diff --git a/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml b/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml
index 1abe06bb18..89088ddcc8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml
@@ -295,10 +295,25 @@ jobs:
         shell: 'bash'
         env:
           RESPONSE: '${{ steps.triage.outputs.summary }}'
+          # Tells the two no-response causes apart. They need OPPOSITE
+          # responses, and the old message ("check the step stderr") pointed at
+          # diagnostics that do not exist: the action installs the CLI with
+          # `npm --silent`, so an install failure prints nothing but an exit
+          # code. Observed on a PR whose triage died at exit 243 during that
+          # install, with the error telling the maintainer to read an empty log.
+          TRIAGE_OUTCOME: '${{ steps.triage.outcome }}'
         run: |-
           set -uo pipefail
           if [[ -z "${RESPONSE}" || "${RESPONSE}" == "null" ]]; then
-            echo "::error title=Triage silent failure::Qwen Code exited without a response. Check the 'Run Qwen Triage' step stderr above for diagnostics."
+            if [[ "${TRIAGE_OUTCOME}" != 'success' ]]; then
+              # The action itself failed: no model call was ever made, so
+              # nothing about this PR can explain it. Retry is the fix.
+              echo "::error title=Triage did not start::The Qwen Code action failed before producing any response, so no triage ran. The usual cause is the global CLI install, which runs under \`npm --silent\` and prints nothing on failure. This is infrastructure, not this PR — re-run the failed job."
+            else
+              # The action succeeded but returned nothing: the agent ran and
+              # produced no summary. That IS worth reading the step output for.
+              echo "::error title=Triage silent failure::Qwen Code ran to completion but returned an empty response — a model or prompt problem, not an install one. Check the 'Run Qwen Triage' step output above."
+            fi
             exit 1
           fi
           echo "Triage response received (${#RESPONSE} chars)."
diff --git a/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js b/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js
index 1461ec55a4..abd3dee77e 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js
+++ b/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 
@@ -124,6 +125,53 @@ describe('qwen-triage tmux workflow', () => {
     expect(checkStep).toContain('if [[ -z "${RESPONSE}"');
   });
 
+  it('tells an action crash apart from a silent agent, and replays both', () => {
+    const checkStep = step('Check triage response');
+    // The outcome must arrive through env like RESPONSE does — inlining the
+    // expression into the script would be the injection shape this step
+    // already avoids for RESPONSE.
+    expect(checkStep).toContain(
+      "TRIAGE_OUTCOME: '${{ steps.triage.outcome }}'",
+    );
+    expect(checkStep).not.toContain('TRIAGE_OUTCOME="${{');
+
+    const body = checkStep.match(/run: \|-\n([\s\S]*)$/)?.[1];
+    expect(body).toBeTruthy();
+    const script = body.replace(/^ {10}/gm, '');
+    const run = (env) => {
+      const proc = spawnSync('bash', ['-c', script], {
+        env: {
+          ...process.env,
+          RESPONSE: '',
+          TRIAGE_OUTCOME: 'success',
+          ...env,
+        },
+        encoding: 'utf8',
+      });
+      return { status: proc.status, out: `${proc.stdout}${proc.stderr}` };
+    };
+
+    // A crashed action: no model call happened, so nothing about the PR can
+    // explain it and the guidance must say "re-run", not "read the log" —
+    // the install runs under `npm --silent`, so there is no log to read.
+    const crashed = run({ TRIAGE_OUTCOME: 'failure' });
+    expect(crashed.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(crashed.out).toContain('Triage did not start');
+    expect(crashed.out).toContain('re-run the failed job');
+    expect(crashed.out).not.toContain('Triage silent failure');
+
+    // A completed action with no summary IS worth reading the step output for.
+    const silent = run({ TRIAGE_OUTCOME: 'success' });
+    expect(silent.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(silent.out).toContain('Triage silent failure');
+    expect(silent.out).toContain('model or prompt problem');
+    expect(silent.out).not.toContain('Triage did not start');
+
+    // A real response still passes, and 'null' still counts as no response.
+    expect(run({ RESPONSE: 'triaged' }).status).toBe(0);
+    expect(run({ RESPONSE: 'null' }).status).not.toBe(0);
+  });
+
   it('notifies the author when a manual triage re-run posts no review', () => {
     const notifyStep = step('Notify silent triage re-run');