diff --git a/packages/mcp-server/src/services/graph-service.ts b/packages/mcp-server/src/services/graph-service.ts
index 8cb08116..c9e74071 100644
--- a/packages/mcp-server/src/services/graph-service.ts
+++ b/packages/mcp-server/src/services/graph-service.ts
@@ -3291,18 +3291,14 @@ export class GraphService {
         OPTIONAL MATCH (g)<-[:BELONGS_TO]-(w:WorkItem)
         OPTIONAL MATCH (w)-[e:DEPENDS_ON|BLOCKS|RELATES_TO|CONTAINS|PART_OF]-(:WorkItem)
         WITH g, collect(DISTINCT w) as items, count(DISTINCT e) as edgeCount
-        CALL {
-          WITH items
-          UNWIND items as i
-          RETURN i.type as type, count(i) as cnt
-        }
-        WITH g, items, edgeCount, collect({type: type, count: cnt}) as typeCounts
-        CALL {
-          WITH items
-          UNWIND items as i
-          RETURN i.status as status, count(i) as cnt
-        }
-        WITH g, items, edgeCount, typeCounts, collect({status: status, count: cnt}) as statusCounts
+        // Return the raw type/status lists and tally them in JS. A
+        // CALL { UNWIND items ... } subquery returns ZERO rows for an empty
+        // graph (UNWIND of an empty list), which dropped the whole result and
+        // made get_graph_context wrongly report a brand-new empty graph as
+        // "not found".
+        WITH g, items, edgeCount,
+             [x IN items | x.type] as types,
+             [x IN items | x.status] as statuses
         CALL {
           WITH g
           OPTIONAL MATCH (g)<-[:BELONGS_TO]-(b:WorkItem)-[r:BLOCKS]->(:WorkItem)
@@ -3318,7 +3314,7 @@ export class GraphService {
           ORDER BY rw.updatedAt DESC LIMIT 5
           RETURN collect({id: rw.id, title: rw.title, status: rw.status, type: rw.type, updatedAt: rw.updatedAt}) as recent
         }
-        RETURN g, size(items) as nodeCount, edgeCount, typeCounts, statusCounts, blockers, recent
+        RETURN g, size(items) as nodeCount, edgeCount, types, statuses, blockers, recent
       `;
 
       const result = await session.run(query, { graphId: args.graphId });
@@ -3334,8 +3330,8 @@ export class GraphService {
 
       const record = result.records[0];
       const g = record.get('g').properties;
-      const typeCounts = (record.get('typeCounts') || []) as Array<{ type: string; count: unknown }>;
-      const statusCounts = (record.get('statusCounts') || []) as Array<{ status: string; count: unknown }>;
+      const types = (record.get('types') || []) as Array<string | null>;
+      const statuses = (record.get('statuses') || []) as Array<string | null>;
       const blockers = (record.get('blockers') || []) as Array<{ id: string; title: string; blocksCount: unknown }>;
       const recent = (record.get('recent') || []) as Array<{
         id: string;
@@ -3346,12 +3342,12 @@ export class GraphService {
       }>;
 
       const byType: Record<string, number> = {};
-      for (const t of typeCounts) {
-        if (t.type) byType[t.type] = toNum(t.count);
+      for (const t of types) {
+        if (t) byType[t] = (byType[t] ?? 0) + 1;
       }
       const byStatus: Record<string, number> = {};
-      for (const s of statusCounts) {
-        if (s.status) byStatus[s.status] = toNum(s.count);
+      for (const s of statuses) {
+        if (s) byStatus[s] = (byStatus[s] ?? 0) + 1;
       }
 
       return {
diff --git a/packages/mcp-server/tests/mock-neo4j.ts b/packages/mcp-server/tests/mock-neo4j.ts
index df11cf97..5579a1af 100644
--- a/packages/mcp-server/tests/mock-neo4j.ts
+++ b/packages/mcp-server/tests/mock-neo4j.ts
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ export function createMockDriver(): Driver {
       }
 
       // Handle compact graph context query (get_graph_context, AI-6)
-      if (query.includes('typeCounts') && query.includes('statusCounts')) {
+      if (query.includes('size(items) as nodeCount') && query.includes('as statuses')) {
         if (params?.graphId === 'missing-graph-id') {
           return { records: [] };
         }
@@ -241,14 +241,8 @@ export function createMockDriver(): Driver {
             },
             nodeCount: { toNumber: () => 12 },
             edgeCount: { toNumber: () => 7 },
-            typeCounts: [
-              { type: 'TASK', count: { toNumber: () => 8 } },
-              { type: 'BUG', count: { toNumber: () => 4 } }
-            ],
-            statusCounts: [
-              { status: 'IN_PROGRESS', count: { toNumber: () => 5 } },
-              { status: 'BLOCKED', count: { toNumber: () => 2 } }
-            ],
+            types: ['TASK', 'TASK', 'TASK', 'TASK', 'TASK', 'TASK', 'TASK', 'TASK', 'BUG', 'BUG', 'BUG', 'BUG'],
+            statuses: ['IN_PROGRESS', 'IN_PROGRESS', 'IN_PROGRESS', 'IN_PROGRESS', 'IN_PROGRESS', 'BLOCKED', 'BLOCKED'],
             blockers: [
               { id: 'node-1', title: 'Fix auth', blocksCount: { toNumber: () => 3 } }
             ],
diff --git a/packages/mcp-server/tests/neo4j-contract.test.ts b/packages/mcp-server/tests/neo4j-contract.test.ts
index 570d906a..f4db34a5 100644
--- a/packages/mcp-server/tests/neo4j-contract.test.ts
+++ b/packages/mcp-server/tests/neo4j-contract.test.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ describe.skipIf(!RUN)('MCP GraphService — real Neo4j contract', () => {
   let driver: Driver;
   let svc: GraphService;
   const createdNodes: string[] = [];
+  const createdGraphs: string[] = [];
 
   beforeAll(async () => {
     driver = neo4j.driver(URI, neo4j.auth.basic(USER, PASS));
@@ -42,6 +43,9 @@ describe.skipIf(!RUN)('MCP GraphService — real Neo4j contract', () => {
       if (createdNodes.length) {
         await session?.run('MATCH (n:WorkItem) WHERE n.id IN $ids DETACH DELETE n', { ids: createdNodes });
       }
+      if (createdGraphs.length) {
+        await session?.run('MATCH (g:Graph) WHERE g.id IN $ids DETACH DELETE g', { ids: createdGraphs });
+      }
     } catch { /* ignore */ }
     await session?.close();
     await driver?.close();
@@ -81,6 +85,51 @@ describe.skipIf(!RUN)('MCP GraphService — real Neo4j contract', () => {
     expect(delEdge).toMatch(/delet|success|true|removed/);
   });
 
+  it('getGraphContext on a brand-new EMPTY graph returns zero counts, not "not found"', async () => {
+    // Regression: the type/status tally used `CALL { UNWIND items ... }`, and
+    // UNWIND of an empty list yields ZERO rows, which dropped the whole result
+    // row — so an existing empty graph was reported as "not found".
+    const created = parse(await svc.createGraph({ name: `Contract Empty ${Date.now()}`, type: 'PROJECT' } as any));
+    const graphId = created.graph.id;
+    expect(graphId, 'createGraph persists and returns an id').toBeTruthy();
+    createdGraphs.push(graphId);
+
+    const ctx = parse(await svc.getGraphContext({ graphId } as any)).context;
+    expect(ctx.graph.id, 'the empty graph is found by id').toBe(graphId);
+    expect(ctx.counts.nodes, 'empty graph has zero nodes').toBe(0);
+    expect(ctx.counts.edges, 'empty graph has zero edges').toBe(0);
+    expect(ctx.counts.byType, 'no type tallies on an empty graph').toEqual({});
+    expect(ctx.counts.byStatus, 'no status tallies on an empty graph').toEqual({});
+    expect(Array.isArray(ctx.topBlockers) && ctx.topBlockers.length, 'no blockers').toBe(0);
+    expect(Array.isArray(ctx.recentActivity) && ctx.recentActivity.length, 'no recent activity').toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('getGraphContext tallies type/status once a graph has items', async () => {
+    const g = parse(await svc.createGraph({ name: `Contract Populated ${Date.now()}`, type: 'PROJECT' } as any));
+    const graphId = g.graph.id;
+    createdGraphs.push(graphId);
+
+    // Attach two TASK/IN_PROGRESS items to this graph
+    const session = driver.session();
+    try {
+      for (const i of [1, 2]) {
+        const id = parse(await svc.createNode({ title: `Pop ${i} ${Date.now()}`, type: 'TASK', status: 'IN_PROGRESS' } as any)).node.id;
+        createdNodes.push(id);
+        await session.run(
+          'MATCH (w:WorkItem {id: $id}), (g:Graph {id: $gid}) MERGE (w)-[:BELONGS_TO]->(g)',
+          { id, gid: graphId }
+        );
+      }
+    } finally {
+      await session.close();
+    }
+
+    const ctx = parse(await svc.getGraphContext({ graphId } as any)).context;
+    expect(ctx.counts.nodes, 'two items counted').toBe(2);
+    expect(ctx.counts.byType.TASK, 'both items tallied under TASK').toBe(2);
+    expect(ctx.counts.byStatus.IN_PROGRESS, 'both items tallied under IN_PROGRESS').toBe(2);
+  });
+
   it('browseGraph returns well-formed data over a real DB', async () => {
     const browsed = parse(await svc.browseGraph({ query_type: 'all_nodes', limit: 25 } as any));
     const arr = browsed.nodes ?? browsed.results ?? browsed.workItems;
diff --git a/tests/e2e/user-smoke.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/user-smoke.spec.ts
index 87b410bd..798f7ec0 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/user-smoke.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/user-smoke.spec.ts
@@ -155,6 +155,63 @@ test.describe('user smoke: the app works from a user point of view @smoke', () =
     }, name);
   });
 
+  // A brand-new EMPTY graph (the very first thing a user sees after "Create
+  // Graph") must render its empty-state invitation, NOT crash or show error
+  // chrome. UI counterpart to the get_graph_context "empty graph reported as
+  // not found" bug — the empty case is a first-class state.
+  test('a brand-new empty graph shows the empty-state, not an error @smoke', async ({ page }) => {
+    const pageErrors: string[] = [];
+    page.on('pageerror', (e) => pageErrors.push(e.message));
+
+    await login(page, TEST_USERS.ADMIN);
+    await page.waitForTimeout(2000);
+
+    const graphId = await page.evaluate(async () => {
+      const token = localStorage.getItem('authToken') ?? '';
+      const post = (query: string, variables?: unknown) =>
+        fetch('/api/graphql', {
+          method: 'POST',
+          headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
+          body: JSON.stringify({ query, variables }),
+        }).then((r) => r.json());
+      const me = await post('{ me { id } }');
+      const userId = me.data.me.id;
+      const g = await post(
+        `mutation($input: [GraphCreateInput!]!) { createGraphs(input: $input) { graphs { id } } }`,
+        { input: [{ name: `Empty Smoke ${Date.now()}`, type: 'PROJECT', status: 'ACTIVE', createdBy: userId, isShared: true }] }
+      );
+      return g.data.createGraphs.graphs[0].id as string;
+    });
+    expect(graphId, 'empty graph created').toBeTruthy();
+
+    try {
+      await page.evaluate((gid) => localStorage.setItem('currentGraphId', gid), graphId);
+      await page.reload();
+      await page.waitForTimeout(6000);
+
+      await expect(
+        page.locator('text=/Create Your First Work Item|Transform Your Vision/i').first(),
+        'empty graph shows its create-first-item invitation'
+      ).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10000 });
+
+      const errorBadges = await page
+        .locator('.graph-container')
+        .locator('text=/^Error$|not found|failed to load|connection lost/i')
+        .count();
+      expect(errorBadges, 'no error chrome on an empty graph').toBe(0);
+      expect(pageErrors, `uncaught page errors on empty graph: ${pageErrors[0] ?? ''}`).toEqual([]);
+    } finally {
+      await page.evaluate(async (gid) => {
+        const token = localStorage.getItem('authToken') ?? '';
+        await fetch('/api/graphql', {
+          method: 'POST',
+          headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
+          body: JSON.stringify({ query: `mutation($id: ID!) { deleteGraphs(where: { id: $id }) { nodesDeleted } }`, variables: { id: gid } }),
+        });
+      }, graphId);
+    }
+  });
+
   test('data integrity: no orphan edges in the database @smoke', async ({ page }) => {
     await login(page, TEST_USERS.ADMIN);
     const orphans = await page.evaluate(async () => {