diff --git a/openviking/server/error_mapping.py b/openviking/server/error_mapping.py
index 8766f58190..cd039bfa2c 100644
--- a/openviking/server/error_mapping.py
+++ b/openviking/server/error_mapping.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
     GitConcurrentCommitError,
 )
 from openviking.storage.errors import LockAcquisitionError, ResourceBusyError
+from openviking.utils.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreakerOpen
 from openviking.utils.exceptions import (
     HTTP_STATUS_TO_ERROR_CODE,
     AllCredentialsFailedError,
@@ -505,6 +506,14 @@ def map_exception(
         return OpenVikingError(
             str(exc) or "concurrent git commit", code="CONFLICT", details=details
         )
+    if isinstance(exc, CircuitBreakerOpen):
+        # The embedding resource path annotates the wait (see
+        # openviking/config/embedding.py _execute) so clients can back off.
+        unavailable = UnavailableError("embedding provider", reason=str(exc))
+        retry_after = getattr(exc, "retry_after", None)
+        if retry_after is not None:
+            unavailable.details["retry_after"] = retry_after
+        return unavailable
     if isinstance(exc, PermissionError):
         return PermissionDeniedError(str(exc), resource=resource)
     if isinstance(exc, FileNotFoundError):
diff --git a/tests/server/test_error_mapping.py b/tests/server/test_error_mapping.py
index 33d7f80568..d32d98e882 100644
--- a/tests/server/test_error_mapping.py
+++ b/tests/server/test_error_mapping.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 from openviking.server.error_mapping import map_exception
 from openviking.server.models import ERROR_CODE_TO_HTTP_STATUS
 from openviking.storage.errors import LockAcquisitionError, ResourceBusyError
+from openviking.utils.circuit_breaker import CircuitBreakerOpen
 from openviking.utils.exceptions import AllCredentialsFailedError
 from openviking_cli.exceptions import (
     FailedPreconditionError,
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@
     InvalidURIError,
     NotFoundError,
     ResourceExhaustedError,
+    UnavailableError,
 )
 
 
@@ -188,6 +190,64 @@ def test_upstream_text_status_maps_to_permission_denied():
     assert mapped.details["upstream_status_code"] == 403
 
 
+def test_circuit_breaker_open_maps_to_unavailable_with_retry_after():
+    exc = CircuitBreakerOpen("Circuit breaker is OPEN, retry after 13s")
+    exc.retry_after = 13.0  # annotated by the embedding resource path
+    mapped = map_exception(exc)
+
+    assert isinstance(mapped, UnavailableError)
+    assert mapped.code == "UNAVAILABLE"
+    assert ERROR_CODE_TO_HTTP_STATUS[mapped.code] == 503
+    assert mapped.details["service"] == "embedding provider"
+    assert mapped.details["reason"] == "Circuit breaker is OPEN, retry after 13s"
+    assert mapped.details["retry_after"] == 13.0
+    assert "retry after 13s" in mapped.message
+
+
+def test_bare_circuit_breaker_open_still_maps_to_unavailable():
+    mapped = map_exception(CircuitBreakerOpen("Circuit breaker is OPEN, retry after 13s"))
+
+    assert isinstance(mapped, UnavailableError)
+    assert mapped.code == "UNAVAILABLE"
+    assert ERROR_CODE_TO_HTTP_STATUS[mapped.code] == 503
+    assert "retry_after" not in mapped.details
+
+
+def test_upstream_text_429_maps_to_resource_exhausted():
+    mapped = map_exception(
+        RuntimeError(
+            "Volcengine embedding failed: Error code: 429 - "
+            "{'error': {'code': 'AccountQuotaExceeded', 'type': 'TooManyRequests'}}"
+        )
+    )
+
+    assert mapped is not None
+    assert mapped.code == "RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED"
+    assert ERROR_CODE_TO_HTTP_STATUS[mapped.code] == 429
+    assert mapped.details["upstream_status_code"] == 429
+
+
+def test_litellm_connection_error_maps_to_unavailable():
+    from litellm.exceptions import APIConnectionError
+
+    exc = APIConnectionError(
+        message=(
+            "litellm.APIConnectionError: OllamaException - Cannot connect to host "
+            "localhost:11434 ssl:<ssl.SSLContext object> "
+            "[Errno 61] Connect call failed ('127.0.0.1', 11434)"
+        ),
+        llm_provider="ollama",
+        model="ov_intent_analysis",
+    )
+    mapped = map_exception(exc)
+
+    assert mapped is not None
+    assert mapped.code == "UNAVAILABLE"
+    assert ERROR_CODE_TO_HTTP_STATUS[mapped.code] == 503
+    assert mapped.details["upstream_status_code"] == 500
+    assert mapped.details["upstream_error_type"] == "APIConnectionError"
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     ("errors", "expected_code", "expected_status"),
     [