diff --git a/src/lib/__tests__/api.test.ts b/src/lib/__tests__/api.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b587a5dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/__tests__/api.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { AxiosError, AxiosHeaders } from 'axios';
+import { isAuthOrScopeError } from '@lib/api';
+
+/**
+ * `isAuthOrScopeError` gates whether a caller reports a failure to error
+ * tracking. The Slack connect poll 403s when the token lacks
+ * `integration:read` — an expected, gracefully-handled outcome that must
+ * NOT be captured as a bug. Only genuinely unexpected failures should be.
+ */
+const axiosErrorWithStatus = (status: number): AxiosError => {
+  const error = new AxiosError('request failed');
+  error.response = {
+    status,
+    statusText: '',
+    data: {},
+    headers: {},
+    config: { headers: new AxiosHeaders() },
+  };
+  return error;
+};
+
+describe('isAuthOrScopeError', () => {
+  it('treats 401 (unauthenticated) as an auth/scope error', () => {
+    expect(isAuthOrScopeError(axiosErrorWithStatus(401))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('treats 403 (missing scope) as an auth/scope error', () => {
+    expect(isAuthOrScopeError(axiosErrorWithStatus(403))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('does not treat other HTTP failures as auth/scope errors', () => {
+    expect(isAuthOrScopeError(axiosErrorWithStatus(404))).toBe(false);
+    expect(isAuthOrScopeError(axiosErrorWithStatus(500))).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('does not treat non-axios errors as auth/scope errors', () => {
+    expect(isAuthOrScopeError(new Error('boom'))).toBe(false);
+    expect(isAuthOrScopeError('boom')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isAuthOrScopeError(undefined)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/api.ts b/src/lib/api.ts
index ba478a82..553169bc 100644
--- a/src/lib/api.ts
+++ b/src/lib/api.ts
@@ -261,6 +261,20 @@ export async function fetchSlackConnected(
   return parsed.data.results.some((i) => i.kind === 'slack');
 }
 
+/**
+ * True for the auth/scope failures that mean "the token can't read this",
+ * not "something is broken": 401 (unauthenticated) and 403 (authenticated
+ * but missing the required scope). Callers that already degrade gracefully
+ * on these — e.g. the Slack connect poll, which 403s without the
+ * `integration:read` scope (see CONNECT_SLACK_SCOPE_ADDITIONS) — use this to
+ * skip error-tracking reports for an expected, handled outcome.
+ */
+export function isAuthOrScopeError(error: unknown): boolean {
+  if (!axios.isAxiosError(error)) return false;
+  const status = error.response?.status;
+  return status === 401 || status === 403;
+}
+
 export function handleApiError(error: unknown, operation: string): ApiError {
   if (axios.isAxiosError(error)) {
     const axiosError = error as AxiosError<{ detail?: string }>;
diff --git a/src/ui/tui/screens/SlackConnectScreen.tsx b/src/ui/tui/screens/SlackConnectScreen.tsx
index 9db8f74d..ecfff892 100644
--- a/src/ui/tui/screens/SlackConnectScreen.tsx
+++ b/src/ui/tui/screens/SlackConnectScreen.tsx
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import { Colors, Icons } from '@ui/tui/styles';
 import { PickerMenu, LoadingBox } from '@ui/tui/primitives/index';
 import { useKeyBindings, KeyMatch } from '@ui/tui/hooks/useKeyBindings';
 import { getSlackAppCard } from '@lib/mcp-role-prompts';
-import { fetchSlackConnected } from '@lib/api';
+import { fetchSlackConnected, isAuthOrScopeError } from '@lib/api';
 import { Program } from '@lib/programs/program-registry';
 import { getOrAskForProjectData } from '@utils/setup-utils';
 import { analytics } from '@utils/analytics';
@@ -155,17 +155,23 @@ export const SlackConnectScreen = ({ store }: SlackConnectScreenProps) => {
         })
         .catch((err: unknown) => {
           if (cancelled) return;
-          // Capture once and stop polling — repeating a failing call
-          // every tick would spam error tracking. The nudge copy is
-          // the fallback either way; a failed check counts as not
-          // connected so the screen doesn't sit on the loading state.
+          // Stop polling either way — repeating a failing call every tick
+          // would spam error tracking, and the nudge copy is the fallback.
+          // A failed check counts as not connected so the screen doesn't
+          // sit on the loading state.
           if (store.session.slackConnected === null) {
             store.setSlackConnected(false);
           }
-          analytics.captureException(
-            err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err)),
-            { step: 'slack_connected_check' },
-          );
+          // A 401/403 here is expected and already handled: the token just
+          // lacks `integration:read`, so we can't tell if Slack is connected
+          // and fall back to the nudge (see CONNECT_SLACK_SCOPE_ADDITIONS).
+          // Only report genuinely unexpected failures to error tracking.
+          if (!isAuthOrScopeError(err)) {
+            analytics.captureException(
+              err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err)),
+              { step: 'slack_connected_check' },
+            );
+          }
         });
     };
     check();