diff --git a/src/combos/failover.ts b/src/combos/failover.ts
index ae0c044be2..4cb9cdc55a 100644
--- a/src/combos/failover.ts
+++ b/src/combos/failover.ts
@@ -307,6 +307,19 @@ function isModelLifecycleGone(
   );
 }
 
+function isProviderTargetContextOverflow(
+  status: number,
+  message: string,
+  code?: string | null,
+): boolean {
+  if (status !== 400) return false;
+  const normalizedCode = normalizedFailureCode(code);
+  const text = message.toLowerCase();
+  if (text.includes("invalid_request_prompt_too_long")) return true;
+  return normalizedCode === "5059"
+    && /\bprompt\s+\d+\s*>\s*\d+\s+maximum context length\b/i.test(message);
+}
+
 export function comboFailureDecision(
   status: number,
   message: string,
@@ -324,6 +337,10 @@ export function comboFailureDecision(
   if (isModelLifecycleGone(status, message, options?.code)) return "hop";
   const error = classifyError(status, "upstream_error", message);
   if (isCyberPolicyCode(error.code)) return "stop";
+  // A provider can expose its own target hard cap with a non-semantic vendor code
+  // (for example 5059 + invalid_request_prompt_too_long). That is evidence that this
+  // target is too small, not that every later combo target is incapable of serving it.
+  if (isProviderTargetContextOverflow(status, message, options?.code)) return "hop";
   // A local input-admission refusal (#1524) says "this candidate cannot fit the request",
   // not "the request is impossible": the next candidate may have a larger context window.
   //
diff --git a/tests/combos.test.ts b/tests/combos.test.ts
index 511bdae1a2..51ae4fa1a9 100644
--- a/tests/combos.test.ts
+++ b/tests/combos.test.ts
@@ -500,6 +500,14 @@ describe("combo failure policy and advancement", () => {
     // An UPSTREAM context verdict still stops: retrying that elsewhere is guesswork, and a
     // generic 413 with no structured code keeps its existing conservative handling.
     expect(comboFailureDecision(400, "context_length_exceeded")).toBe("stop");
+    const providerHardCap = JSON.stringify({ error: {
+      message: "Prompt 346030 > 262144 maximum context length",
+      type: "invalid_request_prompt_too_long",
+      code: "5059",
+      raw_status_code: 400,
+    }});
+    expect(comboFailureDecision(400, providerHardCap, { code: "5059" })).toBe("hop");
+    expect(comboFailureDecision(400, "ordinary invalid request", { code: "5059" })).toBe("stop");
     expect(comboFailureDecision(413, "request too large")).toBe("stop");
   });
 
diff --git a/tests/server-combo-failover-e2e.test.ts b/tests/server-combo-failover-e2e.test.ts
index 39053f39fb..1c3f69b778 100644
--- a/tests/server-combo-failover-e2e.test.ts
+++ b/tests/server-combo-failover-e2e.test.ts
@@ -1547,6 +1547,27 @@ describe("server combo failover 030 activation matrix", () => {
     expect(await exhausted.text()).not.toContain("sk-a-should-redact");
   });
 
+  test("provider-specific prompt-too-long 400 hops to a larger-context combo target", async () => {
+    let backupHits = 0;
+    const capped = serve(() => Response.json({ error: {
+      message: "Prompt 346030 > 262144 maximum context length",
+      type: "invalid_request_prompt_too_long",
+      code: "5059",
+      raw_status_code: 400,
+    } }, { status: 400 }));
+    const backup = serve(() => {
+      backupHits += 1;
+      return chatSuccess("larger context backup", "m2");
+    });
+    const response = await post(comboConfig({
+      a: provider("openai-chat", baseUrl(capped), "key-a"),
+      b: provider("openai-chat", baseUrl(backup), "key-b"),
+    }));
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(backupHits).toBe(1);
+    expect(await response.text()).toContain("larger context backup");
+  });
+
   test("429 Retry-After 120 keeps A cooling at 60 seconds and restores it at 120", async () => {
     const t0 = Date.parse("2026-07-18T00:00:00.000Z");
     let now = t0;