diff --git a/src/components/DetailViewPanel.tsx b/src/components/DetailViewPanel.tsx
index 30b6153..b2f5584 100644
--- a/src/components/DetailViewPanel.tsx
+++ b/src/components/DetailViewPanel.tsx
@@ -318,18 +318,22 @@ export default function DetailViewPanel({ viewId, instanceId, onTitle }: Props)
               </Block>
             )}
 
-            <Block label="AI Activity" icon={Bot}>
-              {instance.loading ? (
-                <Skeleton className="h-16 w-full rounded-lg" />
-              ) : (
-                <AiActivity
-                  decisions={instance.decisions}
-                  escalations={instance.escalations}
-                  traces={instance.traces}
-                  unavailable={instance.aiUnavailable}
-                />
-              )}
-            </Block>
+            {/* Hidden entirely when the monitoring service can't be read —
+                app-user tokens have no scope on /monitor/*, so for them this
+                panel can never load. */}
+            {!instance.aiUnavailable && (
+              <Block label="AI Activity" icon={Bot}>
+                {instance.loading ? (
+                  <Skeleton className="h-16 w-full rounded-lg" />
+                ) : (
+                  <AiActivity
+                    decisions={instance.decisions}
+                    escalations={instance.escalations}
+                    traces={instance.traces}
+                  />
+                )}
+              </Block>
+            )}
 
             <Block label="History" icon={History}>
               {instance.loading ? (
diff --git a/src/components/FormModal.tsx b/src/components/FormModal.tsx
index fbc2647..ef5a091 100644
--- a/src/components/FormModal.tsx
+++ b/src/components/FormModal.tsx
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import {
   SelectValue,
 } from "@/components/ui/select";
 import {
+  ApiError,
   getFormScreen,
   performActivity,
   startWorkflow,
@@ -68,11 +69,18 @@ export default function FormModal({ activityId, instanceId, title, onClose, onSu
   const [succeeded, setSucceeded] = useState(false);
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
 
-  const { data, isPending } = useQuery({
+  const { data, isPending, isError, error: loadError } = useQuery({
     queryKey: ["form-screen", activityId, instanceId],
     queryFn: () => getFormScreen(activityId, instanceId) as Promise<any>,
+    // A 4xx (no permission / wrong state) won't change on retry.
+    retry: (count, err) => (err instanceof ApiError && err.status < 500 ? false : count < 1),
   });
 
+  const loadErrorMessage =
+    loadError instanceof ApiError && loadError.status === 403
+      ? "You don't have access to this form."
+      : "This form couldn't be loaded. Please try again.";
+
   const fields: FormField[] = data?.fields ?? data?.form_json?.fields ?? [];
   const gridConfig: GridItem[] = data?.grid_config ?? [];
   const formTitle = data?.activity_name || title || "Form";
@@ -234,6 +242,14 @@ export default function FormModal({ activityId, instanceId, title, onClose, onSu
                 </div>
               ))}
             </div>
+          ) : isError ? (
+            <div
+              role="alert"
+              className="flex items-start gap-2 rounded-lg border border-destructive/30 bg-destructive/10 px-3 py-2.5 text-base text-destructive"
+            >
+              <AlertCircle className="mt-0.5 size-4 shrink-0" aria-hidden />
+              <span>{loadErrorMessage}</span>
+            </div>
           ) : (
             <form id="activity-form" onSubmit={handleSubmit} className="space-y-4">
               {rows.map((row, ri) => (
@@ -300,9 +316,17 @@ export default function FormModal({ activityId, instanceId, title, onClose, onSu
           )}
         </div>
 
+        {isError && (
+          <DialogFooter className="mx-0 mb-0 border-t border-border px-5 py-3">
+            <Button type="button" variant="ghost" onClick={onClose}>
+              Close
+            </Button>
+          </DialogFooter>
+        )}
+
         {/* mx-0/mb-0 cancel DialogFooter's default negative margins, which
             assume the content keeps its own padding — this dialog is p-0. */}
-        {!isPending && (
+        {!isPending && !isError && (
           <DialogFooter className="mx-0 mb-0 items-center border-t border-border px-5 py-3 sm:justify-between">
             <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
               <span className="text-destructive">*</span> Required