diff --git a/src/tools/create-tools.test.ts b/src/tools/create-tools.test.ts
index f6ae99a..67a75c3 100644
--- a/src/tools/create-tools.test.ts
+++ b/src/tools/create-tools.test.ts
@@ -262,6 +262,75 @@ describe("createGmailTools", () => {
     await tools.dispose();
   });
 
+  test("skips a thread that 404s instead of failing the page", async () => {
+    const tools = createGmailTools({
+      capabilities: testCapabilities(async (input) => {
+        const url = new URL(String(input));
+        if (url.pathname === "/gmail/v1/users/me/threads") {
+          return new Response(
+            JSON.stringify({ threads: [{ id: "thread-1" }, { id: "gone" }] }),
+          );
+        }
+        if (url.pathname.endsWith("/gone")) {
+          return new Response("{}", { status: 404, statusText: "Not Found" });
+        }
+        return new Response(JSON.stringify({ id: "thread-1", messages: [] }));
+      }),
+    });
+    const result = await tools.run(
+      { id: "call-gone", name: "gmail_search_threads", arguments: {} },
+      new AbortController().signal,
+    );
+    expect(result.isError).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(result.content).toEqual({
+      data: { threads: [{ id: "thread-1", messages: [] }] },
+    });
+    await tools.dispose();
+  });
+
+  test("skips malformed base64 parts and decodes the declared charset", async () => {
+    const tools = createGmailTools({
+      capabilities: testCapabilities(
+        async () =>
+          new Response(
+            JSON.stringify({
+              id: "message-1",
+              payload: {
+                mimeType: "multipart/alternative",
+                parts: [
+                  {
+                    mimeType: "text/plain",
+                    headers: [
+                      {
+                        name: "Content-Type",
+                        value: 'text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"',
+                      },
+                    ],
+                    body: {
+                      data: Buffer.from("café", "latin1").toString("base64url"),
+                    },
+                  },
+                  { mimeType: "text/html", body: { data: "!!!not-base64!!!" } },
+                ],
+              },
+            }),
+          ),
+      ),
+    });
+    const result = await tools.run(
+      {
+        id: "call-charset",
+        name: "gmail_get_message",
+        arguments: { messageId: "message-1" },
+      },
+      new AbortController().signal,
+    );
+    expect(result.content).toEqual({
+      data: { id: "message-1", labelIds: [], plaintextBody: "café" },
+    });
+    await tools.dispose();
+  });
+
   test("returns complete decoded text, HTML, and attachment metadata", async () => {
     const plaintextBody = "a".repeat(70_000);
     const fetchImpl = createFetchImpl(async (input) => {
diff --git a/src/tools/create-tools.ts b/src/tools/create-tools.ts
index 108c615..11cad44 100644
--- a/src/tools/create-tools.ts
+++ b/src/tools/create-tools.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import type { RuntimeCapabilities } from "@intx/types/runtime-capabilities";
 
 import {
   createGmailClient,
+  GmailApiError,
   type GmailClient,
   type GmailDraft,
   type GmailFetch,
@@ -223,10 +224,13 @@ async function lookupThreads(
   view: GmailThreadView,
   signal: AbortSignal,
 ) {
-  const threads = Array.from<{
-    id: string;
-    messages: ReturnType<typeof toThreadListMessage>[];
-  }>({
+  const threads = Array.from<
+    | {
+        id: string;
+        messages: ReturnType<typeof toThreadListMessage>[];
+      }
+    | undefined
+  >({
     length: threadIds.length,
   });
   let nextIndex = 0;
@@ -252,6 +256,8 @@ async function lookupThreads(
           ),
         };
       } catch (error) {
+        // A thread deleted between list and lookup drops out of the page.
+        if (error instanceof GmailApiError && error.status === 404) continue;
         failed = true;
         throw error;
       }
@@ -263,7 +269,7 @@ async function lookupThreads(
       worker,
     ),
   );
-  return threads;
+  return threads.filter((thread) => thread !== undefined);
 }
 
 const HANDLERS = new Map<string, GmailToolHandler>([
diff --git a/src/tools/models.ts b/src/tools/models.ts
index 4f6f8ad..16b9f3b 100644
--- a/src/tools/models.ts
+++ b/src/tools/models.ts
@@ -70,12 +70,27 @@ function headersByName(
   return result;
 }
 
-function decodeBase64Url(value: string): string {
+function decodeBase64Url(value: string): Uint8Array | undefined {
   const normalized = value.replace(/-/g, "+").replace(/_/g, "/");
   const padded = normalized.padEnd(Math.ceil(normalized.length / 4) * 4, "=");
-  return new TextDecoder().decode(
-    Uint8Array.from(atob(padded), (character) => character.charCodeAt(0)),
-  );
+  try {
+    return Uint8Array.from(atob(padded), (character) =>
+      character.charCodeAt(0),
+    );
+  } catch {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+}
+
+function textDecoder(part: GmailMessagePart): TextDecoder {
+  const contentType = headersByName(part.headers).get("content-type") ?? "";
+  const charset = /charset\s*=\s*"?([^";\s]+)/i.exec(contentType)?.[1];
+  try {
+    // bun-types narrows the label to three encodings; runtimes accept any WHATWG label.
+    return new TextDecoder(charset as Bun.Encoding | undefined);
+  } catch {
+    return new TextDecoder();
+  }
 }
 
 function collectParts(part: GmailMessagePart | undefined): GmailMessagePart[] {
@@ -96,7 +111,8 @@ function bodyForMimeType(
     ) {
       return [];
     }
-    return [decodeBase64Url(part.body.data)];
+    const bytes = decodeBase64Url(part.body.data);
+    return bytes === undefined ? [] : [textDecoder(part).decode(bytes)];
   });
   return values.length === 0 ? undefined : values.join("\n\n");
 }