diff --git a/nanobot/providers/openai_compat_provider.py b/nanobot/providers/openai_compat_provider.py
index 101ee6c33..83fbd7fb3 100644
--- a/nanobot/providers/openai_compat_provider.py
+++ b/nanobot/providers/openai_compat_provider.py
@@ -798,8 +798,7 @@ class OpenAICompatProvider(LLMProvider):
             "error_should_retry": should_retry,
         }
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def _handle_error(e: Exception) -> LLMResponse:
+    def _handle_error(self, e: Exception) -> LLMResponse:
         body = (
             getattr(e, "doc", None)
             or getattr(e, "body", None)
@@ -807,6 +806,16 @@ class OpenAICompatProvider(LLMProvider):
         )
         body_text = body if isinstance(body, str) else str(body) if body is not None else ""
         msg = f"Error: {body_text.strip()[:500]}" if body_text.strip() else f"Error calling LLM: {e}"
+
+        spec = self._spec
+        text = f"{body_text} {e}".lower()
+        if spec and spec.is_local and ("502" in text or "connection" in text or "refused" in text):
+            msg += (
+                "\nHint: this is a local model endpoint. Check that the local server is reachable at "
+                f"{self.api_base or spec.default_api_base}, and if you are using a proxy/tunnel, make sure it "
+                "can reach your local Ollama/vLLM service instead of routing localhost through the remote host."
+            )
+
         response = getattr(e, "response", None)
         retry_after = LLMProvider._extract_retry_after_from_headers(getattr(response, "headers", None))
         if retry_after is None:
diff --git a/tests/providers/test_custom_provider.py b/tests/providers/test_custom_provider.py
index d2a9f4247..33c5d027a 100644
--- a/tests/providers/test_custom_provider.py
+++ b/tests/providers/test_custom_provider.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from types import SimpleNamespace
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
 from nanobot.providers.openai_compat_provider import OpenAICompatProvider
+from nanobot.providers.registry import find_by_name
 
 
 def test_custom_provider_parse_handles_empty_choices() -> None:
@@ -53,3 +54,16 @@ def test_custom_provider_parse_chunks_accepts_plain_text_chunks() -> None:
 
     assert result.finish_reason == "stop"
     assert result.content == "hello world"
+
+
+def test_local_provider_502_error_includes_reachability_hint() -> None:
+    spec = find_by_name("ollama")
+    with patch("nanobot.providers.openai_compat_provider.AsyncOpenAI"):
+        provider = OpenAICompatProvider(api_base="http://localhost:11434/v1", spec=spec)
+
+    result = provider._handle_error(Exception("Error code: 502"))
+
+    assert result.finish_reason == "error"
+    assert "local model endpoint" in result.content
+    assert "http://localhost:11434/v1" in result.content
+    assert "proxy/tunnel" in result.content