diff --git a/src/lib/services/furni-import-repair.test.ts b/src/lib/services/furni-import-repair.test.ts
index d1c006fbbb..79314b180c 100644
--- a/src/lib/services/furni-import-repair.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/services/furni-import-repair.test.ts
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ it("imports recycler_kintsugiB with an allocated ID throughout SQL and furnidata
 		]),
 		expect.any(String),
 		"swf",
+		expect.any(Function),
 	);
 	expect(mocks.build).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
 		expect.objectContaining({
diff --git a/src/lib/services/furni-import.ts b/src/lib/services/furni-import.ts
index fdfd92a787..35f2e493fc 100644
--- a/src/lib/services/furni-import.ts
+++ b/src/lib/services/furni-import.ts
@@ -731,13 +731,19 @@ export async function importSingleFurni(params: {
 
 	// Download icon + SWF concurrently (independent assets). Each tries its
 	// candidate URLs in order until one succeeds.
+	let iconFailure = "",
+		swfFailure = "";
 	const [iconOkResult, swfOk] = await Promise.all([
 		preservingExisting && existsSync(iconPath)
 			? Promise.resolve(true)
-			: tryDownloadCandidates(iconUrls, iconPath, "png"),
+			: tryDownloadCandidates(iconUrls, iconPath, "png", (detail) => {
+					iconFailure = detail;
+				}),
 		preservingExisting && existsSync(swfPath)
 			? Promise.resolve(true)
-			: tryDownloadCandidates(swfUrls, swfPath, "swf"),
+			: tryDownloadCandidates(swfUrls, swfPath, "swf", (detail) => {
+					swfFailure = detail;
+				}),
 	]);
 	let iconOk = iconOkResult;
 
@@ -772,10 +778,13 @@ export async function importSingleFurni(params: {
 			warnings.push("Icon download failed and SWF icon extraction also failed");
 		}
 	} else if (!iconOk) {
-		warnings.push("Icon image download failed");
+		warnings.push(
+			`Icon image download failed: ${iconFailure || "unknown cause"}`,
+		);
 	}
 
-	if (!swfOk && !nitroDownloadOk) warnings.push("SWF download failed");
+	if (!swfOk && !nitroDownloadOk)
+		warnings.push(`SWF download failed: ${swfFailure || "unknown cause"}`);
 
 	// ── Convert SWF to Nitro ──────────────────────────────────────────
 	onProgress?.("converting");
@@ -841,12 +850,10 @@ export async function importSingleFurni(params: {
 		return {
 			ok: false,
 			warnings,
-			error: isUpdate
-				? "No .nitro file could be created; existing furniture was preserved"
-				: `Import rolled back: no .nitro file could be created. ${warnings
-						.filter((warning) => /conversion|download|SWF/.test(warning))
-						.slice(-3)
-						.join(". ")}`,
+			error: `${isUpdate ? "No .nitro file could be created; existing furniture was preserved" : "Import rolled back: no .nitro file could be created"} (${classname}, revision ${rev}). ${warnings
+				.filter((warning) => /conversion|download|SWF/.test(warning))
+				.slice(-3)
+				.join(". ")}`,
 		};
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/lib/services/import/core/download-errors.test.ts b/src/lib/services/import/core/download-errors.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d68e80bf3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/services/import/core/download-errors.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+// @vitest-environment node
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+const write = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn());
+vi.mock("node:fs", () => ({ promises: { writeFile: write } }));
+
+import { downloadFile, tryDownloadCandidates } from "./download";
+
+const fetchMock = vi.fn();
+beforeEach(() => {
+	vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
+	fetchMock.mockReset();
+	write.mockReset().mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+});
+afterEach(() => vi.unstubAllGlobals());
+const url = "https://cdn.example/73706/chair.swf";
+describe("download failure diagnostics", () => {
+	it("reports HTTP status without writing an error page", async () => {
+		fetchMock.mockResolvedValue(new Response("missing", { status: 404 }));
+		expect(
+			(
+				await downloadFile(url, "/assets/chair.swf", {
+					validate: "swf",
+					maxRetries: 0,
+				})
+			).error,
+		).toBe("HTTP 404");
+		expect(write).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+	});
+	it("distinguishes a successful download from denied file permissions", async () => {
+		fetchMock.mockResolvedValue(new Response(Buffer.from("FWS12345")));
+		write.mockRejectedValue(
+			Object.assign(new Error("denied"), { code: "EACCES" }),
+		);
+		expect(
+			(
+				await downloadFile(url, "/assets/chair.swf", {
+					validate: "swf",
+					maxRetries: 0,
+				})
+			).error,
+		).toBe("Cannot save file (EACCES)");
+	});
+	it("reports DNS failures", async () => {
+		fetchMock.mockRejectedValue(
+			Object.assign(new Error("fetch failed"), {
+				cause: { code: "ENOTFOUND" },
+			}),
+		);
+		expect(
+			(await downloadFile(url, "/assets/chair.swf", { maxRetries: 0 })).error,
+		).toBe("Network failure (ENOTFOUND)");
+	});
+	it("reports a non-SWF response", async () => {
+		fetchMock.mockResolvedValue(new Response("<html>not an asset</html>"));
+		expect(
+			(
+				await downloadFile(url, "/assets/chair.swf", {
+					validate: "swf",
+					maxRetries: 0,
+				})
+			).error,
+		).toBe("Response is not a SWF file");
+	});
+	it("forwards the failing path without URL credentials or query secrets", async () => {
+		fetchMock.mockResolvedValue(new Response("missing", { status: 404 }));
+		const failure = vi.fn();
+		await tryDownloadCandidates(
+			["https://user:secret@cdn.example/0/chair.swf?token=private"],
+			"/assets/chair.swf",
+			"swf",
+			failure,
+		);
+		expect(failure).toHaveBeenCalledWith("cdn.example/0/chair.swf: HTTP 404");
+	});
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/services/import/core/download.ts b/src/lib/services/import/core/download.ts
index 669e5542b5..c6f067f47e 100644
--- a/src/lib/services/import/core/download.ts
+++ b/src/lib/services/import/core/download.ts
@@ -37,10 +37,15 @@ export async function tryDownloadCandidates(
 	urls: string[],
 	destPath: string,
 	kind: "swf" | "png",
+	onFailure?: (detail: string) => void,
 ): Promise<boolean> {
 	for (const url of urls) {
 		const res = await downloadFile(url, destPath, { validate: kind });
 		if (res.ok) return true;
+		const source = new URL(url);
+		onFailure?.(
+			`${source.host}${source.pathname}: ${res.error ?? "download failed"}`,
+		);
 	}
 	return false;
 }
@@ -49,11 +54,12 @@ export async function downloadFile(
 	url: string,
 	destPath: string,
 	options?: { maxRetries?: number; validate?: "swf" | "png" | "nitro" },
-): Promise<{ ok: boolean; size: number }> {
+): Promise<{ ok: boolean; size: number; error?: string }> {
 	const maxRetries = options?.maxRetries ?? 3;
 	const baseDelay = 1000;
 
 	for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
+		let stage: "download" | "write" = "download";
 		try {
 			if (attempt > 0) {
 				await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, baseDelay * 2 ** (attempt - 1)));
@@ -71,40 +77,53 @@ export async function downloadFile(
 					console.warn(
 						`[import-download] Download failed ${url}: ${res.status}${deterministic ? " (deterministic, not retrying)" : ` after ${maxRetries + 1} attempts`}`,
 					);
-					return { ok: false, size: 0 };
+					return { ok: false, size: 0, error: `HTTP ${res.status}` };
 				}
 				continue;
 			}
 			const buffer = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer());
 			if (buffer.length < 8) {
-				if (attempt === maxRetries) return { ok: false, size: 0 };
+				if (attempt === maxRetries)
+					return { ok: false, size: 0, error: "Empty or truncated response" };
 				continue;
 			}
 			if (options?.validate === "swf" && !validateSwfBytes(buffer)) {
 				if (attempt === maxRetries) {
 					console.warn(`[import-download] Invalid SWF magic bytes from ${url}`);
-					return { ok: false, size: 0 };
+					return { ok: false, size: 0, error: "Response is not a SWF file" };
 				}
 				continue;
 			}
 			if (options?.validate === "png" && !validatePngBytes(buffer)) {
 				if (attempt === maxRetries) {
 					console.warn(`[import-download] Invalid PNG magic bytes from ${url}`);
-					return { ok: false, size: 0 };
+					return { ok: false, size: 0, error: "Response is not a PNG file" };
 				}
 				continue;
 			}
 			if (options?.validate === "nitro" && !validateNitroBytes(buffer))
-				return { ok: false, size: 0 };
+				return { ok: false, size: 0, error: "Invalid Nitro bundle" };
+			stage = "write";
 			await fs.writeFile(/*turbopackIgnore: true*/ destPath, buffer);
 			return { ok: true, size: buffer.length };
 		} catch (err) {
-			if (attempt === maxRetries) {
+			if (attempt === maxRetries || stage === "write") {
 				console.warn(
 					`[import-download] Download error ${url}:`,
 					(err as Error).message,
 				);
-				return { ok: false, size: 0 };
+				const failure = err as {
+					code?: string;
+					name?: string;
+					cause?: { code?: string };
+				};
+				const code =
+					failure.code ?? failure.cause?.code ?? failure.name ?? "unknown";
+				return {
+					ok: false,
+					size: 0,
+					error: `${stage === "write" ? "Cannot save file" : "Network failure"} (${code})`,
+				};
 			}
 		}
 	}