diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/core.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/core.test.ts
index 55cdf5e48a..a140d2c502 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/core.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/core.test.ts
@@ -401,6 +401,7 @@ import {
 import { bundleRawAppDraft } from './rawAppBundlerBridge'
 import {
 	AppService,
+	DraftService,
 	EmailTriggerService,
 	FlowService,
 	FolderService,
@@ -2493,6 +2494,30 @@ describe('global AI tools', () => {
 		}
 	})
 
+	// Without names a chosen name reads as a path of its own, and a write under it would
+	// create a second draft beside the one it meant to edit.
+	it('refuses to write by a chosen name it could not load the drafts for', async () => {
+		const workspace = 'ws-no-draft-names'
+		seedBackendDraft(
+			'raw_app',
+			'u/admin/draft_unloadable',
+			{ summary: 'Unloadable', draft_path: 'f/sales/unloadable', files: {}, runnables: {} },
+			{ workspace }
+		)
+		vi.mocked(DraftService.listDrafts).mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('server error'))
+
+		await expect(
+			getGlobalTool('write_app_file').fn({
+				args: { path: 'f/sales/unloadable', file_path: '/index.tsx', content: 'x' },
+				workspace,
+				helpers: {},
+				toolCallbacks,
+				toolId: 'no-names'
+			})
+		).rejects.toThrow(/Could not load this workspace's drafts/)
+		expect(getBackendDraft('raw_app', 'f/sales/unloadable', { workspace })).toBeUndefined()
+	})
+
 	it('refuses a draft_path that two drafts are staged under', async () => {
 		for (const storage of ['u/admin/draft_a', 'u/admin/draft_b']) {
 			seedBackendDraft(
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/core.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/core.ts
index 3c8bafc8cb..e480f73d13 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/core.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/core.ts
@@ -8310,19 +8310,21 @@ async function deployDraft(
 		deployedInSessionHandler?.({ sessionId, kind, path: draftStoragePath, deployedPath })
 	}
 
+	// Named by where the item landed, not by the path the call addressed it at: a draft is
+	// often addressed by its storage key, which nothing resolves to once the draft is gone.
 	toolCallbacks.setToolStatus(toolId, {
-		content: `Deployed ${type} "${path}"`,
+		content: `Deployed ${type} "${deployedPath}"`,
 		result: 'Deployed',
 		actions
 	})
 	return JSON.stringify(
 		{
 			success: true,
-			message: `Deployed draft ${type} "${path}" to the workspace. Draft removed.${
+			message: `Deployed draft ${type} "${deployedPath}" to the workspace. Draft removed.${
 				deployNote ? ` ${deployNote}` : ''
 			}`,
 			type,
-			path,
+			path: deployedPath,
 			triggerKind
 		},
 		null,
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/userDraftAdapter.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/userDraftAdapter.ts
index 3eb1cf3f92..b7faa59761 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/userDraftAdapter.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/copilot/chat/global/userDraftAdapter.ts
@@ -372,9 +372,16 @@ async function readDraftNames(workspace: string, path?: string): Promise<void> {
 	try {
 		rows = await DraftService.listDrafts({ workspace })
 	} catch (e) {
-		// The names loaded earlier are kept: stale routing still sends a name to the draft
-		// it named a moment ago, while no table at all sends a write to the name itself,
-		// forking the draft in two.
+		// Without names, a chosen name reads as a path of its own: a write under it creates
+		// a second draft beside the one it meant to edit. Names loaded earlier are good
+		// enough — a draft does not leave the name it had a moment ago — but with none at
+		// all the caller is stopped instead.
+		if (!draftNamesByWorkspace.has(workspace)) {
+			throw new Error(
+				`Could not load this workspace's drafts, so "${path}" cannot be matched to the draft ` +
+					`it may name. Try again.`
+			)
+		}
 		console.warn('Could not refresh draft names', e)
 		return
 	}