diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/augmentation/engine.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/augmentation/engine.ts
index 896813c221..f97415cc9d 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/augmentation/engine.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/augmentation/engine.ts
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export async function augment(pattern: string, cwd?: string): Promise<string> {
     }
 
     // Step 1: BM25 search (fast, no embeddings)
-    const bm25Results = await searchFTSFromLbug(pattern, 10, repoId);
+    const { results: bm25Results } = await searchFTSFromLbug(pattern, 10, repoId);
 
     if (bm25Results.length === 0) return '';
 
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/search/bm25-index.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/search/bm25-index.ts
index 58c0343c96..822c153c42 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/search/bm25-index.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/search/bm25-index.ts
@@ -15,17 +15,28 @@ export interface BM25SearchResult {
   nodeIds?: string[];
 }
 
+export interface FTSSearchResponse {
+  results: BM25SearchResult[];
+  /** True when at least one FTS index query succeeded (index exists). */
+  ftsAvailable: boolean;
+}
+
 /**
  * Execute a single FTS query via a custom executor (for MCP connection pool).
  * Returns the same shape as core queryFTS (from LadybugDB adapter).
  */
+/**
+ * Execute a single FTS query via a custom executor (for MCP connection pool).
+ * Returns `null` when the query fails (e.g. FTS index does not exist) so the
+ * caller can distinguish "zero matches" from "index missing".
+ */
 async function queryFTSViaExecutor(
   executor: (cypher: string) => Promise<any[]>,
   tableName: string,
   indexName: string,
   query: string,
   limit: number,
-): Promise<Array<{ filePath: string; score: number; nodeId: string }>> {
+): Promise<Array<{ filePath: string; score: number; nodeId: string }> | null> {
   // Escape single quotes and backslashes to prevent Cypher injection
   const escapedQuery = query.replace(/\\/g, '\\\\').replace(/'/g, "''");
   const cypher = `
@@ -46,7 +57,7 @@ async function queryFTSViaExecutor(
       };
     });
   } catch {
-    return [];
+    return null;
   }
 }
 
@@ -65,8 +76,9 @@ export const searchFTSFromLbug = async (
   query: string,
   limit: number = 20,
   repoId?: string,
-): Promise<BM25SearchResult[]> => {
+): Promise<FTSSearchResponse> => {
   const resultsByIndex: any[][] = [];
+  let queriesSucceeded = 0;
 
   if (repoId) {
     // Use MCP connection pool via dynamic import
@@ -77,15 +89,27 @@ export const searchFTSFromLbug = async (
     const executor = (cypher: string) => executeQuery(repoId, cypher);
 
     for (const { table, indexName } of FTS_INDEXES) {
-      resultsByIndex.push(await queryFTSViaExecutor(executor, table, indexName, query, limit));
+      const result = await queryFTSViaExecutor(executor, table, indexName, query, limit);
+      if (result !== null) {
+        queriesSucceeded++;
+        resultsByIndex.push(result);
+      }
     }
   } else {
     // Use core lbug adapter (CLI / pipeline context) — also sequential for safety.
     for (const { table, indexName } of FTS_INDEXES) {
-      resultsByIndex.push(await queryFTS(table, indexName, query, limit, false).catch(() => []));
+      try {
+        const result = await queryFTS(table, indexName, query, limit, false);
+        queriesSucceeded++;
+        resultsByIndex.push(result);
+      } catch {
+        // FTS index may not exist — count as failed
+      }
     }
   }
 
+  const ftsAvailable = queriesSucceeded > 0;
+
   // Collect all node scores per filePath to track which nodes actually matched
   const fileNodeScores = new Map<string, Array<{ score: number; nodeId: string }>>();
 
@@ -116,10 +140,13 @@ export const searchFTSFromLbug = async (
     .sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score)
     .slice(0, limit);
 
-  return sorted.map((r, index) => ({
-    filePath: r.filePath,
-    score: r.score,
-    rank: index + 1,
-    nodeIds: r.nodeIds,
-  }));
+  return {
+    results: sorted.map((r, index) => ({
+      filePath: r.filePath,
+      score: r.score,
+      rank: index + 1,
+      nodeIds: r.nodeIds,
+    })),
+    ftsAvailable,
+  };
 };
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/search/hybrid-search.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/search/hybrid-search.ts
index 72dd1c9b5d..b049ea79e8 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/search/hybrid-search.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/search/hybrid-search.ts
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ export const hybridSearch = async (
   ) => Promise<SemanticSearchResult[]>,
 ): Promise<HybridSearchResult[]> => {
   // Use LadybugDB FTS for always-fresh BM25 results
-  const bm25Results = await searchFTSFromLbug(query, limit);
+  const { results: bm25Results } = await searchFTSFromLbug(query, limit);
   const semanticResults = await semanticSearch(executeQuery, query, limit);
   return mergeWithRRF(bm25Results, semanticResults, limit);
 };
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts b/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts
index 68df9feaac..3d9c0eb65a 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/mcp/local/local-backend.ts
@@ -986,15 +986,16 @@ export class LocalBackend {
     limit: number,
   ): Promise<{ results: any[]; ftsUsed: boolean }> {
     const { searchFTSFromLbug } = await import('../../core/search/bm25-index.js');
-    let bm25Results;
+    let ftsResponse;
     try {
-      bm25Results = await searchFTSFromLbug(query, limit, repo.id);
+      ftsResponse = await searchFTSFromLbug(query, limit, repo.id);
     } catch (err: any) {
       console.error('GitNexus: BM25/FTS search failed (FTS indexes may not exist) -', err.message);
       return { results: [], ftsUsed: false };
     }
 
-    const ftsUsed = bm25Results.length === 0 || bm25Results[0]?.ftsUsed !== false;
+    const bm25Results = ftsResponse.results;
+    const ftsUsed = ftsResponse.ftsAvailable;
 
     const results: any[] = [];
 
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/server/api.ts b/gitnexus/src/server/api.ts
index a8f784630a..103efcdd5b 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/server/api.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/server/api.ts
@@ -1078,7 +1078,7 @@ export const createServer = async (port: number, host: string = '127.0.0.1') =>
             sources: ['semantic'],
           }));
         } else if (mode === 'bm25') {
-          searchResults = await searchFTSFromLbug(query, limit);
+          searchResults = (await searchFTSFromLbug(query, limit)).results;
           searchResults = searchResults.map((r: any, i: number) => ({
             ...r,
             rank: i + 1,
@@ -1092,7 +1092,7 @@ export const createServer = async (port: number, host: string = '127.0.0.1') =>
               await import('../core/embeddings/embedding-pipeline.js');
             searchResults = await hybridSearch(query, limit, executeQuery, semSearch);
           } else {
-            searchResults = await searchFTSFromLbug(query, limit);
+            searchResults = (await searchFTSFromLbug(query, limit)).results;
           }
         }