diff --git a/src/commands/helpers.ts b/src/commands/helpers.ts
index 7fe7fb6..a9116de 100644
--- a/src/commands/helpers.ts
+++ b/src/commands/helpers.ts
@@ -63,6 +63,33 @@ export function c(code: string, text: string): string {
   return useColor() ? `${code}${text}${ANSI.reset}` : text;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Suggests a one-line remediation for a raw error message, so scan/test
+ * failures tell the user how to fix the problem, not just state it.
+ *
+ * Note: connection failures during MCP session startup already get a much
+ * richer diagnosis (diagnosis/likely causes/next steps) from
+ * `formatConnectionFailureDiagnosis` via `RunArtifact.fatalError` — this
+ * covers the lighter-weight cases outside that path (thrown exceptions,
+ * config parsing errors) where no such diagnosis exists.
+ */
+export function suggestFix(message: string): string | undefined {
+  const lower = message.toLowerCase();
+  if (lower.includes("timed out") || lower.includes("timeout")) {
+    return "Try increasing timeout with --timeout 30000";
+  }
+  if (lower.includes("econnrefused") || lower.includes("connection refused")) {
+    return "Check that the server is running. Try: npx -y <server-package>";
+  }
+  if (lower.includes("enoent") || lower.includes("spawn")) {
+    return "Check that the command is installed and on PATH. Try: npx -y <server-package>";
+  }
+  if (lower.includes("unexpected token") || lower.includes("invalid config") || lower.includes("is not valid json")) {
+    return "Check target JSON format. Run: cat <config-file>";
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}
+
 export function colorStatus(status: string): string {
   switch (status) {
     case "pass":
diff --git a/src/commands/scan.ts b/src/commands/scan.ts
index 49a0467..d45208a 100644
--- a/src/commands/scan.ts
+++ b/src/commands/scan.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ import type { RunArtifact } from "../types.js";
 import { TOOL_VERSION } from "../version.js";
 import { maybePrintCloudCta } from "../commercial.js";
 import { renderActionReceipt } from "../action-receipt.js";
-import { ANSI, LOGO, c, isQuiet, setupCiHint, useColor } from "./helpers.js";
+import { ANSI, LOGO, c, isQuiet, setupCiHint, suggestFix, useColor } from "./helpers.js";
+import { firstNextStep } from "../utils/failure-diagnosis.js";
 import { maybeConvertPassingCheckToCi, type SetupCiConversionFlags } from "./setup-ci-conversion.js";
 // ── Scan implementation ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -141,6 +142,10 @@ async function runScan(
 
       if (artifact.fatalError) {
         process.stdout.write(`    ${c(ANSI.red, "→")} ${artifact.fatalError.split("\n")[0]}\n`);
+        const fixHint = firstNextStep(artifact.fatalError) ?? suggestFix(artifact.fatalError);
+        if (fixHint) {
+          process.stdout.write(`    ${c(ANSI.dim, `→ ${fixHint}`)}\n`);
+        }
       } else if (artifact.gate === "fail" && diagnostics.length > 0) {
         process.stdout.write(`    ${c(ANSI.dim, "→")} ${diagnostics[0]}\n`);
       }
@@ -173,6 +178,11 @@ async function runScan(
       process.stdout.write(`\r  ${c(ANSI.red, "✗")} ${c(ANSI.bold, t.config.targetId)}\n`);
       process.stdout.write(`    ${c(ANSI.red, friendlyMsg)}\n`);
 
+      const fixHint = suggestFix(msg);
+      if (fixHint) {
+        process.stdout.write(`    ${c(ANSI.dim, `→ ${fixHint}`)}\n`);
+      }
+
       // Docker-specific hint
       const serverCmd = t.config.adapter === "local-process" ? (t.config as { command: string }).command : "";
       if (serverCmd === "docker" || serverCmd.startsWith("docker ")) {
diff --git a/src/commands/test.ts b/src/commands/test.ts
index 872eac2..30384eb 100644
--- a/src/commands/test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/test.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ import { renderActionReceipt } from "../action-receipt.js";
 import { extractObservatoryFindings } from "../findings.js";
 import { runEnforce } from "./enforce.js";
 import { renderNextActions } from "../reporters/terminal.js";
-import { ANSI, c, resolveTarget, targetFromCommand, writeOutput } from "./helpers.js";
+import { ANSI, c, resolveTarget, suggestFix, targetFromCommand, writeOutput } from "./helpers.js";
+import { firstNextStep } from "../utils/failure-diagnosis.js";
 import { maybeConvertPassingCheckToCi, type SetupCiConversionFlags } from "./setup-ci-conversion.js";
 
 export interface TestCommandFlags extends SetupCiConversionFlags {
@@ -170,6 +171,14 @@ export function registerTestCommands(program: Command): void {
       process.stdout.write(`\r  ${gateIcon} ${c(ANSI.bold, target.targetId)}${" ".repeat(Math.max(1, 40 - target.targetId.length))}`);
       process.stdout.write(`${c(ANSI.dim, `${toolCount} tools, ${promptCount} prompts, ${resourceCount} resources`)}\n`);
 
+      if (artifact.fatalError) {
+        process.stdout.write(`    ${c(ANSI.red, "→")} ${artifact.fatalError.split("\n")[0]}\n`);
+        const fixHint = firstNextStep(artifact.fatalError) ?? suggestFix(artifact.fatalError);
+        if (fixHint) {
+          process.stdout.write(`    ${c(ANSI.dim, `→ ${fixHint}`)}\n`);
+        }
+      }
+
       for (const check of artifact.checks) {
         if (check.status === "fail" || check.status === "partial") {
           process.stdout.write(`    ${c(ANSI.dim, "→")} ${check.id}: ${check.message}\n`);
diff --git a/src/utils/failure-diagnosis.ts b/src/utils/failure-diagnosis.ts
index 3d5a2ca..ac58361 100644
--- a/src/utils/failure-diagnosis.ts
+++ b/src/utils/failure-diagnosis.ts
@@ -134,3 +134,17 @@ export function formatConnectionFailureDiagnosis(
 
   return lines.join("\n");
 }
+
+/**
+ * Pulls the first "Next steps:" bullet out of a formatted diagnosis (as
+ * produced by formatConnectionFailureDiagnosis / stored in
+ * RunArtifact.fatalError), for callers that only have room for a single
+ * remediation line rather than the full diagnosis block.
+ */
+export function firstNextStep(formattedDiagnosis: string): string | undefined {
+  const lines = formattedDiagnosis.split("\n");
+  const idx = lines.findIndex((line) => line === "Next steps:");
+  if (idx === -1) return undefined;
+  const step = lines[idx + 1];
+  return step?.startsWith("-") ? step.slice(1).trim() : undefined;
+}
diff --git a/tests/commands-helpers.test.ts b/tests/commands-helpers.test.ts
index a448896..ce98eaf 100644
--- a/tests/commands-helpers.test.ts
+++ b/tests/commands-helpers.test.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {
   setNoColor,
   setQuiet,
   setupCiHint,
+  suggestFix,
   targetFromCommand,
   useColor,
   writeOutput,
@@ -91,7 +92,39 @@ describe("command helper formatting", () => {
     setQuiet(false);
     expect(isQuiet()).toBe(false);
   });
+});
+
+describe("suggestFix", () => {
+  it("suggests raising the timeout for timeout errors", () => {
+    expect(suggestFix("Server timed out after 15000ms")).toBe(
+      "Try increasing timeout with --timeout 30000",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("suggests checking the server is running for connection-refused errors", () => {
+    expect(suggestFix("connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:3000")).toBe(
+      "Check that the server is running. Try: npx -y <server-package>",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("suggests checking PATH for ENOENT / spawn errors", () => {
+    expect(suggestFix("spawn some-cli ENOENT")).toBe(
+      "Check that the command is installed and on PATH. Try: npx -y <server-package>",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("suggests checking JSON format for config parsing errors", () => {
+    expect(suggestFix("Unexpected token } in JSON at position 42")).toBe(
+      "Check target JSON format. Run: cat <config-file>",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("returns undefined for messages that don't match a known pattern", () => {
+    expect(suggestFix("something completely unrelated happened")).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
 
+describe("command helper formatting continued", () => {
   it("colors known statuses and leaves unknown statuses unchanged", () => {
     process.env["NO_COLOR"] = "1";
     expect(colorStatus("pass")).toBe("pass");
diff --git a/tests/failure-diagnosis.test.ts b/tests/failure-diagnosis.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2098f94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/failure-diagnosis.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { firstNextStep, formatConnectionFailureDiagnosis } from "../src/utils/failure-diagnosis.js";
+import type { TargetConfig } from "../src/types.js";
+
+const target: TargetConfig = {
+  targetId: "test",
+  adapter: "local-process" as const,
+  command: "test-cmd",
+  args: [],
+};
+
+describe("firstNextStep", () => {
+  it("extracts the first next-step bullet from a formatted diagnosis", () => {
+    const diagnosis = formatConnectionFailureDiagnosis(target, "MCP error -32000: Connection closed", []);
+    expect(firstNextStep(diagnosis)).toBe(
+      "Run the command manually and look for usage output, auth prompts, or crash text.",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("returns undefined for text with no Next steps section", () => {
+    expect(firstNextStep("just a plain error message")).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("returns undefined when Next steps: is the last line with nothing after it", () => {
+    expect(firstNextStep("Diagnosis: x\nNext steps:")).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});