diff --git a/backend/app/controllers/ai_trace.controller.go b/backend/app/controllers/ai_trace.controller.go
index 3f44d395..b09c76dd 100644
--- a/backend/app/controllers/ai_trace.controller.go
+++ b/backend/app/controllers/ai_trace.controller.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package controllers
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
 	"sync"
@@ -162,8 +163,11 @@ func (a aiTraceController) FindByTraceName(c *gin.Context) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Stats are best-effort: the trace list still renders without them, so a
+	// failure here is reported rather than aborting the request.
 	stats, err := telemetry.AiTraceRepository.GetTraceNameStats(c, projectId, traceName, request.FromDate, request.ToDate)
 	if err != nil {
+		traceway.CaptureException(fmt.Errorf("failed to load ai trace stats (traceName=%s): %w", traceName, err))
 		stats = nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/backend/app/repositories/telemetry/sqlite/ai_trace.repository.go b/backend/app/repositories/telemetry/sqlite/ai_trace.repository.go
index b03d5277..a03f7f88 100644
--- a/backend/app/repositories/telemetry/sqlite/ai_trace.repository.go
+++ b/backend/app/repositories/telemetry/sqlite/ai_trace.repository.go
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ func (r *aiTraceRepository) GetTraceNameStats(ctx context.Context, projectId uui
 		WHERE project_id = :project_id AND trace_name = :trace_name AND recorded_at >= :from AND recorded_at <= :to
 		ORDER BY duration ASC`, params)
 	if err != nil {
-		return stats, nil
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	sortedDurations := make([]float64, len(durationRows))