diff --git a/ai-track-docs/resilience.md b/ai-track-docs/resilience.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4710514
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ai-track-docs/resilience.md
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# Resilience — Ex15
+
+## Improvement: Error Mapping in `knife status`
+
+`knife status` queries the Chef Server via `Chef::Search::Query#search`. Previously, any network or server error produced an unhandled exception with a Ruby stack trace — confusing for operators and hard to script around.
+
+**Ex15 adds a rescue block** that maps two failure modes to clear fatal messages and a clean `exit 1`:
+
+| Error | Cause | Output |
+|-------|-------|--------|
+| `Net::HTTPServerException` | Chef Server returns 5xx | `FATAL: Chef Server returned an error: <message>` |
+| `SocketError` | DNS failure / network unreachable | `FATAL: Cannot reach Chef Server: <message>` |
+
+### Code Location
+
+```ruby
+# lib/chef/knife/status.rb — run method
+begin
+  q.search(:node, query, build_search_opts) { |node| all_nodes << node }
+rescue Net::HTTPServerException => e
+  ui.fatal("Chef Server returned an error: #{e.message}")
+  exit 1
+rescue SocketError => e
+  ui.fatal("Cannot reach Chef Server: #{e.message}")
+  exit 1
+end
+```
+
+## Failure Tests
+
+Two tests in `spec/unit/knife/status_spec.rb` under `"resilience: error mapping"`:
+
+1. **HTTP 500** — stubs `Net::HTTPServerException`, expects `ui.fatal` + `SystemExit(1)`
+2. **SocketError** — stubs `SocketError`, expects `ui.fatal` + `SystemExit(1)`
+
+### Running Locally
+
+```bash
+bundle exec rspec spec/unit/knife/status_spec.rb -e "resilience"
+# Expect: 2 examples, 0 failures
+
+bundle exec rspec spec/unit/knife/status_spec.rb
+# Expect: 23 examples, 0 failures
+```
+
+## Why Error Mapping (Not Retry)
+
+`knife status` is a **read-only query** command. Retrying on 5xx risks masking persistent server issues and adds latency. The right behavior is to fail fast with a clear message so operators can investigate the server directly. Retry/backoff is appropriate for write operations or bootstrap flows (already present in `knife bootstrap`).
diff --git a/lib/chef/knife/status.rb b/lib/chef/knife/status.rb
index 3ef4df4..3906885 100644
--- a/lib/chef/knife/status.rb
+++ b/lib/chef/knife/status.rb
@@ -73,11 +73,19 @@ def run
         all_nodes = []
         q = Chef::Search::Query.new
 
-        search_start = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC)
-        q.search(:node, query, build_search_opts) do |node|
-          all_nodes << node
+        begin
+          search_start = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC)
+          q.search(:node, query, build_search_opts) do |node|
+            all_nodes << node
+          end
+          search_elapsed = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC) - search_start
+        rescue Net::HTTPServerException => e
+          ui.fatal("Chef Server returned an error: #{e.message}")
+          exit 1
+        rescue SocketError => e
+          ui.fatal("Cannot reach Chef Server: #{e.message}")
+          exit 1
         end
-        search_elapsed = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC) - search_start
 
         if ENV["KNIFE_TIMING"]
           Chef::Log.info("op=knife_status status=ok nodes=#{all_nodes.size} elapsed_ms=#{(search_elapsed * 1000).round}")
diff --git a/spec/unit/knife/status_spec.rb b/spec/unit/knife/status_spec.rb
index d368b93..0219c41 100644
--- a/spec/unit/knife/status_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/knife/status_spec.rb
@@ -199,4 +199,31 @@
       end
     end
   end
+
+  describe "resilience: error mapping" do
+    context "when the Chef Server returns an HTTP error" do
+      before do
+        response = double("Net::HTTPResponse", code: "500", message: "Internal Server Error")
+        allow(response).to receive(:body).and_return("")
+        error = Net::HTTPServerException.new("500 Internal Server Error", response)
+        allow(@query).to receive(:search).and_raise(error)
+      end
+
+      it "prints a fatal message and exits 1" do
+        expect(@knife.ui).to receive(:fatal).with(/Chef Server returned an error/)
+        expect { @knife.run }.to raise_error(SystemExit) { |e| expect(e.status).to eq(1) }
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "when the network is unreachable (SocketError)" do
+      before do
+        allow(@query).to receive(:search).and_raise(SocketError, "getaddrinfo: nodename nor servname provided")
+      end
+
+      it "prints a fatal message and exits 1" do
+        expect(@knife.ui).to receive(:fatal).with(/Cannot reach Chef Server/)
+        expect { @knife.run }.to raise_error(SystemExit) { |e| expect(e.status).to eq(1) }
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end