diff --git a/strix/interface/utils.py b/strix/interface/utils.py
index 7ab55d8ee..beefbce68 100644
--- a/strix/interface/utils.py
+++ b/strix/interface/utils.py
@@ -25,6 +25,14 @@ from strix.utils.api_spec import detect_spec_format
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+DOCKER_PERMISSION_ERROR_MARKERS = ("permission denied", "operation not permitted")
+DOCKER_LOCAL_SOCKET_SCHEME = "unix://"
+DOCKER_SOCKET_ACCESS_HINT = (
+    "Docker is installed, but Strix cannot access the Docker socket. "
+    "Run Strix with a user that can access Docker, or add your user to the docker group "
+    "and restart your shell before trying again.\n"
+)
+
 
 def get_severity_color(severity: str) -> str:
     severity_colors = {
@@ -1598,6 +1606,24 @@ def clone_repository(repo_url: str, run_name: str, dest_name: str | None = None)
         ) from e
 
 
+def _is_docker_permission_error(exc: BaseException) -> bool:
+    message = str(exc).lower()
+    return any(marker in message for marker in DOCKER_PERMISSION_ERROR_MARKERS)
+
+
+def _is_docker_socket_permission_error(exc: Any) -> bool:
+    """A permission error against the *local* Docker socket.
+
+    The docker-group remedy only applies to a Unix-socket daemon. A permission
+    failure against a remote DOCKER_HOST (TCP/SSH) endpoint is not fixed by
+    group membership, so the socket hint must not be shown for it.
+    """
+    if not _is_docker_permission_error(exc):
+        return False
+    host = exc.endpoint.host
+    return host is None or host.startswith(DOCKER_LOCAL_SOCKET_SCHEME)
+
+
 def check_docker_connection() -> Any:
     from strix.runtime.docker_connection import DockerConnectionError, connect_docker
 
@@ -1611,6 +1637,8 @@ def check_docker_connection() -> Any:
         error_text.append("\n\n", style="white")
         error_text.append(f"Cannot connect to Docker at {exc.endpoint.label}.\n", style="white")
         error_text.append(f"{exc.detail}\n\n", style="dim red")
+        if _is_docker_socket_permission_error(exc):
+            error_text.append(DOCKER_SOCKET_ACCESS_HINT, style="white")
         error_text.append(
             "Make sure Docker is running. If `docker info` works in this shell, strix uses "
             "the same daemon. Otherwise set DOCKER_HOST.\n",
diff --git a/tests/test_docker_connection_message.py b/tests/test_docker_connection_message.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..07158e787
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_docker_connection_message.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import io
+
+import pytest
+from docker.errors import DockerException
+from rich.console import Console
+
+from strix.interface import utils
+from strix.runtime import docker_connection
+from strix.runtime.docker_connection import DockerConnectionError, DockerEndpoint
+
+
+DOCKER_PERMISSION_ERROR = "permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket"
+DOCKER_SOCKET_HINT = "Docker socket"
+DOCKER_GROUP_HINT = "docker group"
+
+
+def test_docker_connection_permission_error_mentions_socket_access(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    output = io.StringIO()
+
+    def fake_console() -> Console:
+        return Console(file=output, color_system=None, force_terminal=False)
+
+    def fail_connect() -> None:
+        endpoint = DockerEndpoint(None, "default socket")
+        raise DockerConnectionError(endpoint, DockerException(DOCKER_PERMISSION_ERROR))
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(utils, "Console", fake_console)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(docker_connection, "connect_docker", fail_connect)
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit):
+        utils.check_docker_connection()
+
+    rendered = output.getvalue()
+    assert DOCKER_SOCKET_HINT in rendered
+    assert DOCKER_GROUP_HINT in rendered
+
+
+def test_docker_connection_permission_error_on_remote_host_skips_socket_hint(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    output = io.StringIO()
+
+    def fake_console() -> Console:
+        return Console(file=output, color_system=None, force_terminal=False)
+
+    def fail_connect() -> None:
+        endpoint = DockerEndpoint("tcp://10.0.0.5:2376", "DOCKER_HOST")
+        raise DockerConnectionError(endpoint, DockerException(DOCKER_PERMISSION_ERROR))
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(utils, "Console", fake_console)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(docker_connection, "connect_docker", fail_connect)
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit):
+        utils.check_docker_connection()
+
+    rendered = output.getvalue()
+    assert DOCKER_SOCKET_HINT not in rendered
+    assert DOCKER_GROUP_HINT not in rendered