diff --git a/actions/setup/js/ai_credits_context.cjs b/actions/setup/js/ai_credits_context.cjs
index 291bde8ecc7..6257e046b8a 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/ai_credits_context.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/ai_credits_context.cjs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_ERROR_FIELDS = new Set(["ai_credits_rate_limit_error
 // Note: these text fields are intentionally broad (common field names like "error", "message") because
 // rate-limit signals can appear in any of them. This asymmetry vs parseMaxAICreditsFromAuditLog is deliberate.
 const AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_TEXT_FIELDS = new Set(["error", "message", "reason", "details", "detail", "type", "code"]);
-const AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_PATTERNS = [/ai[\s_-]*credits?.*(?:rate[\s-]*limit|limit exceeded|budget exceeded|exceeded)/i, /(?:rate[\s-]*limit|too many requests).*(?:ai[\s_-]*credits?)/i, /\bai_credits_limit_exceeded\b/i];
+const AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_PATTERNS = [/ai[\s_-]*credits?.{0,80}(?:rate[\s-]*limit|limit exceeded|budget exceeded|exceeded)/i, /(?:rate[\s-]*limit|too many requests).{0,80}(?:ai[\s_-]*credits?)/i, /\bai_credits_limit_exceeded\b/i];
 const MAX_AI_CREDITS_EXCEEDED_FIELDS = new Set(["max_ai_credits_exceeded", "maxAiCreditsExceeded"]);
 const AI_CREDITS_TOTAL_FIELDS = new Set(["ai_credits_total", "aiCreditsTotal"]);
 /** @type {{ aiCredits: string, maxAICredits: string, rateLimitError: boolean, maxAICreditsExceeded: boolean }} */
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ function parseAICreditsErrorInfoFromAuditEntry(entry) {
       if (parsed) aiCredits = parsed;
     }
     if (AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_ERROR_FIELDS.has(key) && isTrueLike(value)) rateLimitError = true;
-    if (AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_TEXT_FIELDS.has(key) && typeof value === "string") {
+    if (AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_TEXT_FIELDS.has(key) && typeof value === "string" && !/\btool[_\s-]*result\b/i.test(value)) {
       if (AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_PATTERNS.some(pattern => pattern.test(value))) rateLimitError = true;
     }
   });
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/ai_credits_context.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/ai_credits_context.test.cjs
index a859a8b419d..af88d358472 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/ai_credits_context.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/ai_credits_context.test.cjs
@@ -611,6 +611,21 @@ describe("ai_credits_context parseAICreditsErrorInfoFromAuditLog", () => {
     expect(parseAICreditsErrorInfoFromAuditLog().rateLimitError).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("ignores rate-limit text echoed in an MCP tool result", () => {
+    writeAuditLog([{ message: 'tool_result: {"title":"[aw] Workflow hit AI credits rate limit"}' }]);
+    expect(parseAICreditsErrorInfoFromAuditLog().rateLimitError).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("ignores rate-limit keywords farther than 80 characters apart", () => {
+    writeAuditLog([{ message: `AI credits ${"x".repeat(79)} rate limit exceeded` }]);
+    expect(parseAICreditsErrorInfoFromAuditLog().rateLimitError).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("detects nearby rate-limit keywords", () => {
+    writeAuditLog([{ message: `AI credits ${"x".repeat(78)} rate limit exceeded` }]);
+    expect(parseAICreditsErrorInfoFromAuditLog().rateLimitError).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("detects rate limit from code field with ai_credits_limit_exceeded", () => {
     writeAuditLog([{ code: "ai_credits_limit_exceeded" }]);
     expect(parseAICreditsErrorInfoFromAuditLog().rateLimitError).toBe(true);
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.cjs b/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.cjs
index 656bfc48ebf..604d4370f2b 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.cjs
@@ -3442,7 +3442,8 @@ async function main() {
     const codePushFailureCount = process.env.GH_AW_CODE_PUSH_FAILURE_COUNT || "0";
     const checkoutPRSuccess = process.env.GH_AW_CHECKOUT_PR_SUCCESS || "";
     const timeoutMinutes = process.env.GH_AW_TIMEOUT_MINUTES || "";
-    const { aiCredits, maxAICredits, aiCreditsRateLimitError, maxAICreditsExceeded } = resolveAICreditsFailureState();
+    const { aiCredits, maxAICredits, aiCreditsRateLimitError: detectedAICreditsRateLimitError, maxAICreditsExceeded } = resolveAICreditsFailureState();
+    const aiCreditsRateLimitError = agentConclusion === "failure" && detectedAICreditsRateLimitError;
     const inferenceAccessError = process.env.GH_AW_INFERENCE_ACCESS_ERROR === "true";
     const copilotOrgBillingError = detectCopilotOrgBillingErrorFromLog();
     const mcpPolicyError = process.env.GH_AW_MCP_POLICY_ERROR === "true";
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.test.cjs
index 0d8b293f3a6..7d86298a728 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.test.cjs
@@ -103,6 +103,68 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("does not handle an AI credits rate-limit signal when the agent succeeded", async () => {
+    const fs = require("fs");
+    const os = require("os");
+    const path = require("path");
+    const agentOutputPath = path.join(fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "aw-agent-output-")), "output.json");
+    fs.writeFileSync(agentOutputPath, JSON.stringify({ items: [{ type: "create_discussion" }] }));
+    process.env.GH_AW_AGENT_OUTPUT = agentOutputPath;
+    process.env.GH_AW_AGENT_CONCLUSION = "success";
+    process.env.GH_AW_AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_ERROR = "true";
+    process.env.GH_AW_AIC = "1";
+
+    try {
+      await main();
+      expect(global.core.info).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("skipping failure handling"));
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(path.dirname(agentOutputPath), { recursive: true, force: true });
+      delete process.env.GH_AW_AGENT_OUTPUT;
+      delete process.env.GH_AW_AGENT_CONCLUSION;
+      delete process.env.GH_AW_AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_ERROR;
+      delete process.env.GH_AW_AIC;
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("handles an AI credits rate-limit signal when the agent failed", async () => {
+    const fs = require("fs");
+    const os = require("os");
+    const path = require("path");
+    const agentOutputPath = path.join(fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "aw-agent-output-")), "output.json");
+    fs.writeFileSync(agentOutputPath, JSON.stringify({ items: [{ type: "create_discussion" }] }));
+    process.env.GH_AW_AGENT_OUTPUT = agentOutputPath;
+    process.env.GH_AW_AGENT_CONCLUSION = "failure";
+    process.env.GH_AW_AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_ERROR = "true";
+    process.env.GH_AW_AIC = "1";
+    const createIssueMock = vi.fn(async () => ({
+      data: { number: 99, html_url: "https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/99", node_id: "I_99" },
+    }));
+    global.github = {
+      rest: {
+        search: {
+          issuesAndPullRequests: vi.fn(async () => ({ data: { total_count: 0, items: [] } })),
+        },
+        issues: {
+          create: createIssueMock,
+          createComment: vi.fn(),
+        },
+        pulls: { get: vi.fn() },
+      },
+      graphql: vi.fn(),
+    };
+
+    try {
+      await main();
+      expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ title: "[aw] unknown hit AI credits rate limit" }));
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(path.dirname(agentOutputPath), { recursive: true, force: true });
+      delete process.env.GH_AW_AGENT_OUTPUT;
+      delete process.env.GH_AW_AGENT_CONCLUSION;
+      delete process.env.GH_AW_AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_ERROR;
+      delete process.env.GH_AW_AIC;
+    }
+  });
+
   describe("buildFailureIssueTitle", () => {
     const baseOptions = {
       workflowName: "Test Workflow",
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/parse_mcp_gateway_log.cjs b/actions/setup/js/parse_mcp_gateway_log.cjs
index 10b99103418..ccc82840e53 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/parse_mcp_gateway_log.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/parse_mcp_gateway_log.cjs
@@ -45,9 +45,9 @@ function getRpcMessageType(entry) {
   return "";
 }
 const AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_PATTERNS = [
-  /ai[\s_-]*credits?.*(?:rate[\s-]*limit|limit exceeded|budget exceeded|exceeded)/i,
-  /(?:rate[\s-]*limit|too many requests).*(?:ai[\s_-]*credits?)/i,
-  /\b429\b.*(?:rate[\s-]*limit|too many requests|ai[\s_-]*credits?)/i,
+  /ai[\s_-]*credits?.{0,80}(?:rate[\s-]*limit|limit exceeded|budget exceeded|exceeded)/i,
+  /(?:rate[\s-]*limit|too many requests).{0,80}(?:ai[\s_-]*credits?)/i,
+  /\b429\b.{0,80}(?:rate[\s-]*limit|too many requests|ai[\s_-]*credits?)/i,
 ];
 // Detects the AWF API proxy HTTP 400 error emitted when maxAiCredits is active and
 // the requested model is not in the built-in pricing table.
@@ -435,9 +435,7 @@ async function writeStepSummaryWithTokenUsage(coreObj) {
  * @returns {boolean}
  */
 function hasAICreditsRateLimitError(contents) {
-  const joined = contents.filter(Boolean).join("\n");
-  if (!joined) return false;
-  return AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_PATTERNS.some(pattern => pattern.test(joined));
+  return contents.filter(Boolean).some(content => content.split(/\r?\n/).some(line => !/\btool[_\s-]*result\b/i.test(line) && AI_CREDITS_RATE_LIMIT_PATTERNS.some(pattern => pattern.test(line))));
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/parse_mcp_gateway_log.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/parse_mcp_gateway_log.test.cjs
index 3cae064a6eb..3c08f992e87 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/parse_mcp_gateway_log.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/parse_mcp_gateway_log.test.cjs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ const {
   generateTokenUsageSummary,
   formatDurationMs,
   writeStepSummaryWithTokenUsage,
+  hasAICreditsRateLimitError,
 } = require("./parse_mcp_gateway_log.cjs");
 
 describe("parse_mcp_gateway_log", () => {
@@ -2413,3 +2414,13 @@ not-json
     });
   });
 });
+describe("hasAICreditsRateLimitError", () => {
+  test("ignores echoed MCP tool results and distant keywords", () => {
+    expect(hasAICreditsRateLimitError(['... tool_result ... "title":"[aw] Weekly Research hit AI credits rate limit" ...'])).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasAICreditsRateLimitError([`AI credits ${"x".repeat(81)} rate limit`])).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("detects a nearby AI credits rate-limit error", () => {
+    expect(hasAICreditsRateLimitError(["CAPIError: AI credits rate limit exceeded"])).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/actions/setup/md/ai_credits_rate_limit_throttle.md b/actions/setup/md/ai_credits_rate_limit_throttle.md
index b69c3f99487..113c266626b 100644
--- a/actions/setup/md/ai_credits_rate_limit_throttle.md
+++ b/actions/setup/md/ai_credits_rate_limit_throttle.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 > [!WARNING]
 > **AI Credits Rate Limit**
 >
-> The Copilot API returned a rate limit response (HTTP 429), but the workflow did not report the explicit AI credits budget-exceeded guardrail signal.{metrics_summary}
+> The workflow encountered an AI credits rate-limit signal, but did not report the explicit AI credits budget-exceeded guardrail signal.{metrics_summary}
 
 <details>
 <summary>Tips for reducing rate limit issues</summary>