diff --git a/cloud_pipelines_backend/instrumentation/error_normalization.py b/cloud_pipelines_backend/instrumentation/error_normalization.py
index 41d2977..06b74b7 100644
--- a/cloud_pipelines_backend/instrumentation/error_normalization.py
+++ b/cloud_pipelines_backend/instrumentation/error_normalization.py
@@ -16,9 +16,14 @@
     r"[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}", re.IGNORECASE
 )
 _LONG_ALNUM_ID_PATTERN = re.compile(r"\b[a-zA-Z0-9]{16,}\b")
+# Matches any embedded JSON object or Python dict literal (starts with `{"` or `{'`).
+# These are stripped from grouping strings because they contain highly variable
+# runtime data (e.g. full Kubernetes pod specs) that would fragment error groups.
+_JSON_OBJECT_PATTERN = re.compile(r"\{['\"].*", re.DOTALL)
 
 
 def _strip_generic(*, message: str) -> str:
+    message = _JSON_OBJECT_PATTERN.sub("{...}", message)
     message = _OBJECT_REPR_PATTERN.sub("{object}", message)
     message = _HEX_ADDRESS_PATTERN.sub("{addr}", message)
     message = _UUID_PATTERN.sub("{uuid}", message)
@@ -85,6 +90,19 @@ def _normalize_orchestrator_error(*, exception: BaseException) -> str | None:
     return f"OrchestratorError: {message}"
 
 
+def _normalize_launcher_error(*, exception: BaseException) -> str | None:
+    try:
+        from ..launchers.interfaces import LauncherError
+    except ImportError:
+        return None
+    if not isinstance(exception, LauncherError):
+        return None
+    # Take only the verb phrase before the first colon to drop any embedded
+    # serialized data (e.g. the full Kubernetes pod spec appended after ": ").
+    head = str(exception).split(":", 1)[0].strip()
+    return f"LauncherError: {head}"
+
+
 def normalize_error_message(*, exception: BaseException) -> str:
     """Return a stable normalized string for error grouping."""
     for normalizer in (
@@ -92,6 +110,7 @@ def normalize_error_message(*, exception: BaseException) -> str:
         _normalize_max_retry_error,
         _normalize_unicode_decode_error,
         _normalize_orchestrator_error,
+        _normalize_launcher_error,
     ):
         result = normalizer(exception=exception)
         if result is not None:
diff --git a/tests/instrumentation/test_error_normalization.py b/tests/instrumentation/test_error_normalization.py
index dc01b55..f12489f 100644
--- a/tests/instrumentation/test_error_normalization.py
+++ b/tests/instrumentation/test_error_normalization.py
@@ -184,6 +184,41 @@ def test_strips_object_repr(self):
         )
 
 
+class TestNormalizeLauncherError:
+    def _make_launcher_error(
+        self, message: str, cause: BaseException | None = None
+    ) -> Exception:
+        try:
+            from cloud_pipelines_backend.launchers.interfaces import LauncherError
+        except ImportError:
+            pytest.skip("LauncherError not importable")
+        if cause:
+            try:
+                raise LauncherError(message) from cause
+            except LauncherError as exc:
+                return exc
+        return LauncherError(message)
+
+    def test_strips_pod_spec_json(self):
+        pod_spec = (
+            "{'apiVersion': 'v1', 'kind': 'Pod', 'metadata': {'name': 'task-abc-xyz'}}"
+        )
+        exc = self._make_launcher_error(f"Failed to create pod: {pod_spec}")
+        result = error_normalization.normalize_error_message(exception=exc)
+        assert result == "LauncherError: Failed to create pod"
+
+    def test_with_timeout_cause(self):
+        cause = TimeoutError("The read operation timed out")
+        exc = self._make_launcher_error("Failed to create pod: {big spec}", cause=cause)
+        result = error_normalization.normalize_error_message(exception=exc)
+        assert result == "LauncherError: Failed to create pod"
+
+    def test_no_colon_in_message(self):
+        exc = self._make_launcher_error("launch failed")
+        result = error_normalization.normalize_error_message(exception=exc)
+        assert result == "LauncherError: launch failed"
+
+
 class TestFallback:
     def test_strips_hex_address(self):
         exc = ValueError("object at 0xdeadbeef failed")
@@ -204,3 +239,13 @@ def test_stable_message_unchanged(self):
         exc = AttributeError("'NoneType' object has no attribute 'encode'")
         result = error_normalization.normalize_error_message(exception=exc)
         assert result == "AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'encode'"
+
+    def test_strips_json_object(self):
+        exc = RuntimeError("operation failed: {'key': 'value', 'nested': {'a': 1}}")
+        result = error_normalization.normalize_error_message(exception=exc)
+        assert result == "RuntimeError: operation failed: {...}"
+
+    def test_strips_json_object_double_quotes(self):
+        exc = RuntimeError('operation failed: {"key": "value"}')
+        result = error_normalization.normalize_error_message(exception=exc)
+        assert result == "RuntimeError: operation failed: {...}"