diff --git a/tests/test_webui_queue_dashboard.py b/tests/test_webui_queue_dashboard.py
index cc9ea97..9fe3459 100644
--- a/tests/test_webui_queue_dashboard.py
+++ b/tests/test_webui_queue_dashboard.py
@@ -209,6 +209,37 @@ class TestQueueRoutes(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIsNotNone(snapshot.fetch_error)
         self.assertEqual(len(snapshot.prs), 0)
 
+    def test_queue_fail_closed_hides_empty_state_copy(self):
+        with mock.patch("webui.queue_loader.get_auth_header", return_value=None):
+            snapshot = load_queue_snapshot()
+        with mock.patch("webui.app.load_queue_snapshot", return_value=snapshot):
+            response = self.client.get("/queue")
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertIn("Queue unavailable", response.text)
+        self.assertIn("not fetched", response.text.lower())
+        self.assertNotIn("No open items.", response.text)
+        self.assertNotIn("Open pull requests", response.text)
+        self.assertNotIn("pages_fetched", response.text)
+
+    def test_queue_successful_empty_inventory_shows_empty_state(self):
+        def _empty_prs(*_args, **_kwargs):
+            return [], _mock_pagination(0)
+
+        def _empty_issues(*_args, **_kwargs):
+            return [], _mock_pagination(0)
+
+        snapshot = load_queue_snapshot(
+            fetch_prs=_empty_prs,
+            fetch_issues=_empty_issues,
+        )
+        with mock.patch("webui.app.load_queue_snapshot", return_value=snapshot):
+            response = self.client.get("/queue")
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertIsNone(snapshot.fetch_error)
+        self.assertEqual(response.text.count("No open items."), 2)
+        self.assertIn("pages_fetched", response.text)
+        self.assertIn("pagination (complete)", response.text)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/webui/queue_views.py b/webui/queue_views.py
index 8294b8e..becf346 100644
--- a/webui/queue_views.py
+++ b/webui/queue_views.py
@@ -72,6 +72,18 @@ def render_queue_page(snapshot: QueueSnapshot) -> str:
             f'<div class="stub"><p><strong>Queue unavailable:</strong> '
             f"{html.escape(snapshot.fetch_error)}</p></div>"
         )
+        inventory_block = (
+            "<p class='muted'><strong>Inventory:</strong> not fetched "
+            "(fail closed — queue tables omitted).</p>"
+        )
+        return (
+            "<h2>Live queue</h2>"
+            f"<p class='meta'>Repository: <code>{html.escape(snapshot.repo_label)}</code> "
+            f"· project <code>{html.escape(snapshot.project_id)}</code></p>"
+            f"{error_block}"
+            f"{inventory_block}"
+            "<p class='muted'>Read-only MVP — claims, reviews, and merges stay in Gitea/MCP tools.</p>"
+        )
 
     pr_section = _queue_table(
         title="Open pull requests",
@@ -101,7 +113,6 @@ def render_queue_page(snapshot: QueueSnapshot) -> str:
         "<h2>Live queue</h2>"
         f"<p class='meta'>Repository: <code>{html.escape(snapshot.repo_label)}</code> "
         f"· project <code>{html.escape(snapshot.project_id)}</code></p>"
-        f"{error_block}"
         f"{_pagination_html('PR', snapshot.pr_pagination)}"
         f"{pr_section}"
         f"{_pagination_html('Issue', snapshot.issue_pagination)}"