file handling', () => {
+  function makeClient(getSource: any) {
+    return { getSource, listSources: vi.fn() } as any;
+  }
+
+  it('returns a graceful not-found (no error) on a 404 so the UI shows no OUTPUT-ERROR', async () => {
+    const daClient = makeClient(vi.fn().mockRejectedValue({ status: 404, message: 'Not Found' }));
+    const tools = createDATools(daClient, {});
+    const result = await tools.content_read.execute({
+      org: 'o',
+      repo: 'r',
+      path: '/.da/publish-workflow-requests.json',
+    });
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      path: '/.da/publish-workflow-requests.json',
+      content: null,
+      found: false,
+      status: 404,
+    });
+    expect(result.error).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('still surfaces a real error result for non-404 failures', async () => {
+    const daClient = makeClient(vi.fn().mockRejectedValue({ status: 500, message: 'Boom' }));
+    const tools = createDATools(daClient, {});
+    const result = await tools.content_read.execute({ org: 'o', repo: 'r', path: 'docs/x' });
+    expect(result).toEqual({ error: 'Boom', status: 500 });
+  });
+});