diff --git a/api/routes.py b/api/routes.py
index 920a3663..40686135 100644
--- a/api/routes.py
+++ b/api/routes.py
@@ -1007,13 +1007,28 @@ def _find_skill_in_dir(name: str, skills_dir: Path) -> tuple[Path | None, Path |
     return _find_skill_in_dirs(name, [skills_dir])
 
 
+# Cap on the courtesy list of names carried by a skill-not-found reply. The
+# bound stays; what it must never do is present a partial list as the whole
+# set, because a caller that cannot find its skill in `available_skills` will
+# conclude the skill is not installed.
+_SKILL_NOT_FOUND_LIST_LIMIT = 20
+
+
 def _skill_not_found_payload(name: str, skills_dir: Path) -> dict:
-    available = [s["name"] for s in _skills_list_from_dir(skills_dir).get("skills", [])[:20]]
+    all_names = [s["name"] for s in _skills_list_from_dir(skills_dir).get("skills", [])]
+    total = len(all_names)
+    available = all_names[:_SKILL_NOT_FOUND_LIST_LIMIT]
+    truncated = total > len(available)
+    hint = "Use skills_list to see all available skills"
+    if truncated:
+        hint = f"Showing {len(available)} of {total} skills. {hint}"
     return {
         "success": False,
         "error": f"Skill '{name}' not found.",
         "available_skills": available,
-        "hint": "Use skills_list to see all available skills",
+        "available_skills_truncated": truncated,
+        "total_skills": total,
+        "hint": hint,
     }
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_issue7426_skill_not_found_listing_truncation.py b/tests/test_issue7426_skill_not_found_listing_truncation.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..507bc993
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_issue7426_skill_not_found_listing_truncation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+"""#7426: the skill-not-found reply must not present a capped list as the whole set.
+
+`_skill_not_found_payload` caps `available_skills` so a large skills tree cannot
+bloat an error payload. The bug was that the cap was silent: with 74 skills
+installed, a caller asking for one that sorts past the 20th got "not found" plus
+a 20-name list that did not contain it and did not say anything was omitted, so
+the only reasonable reading was that the skill is not installed.
+
+These tests pin the honesty of the payload, not the size of the cap.
+"""
+
+import pathlib
+
+import api.routes as routes
+
+
+def _stub_listing(monkeypatch, count):
+    names = [f"skill-{i:03d}" for i in range(count)]
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        routes,
+        "_skills_list_from_dir",
+        lambda *args, **kwargs: {
+            "success": True,
+            "skills": [{"name": n} for n in names],
+            "count": len(names),
+        },
+    )
+    return names
+
+
+def test_truncated_listing_reports_the_total_and_says_it_is_truncated(monkeypatch):
+    names = _stub_listing(monkeypatch, 74)
+    payload = routes._skill_not_found_payload("skill-073", pathlib.Path("/nonexistent"))
+
+    assert payload["success"] is False
+    # The cap still applies: the payload does not grow without bound.
+    assert len(payload["available_skills"]) < len(names)
+    # But a caller can now tell a partial list from a complete one.
+    assert payload["available_skills_truncated"] is True
+    assert payload["total_skills"] == 74
+    assert "74" in payload["hint"]
+    assert str(len(payload["available_skills"])) in payload["hint"]
+
+
+def test_untruncated_listing_is_not_flagged_as_truncated(monkeypatch):
+    names = _stub_listing(monkeypatch, 3)
+    payload = routes._skill_not_found_payload("nope", pathlib.Path("/nonexistent"))
+
+    assert payload["available_skills"] == names
+    assert payload["available_skills_truncated"] is False
+    assert payload["total_skills"] == 3
+    assert payload["hint"] == "Use skills_list to see all available skills"
+
+
+def test_empty_skills_tree_reports_zero_and_no_truncation(monkeypatch):
+    _stub_listing(monkeypatch, 0)
+    payload = routes._skill_not_found_payload("nope", pathlib.Path("/nonexistent"))
+
+    assert payload["available_skills"] == []
+    assert payload["available_skills_truncated"] is False
+    assert payload["total_skills"] == 0
+
+
+def test_exactly_at_the_cap_is_not_flagged_as_truncated(monkeypatch):
+    names = _stub_listing(monkeypatch, routes._SKILL_NOT_FOUND_LIST_LIMIT)
+    payload = routes._skill_not_found_payload("nope", pathlib.Path("/nonexistent"))
+
+    assert payload["available_skills"] == names
+    assert payload["available_skills_truncated"] is False
+    assert payload["total_skills"] == len(names)