diff --git a/src/ai/ai_client.c b/src/ai/ai_client.c
index c40189c8..30a02f9d 100644
--- a/src/ai/ai_client.c
+++ b/src/ai/ai_client.c
@@ -121,18 +121,27 @@ _aiwin_display_error(gpointer user_data, const gchar* error_msg)
 }
 
 /**
- * Display a response message in the AI window (thread-safe).
+ * Display a response message. If aiwin is provided and valid, display in AI window.
+ * Otherwise, display in console (for commands run from console).
  * @param user_data The original user_data pointer (may be NULL)
  * @param response The response message to display
  */
 static void
 _aiwin_display_response(gpointer user_data, const gchar* response)
 {
-    ProfAiWin* aiwin = _aiwin_validate(user_data);
-    if (!aiwin) {
-        log_warning("[AI-THREAD] Cannot display response: aiwin is invalid or window was closed");
+    if (!response || strlen(response) == 0) {
         return;
     }
+
+    /* Try to display in AI window if available */
+    ProfAiWin* aiwin = _aiwin_validate(user_data);
+    if (!aiwin) {
+        pthread_mutex_lock(&lock);
+        cons_show("%s", response);
+        pthread_mutex_unlock(&lock);
+        return;
+    }
+
     pthread_mutex_lock(&lock);
     aiwin_display_response(aiwin, response);
     pthread_mutex_unlock(&lock);
@@ -1270,6 +1279,64 @@ _parse_ai_response(const gchar* response_json)
     return NULL;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Extract error message from an API error JSON response.
+ * Handles format: {"error":{"message":"...","type":"...","code":...}}
+ */
+static gchar*
+_parse_error_response(const gchar* error_json)
+{
+    if (!error_json || strlen(error_json) == 0)
+        return NULL;
+
+    /* Look for "message":"..." inside "error" object */
+    const gchar* error_obj = strstr(error_json, "\"error\":");
+    if (!error_obj)
+        return NULL;
+
+    const gchar* message_key = strstr(error_obj, "\"message\":\"");
+    if (!message_key)
+        return NULL;
+
+    message_key += strlen("\"message\":\"");
+    const gchar* msg_start = message_key;
+    const gchar* p = msg_start;
+    while (*p) {
+        if (*p == '\\' && *(p + 1) == '"') {
+            p += 2;
+            continue;
+        }
+        if (*p == '"') {
+            gsize len = p - msg_start;
+            gchar* result = g_new0(gchar, len + 1);
+            gchar* out = result;
+            const gchar* in = msg_start;
+            while (in < p) {
+                if (*in == '\\' && *(in + 1) == '"') {
+                    *out++ = '"';
+                    in += 2;
+                } else if (*in == '\\' && *(in + 1) == 'n') {
+                    *out++ = '\n';
+                    in += 2;
+                } else if (*in == '\\' && *(in + 1) == '\\') {
+                    *out++ = '\\';
+                    in += 2;
+                } else if (*in == '\\' && *(in + 1) == 't') {
+                    *out++ = '\t';
+                    in += 2;
+                } else {
+                    *out++ = *in++;
+                }
+            }
+            *out = '\0';
+            return result;
+        }
+        p++;
+    }
+
+    return NULL;
+}
+
 static gpointer
 _ai_request_thread(gpointer data)
 {
@@ -1328,7 +1395,11 @@ _ai_request_thread(gpointer data)
     log_debug("[AI-THREAD] API Request URL: %s", request_url);
     log_debug("[AI-THREAD] Model: %s", session->model);
 
-    /* Execute request with POST fields */
+    /* Set URL and execute request */
+    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, request_url);
+    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, headers);
+    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, _write_callback);
+    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, &response);
     curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_payload);
     curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 60L);
 
@@ -1348,8 +1419,9 @@ _ai_request_thread(gpointer data)
         /* Handle HTTP errors */
         log_debug("[AI-THREAD] HTTP error response body (%zu bytes): %s",
                   response.size, response.data ? response.data : "NULL");
-        auto_gchar gchar* error_msg = g_strdup_printf("HTTP %ld: %s", http_code,
-                                                      response.data ? response.data : "Unknown error");
+        /* Try to extract the actual error message from the JSON response */
+        auto_gchar gchar* parsed_error = _parse_error_response(response.data);
+        auto_gchar gchar* error_msg = parsed_error ? g_strdup_printf("HTTP %ld: %s", http_code, parsed_error) : g_strdup_printf("HTTP %ld: %s", http_code, response.data && strlen(response.data) > 0 ? response.data : "Unknown error");
         log_error("AI request failed for %s/%s: %s", session->provider_name, session->model, error_msg);
         _aiwin_display_error(user_data, error_msg);
     } else {