diff --git a/.changeset/warn-malformed-course.md b/.changeset/warn-malformed-course.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35e3355
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/warn-malformed-course.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'tessera-learn': patch
+---
+
+A course directory under `courses/` that has a `pages/` folder but is missing its `course.config.js` is now reported as skipped when listing the workspace's courses, instead of being silently dropped.
diff --git a/packages/tessera-learn/src/plugin/course-root.ts b/packages/tessera-learn/src/plugin/course-root.ts
index bbec9f1..afcd21f 100644
--- a/packages/tessera-learn/src/plugin/course-root.ts
+++ b/packages/tessera-learn/src/plugin/course-root.ts
@@ -32,29 +32,57 @@ export function findWorkspaceRoot(cwd: string): string | null {
   }
 }
 
-export function listCourses(workspaceRoot: string): string[] {
+function scanCourses(workspaceRoot: string): {
+  courses: string[];
+  malformed: string[];
+} {
   const coursesDir = join(workspaceRoot, 'courses');
+  const courses: string[] = [];
+  const malformed: string[] = [];
   try {
-    return readdirSync(coursesDir, { withFileTypes: true })
-      .filter((e) => e.isDirectory() && isCourse(join(coursesDir, e.name)))
-      .map((e) => e.name)
-      .sort();
+    for (const e of readdirSync(coursesDir, { withFileTypes: true })) {
+      if (!e.isDirectory()) continue;
+      const dir = join(coursesDir, e.name);
+      if (isCourse(dir)) courses.push(e.name);
+      else if (isDir(join(dir, 'pages'))) malformed.push(e.name);
+    }
   } catch {
-    return [];
+    return { courses, malformed };
   }
+  return { courses: courses.sort(), malformed: malformed.sort() };
+}
+
+export function listCourses(workspaceRoot: string): string[] {
+  return scanCourses(workspaceRoot).courses;
+}
+
+export function listMalformedCourses(workspaceRoot: string): string[] {
+  return scanCourses(workspaceRoot).malformed;
 }
 
 const NOT_A_WORKSPACE =
   'Not inside a Tessera workspace — no `courses/` directory was found at or above the current directory.';
 
+function malformedHint(malformed: string[]): string {
+  if (malformed.length === 0) return '';
+  return (
+    `\nSkipped (missing course.config.js):\n` +
+    malformed.map((c) => `  courses/${c}`).join('\n')
+  );
+}
+
 function listHint(workspaceRoot: string): string {
-  const courses = listCourses(workspaceRoot);
+  const { courses, malformed } = scanCourses(workspaceRoot);
   if (courses.length === 0) {
-    return '\nNo courses found. Create one with `tessera new <name>`.';
+    return (
+      '\nNo courses found. Create one with `tessera new <name>`.' +
+      malformedHint(malformed)
+    );
   }
   return (
     `\nAvailable courses:\n${courses.map((c) => `  ${c}`).join('\n')}` +
-    '\nName one (`tessera <command> <course>`) or cd into its folder.'
+    '\nName one (`tessera <command> <course>`) or cd into its folder.' +
+    malformedHint(malformed)
   );
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/tessera-learn/tests/course-root.test.ts b/packages/tessera-learn/tests/course-root.test.ts
index a178c5b..acb8844 100644
--- a/packages/tessera-learn/tests/course-root.test.ts
+++ b/packages/tessera-learn/tests/course-root.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   resolveCourse,
   findWorkspaceRoot,
   listCourses,
+  listMalformedCourses,
 } from '../src/plugin/course-root.js';
 
 let ws: string;
@@ -62,6 +63,23 @@ describe('listCourses', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('listMalformedCourses', () => {
+  it('flags a directory that has pages/ but no course.config.js', () => {
+    mkdirSync(join(ws, 'courses', 'half-built', 'pages'), { recursive: true });
+    expect(listMalformedCourses(ws)).toEqual(['half-built']);
+  });
+
+  it('does not flag legitimate non-course directories', () => {
+    mkdirSync(join(ws, 'courses', 'shared-assets'), { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(join(ws, 'courses', 'README.md'), '# courses');
+    expect(listMalformedCourses(ws)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('does not flag valid courses', () => {
+    expect(listMalformedCourses(ws)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('resolveCourse', () => {
   it('resolves cwd as the course root when it holds course.config.js (no name)', () => {
     const cwd = join(ws, 'courses', 'getting-started');
@@ -135,4 +153,14 @@ describe('resolveCourse', () => {
     const result = resolveCourse(tmpdir(), 'getting-started');
     expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
   });
+
+  it('surfaces a malformed course in the hint instead of silently dropping it', () => {
+    mkdirSync(join(ws, 'courses', 'half-built', 'pages'), { recursive: true });
+    const result = resolveCourse(ws, 'half-built');
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+    if (!result.ok) {
+      expect(result.error).toContain('half-built');
+      expect(result.error).toContain('course.config.js');
+    }
+  });
 });