diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
index 0fd29561..bd8a79af 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui.rs
@@ -639,18 +639,11 @@ async fn run_event_loop(
                             queued_to_send = app.pop_queued_message();
                         }
                     }
-                    EngineEvent::Error { message, .. } => {
-                        app.streaming_state.reset();
-                        app.streaming_message_index = None;
-                        app.streaming_thinking_active_entry = None;
-                        app.add_message(HistoryCell::System {
-                            content: format!("Error: {message}"),
-                        });
-                        app.offline_mode = true;
-                        app.is_loading = false;
-                        app.status_message = Some(format!(
-                            "Engine error; queued messages stay pending: {message}"
-                        ));
+                    EngineEvent::Error {
+                        message,
+                        recoverable,
+                    } => {
+                        apply_engine_error_to_app(app, message, recoverable);
                     }
                     EngineEvent::Status { message } => {
                         app.status_message = Some(message);
@@ -1715,6 +1708,33 @@ fn queued_session_to_ui(msg: QueuedSessionMessage) -> QueuedMessage {
     }
 }
 
+/// Translate an `EngineEvent::Error` into UI state updates.
+///
+/// `recoverable` is the engine's own classification: stream stalls, chunk
+/// timeouts, transient network errors, and rate-limit/server hiccups arrive
+/// with `recoverable = true` and must NOT flip the session into offline mode
+/// — the user can resend the turn and the underlying transport will retry.
+/// Hard failures (auth, billing, invalid request) arrive with
+/// `recoverable = false`; those flip offline mode so subsequent messages get
+/// queued instead of silently lost mid-flight.
+pub(crate) fn apply_engine_error_to_app(app: &mut App, message: String, recoverable: bool) {
+    app.streaming_state.reset();
+    app.streaming_message_index = None;
+    app.streaming_thinking_active_entry = None;
+    app.add_message(HistoryCell::System {
+        content: format!("Error: {message}"),
+    });
+    app.is_loading = false;
+    if recoverable {
+        app.status_message = Some(format!("Connection interrupted: {message}"));
+    } else {
+        app.offline_mode = true;
+        app.status_message = Some(format!(
+            "Engine error; queued messages stay pending: {message}"
+        ));
+    }
+}
+
 fn persist_offline_queue_state(app: &App) {
     if let Ok(manager) = SessionManager::default_location() {
         if app.queued_messages.is_empty() && app.queued_draft.is_none() {
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui/tests.rs b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui/tests.rs
index a4cc7bf6..c8a4844d 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/tui/ui/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/tui/ui/tests.rs
@@ -1914,3 +1914,64 @@ fn truncate_line_to_width_respects_display_width_for_tiny_budgets() {
     assert!(trimmed_long.ends_with("..."));
     assert!(UnicodeWidthStr::width(trimmed_long.as_str()) <= 10);
 }
+
+/// Regression for #86. A recoverable engine error (stream stall, transient
+/// disconnect, retryable server hiccup) must NOT flip the session into
+/// offline mode. Until this fix the UI matched on `EngineEvent::Error {
+/// message, .. }` and unconditionally set `app.offline_mode = true`, so a
+/// long V4 thinking turn whose chunked stream got closed mid-flight ended
+/// the session in offline mode with the next typed message queued.
+#[test]
+fn recoverable_engine_error_does_not_enter_offline_mode() {
+    let mut app = create_test_app();
+    assert!(!app.offline_mode);
+
+    apply_engine_error_to_app(
+        &mut app,
+        "Stream stalled: no data received for 60s, closing stream".to_string(),
+        true,
+    );
+
+    assert!(
+        !app.offline_mode,
+        "recoverable error must keep the session online so the user can retry"
+    );
+    assert!(!app.is_loading);
+    let status = app
+        .status_message
+        .as_deref()
+        .expect("recoverable errors must set a status message");
+    assert!(
+        status.starts_with("Connection interrupted"),
+        "expected interrupt-style status, got {status:?}"
+    );
+}
+
+/// Hard failures (auth, billing, malformed request) DO need to flip offline
+/// mode so subsequent typed messages get queued instead of silently lost
+/// against a broken upstream.
+#[test]
+fn non_recoverable_engine_error_enters_offline_mode() {
+    let mut app = create_test_app();
+    assert!(!app.offline_mode);
+
+    apply_engine_error_to_app(
+        &mut app,
+        "Authentication failed: invalid API key".to_string(),
+        false,
+    );
+
+    assert!(
+        app.offline_mode,
+        "non-recoverable error must enter offline mode"
+    );
+    assert!(!app.is_loading);
+    let status = app
+        .status_message
+        .as_deref()
+        .expect("non-recoverable errors must set a status message");
+    assert!(
+        status.starts_with("Engine error"),
+        "expected engine-error status, got {status:?}"
+    );
+}