diff --git a/apps/api/src/jobs/batch-progress.ts b/apps/api/src/jobs/batch-progress.ts
index ee1fc8d5..6af1eb28 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/jobs/batch-progress.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/jobs/batch-progress.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
  *                    "failed" only when every file failed
  */
 
+import { stripInternalPaths } from "../lib/errors.js";
 import { updateJobProgress } from "../routes/progress.js";
 import { sharedRedis } from "./connection.js";
 import { bullPrefix } from "./types.js";
@@ -37,7 +38,8 @@ export async function recordChildOutcome(
   const base = `${bullPrefix()}:batch:${parentId}`;
   const done = await r.incr(`${base}:${error ? "failed" : "done"}`);
   const other = Number((await r.get(`${base}:${error ? "done" : "failed"}`)) ?? 0);
-  if (error) await r.rpush(`${base}:errors`, JSON.stringify({ filename, error }));
+  if (error)
+    await r.rpush(`${base}:errors`, JSON.stringify({ filename, error: stripInternalPaths(error) }));
   await r.expire(`${base}:done`, 3600);
   await r.expire(`${base}:failed`, 3600);
   await r.expire(`${base}:errors`, 3600);
diff --git a/apps/api/src/jobs/worker.ts b/apps/api/src/jobs/worker.ts
index ba7fafd6..a9a5ab76 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/jobs/worker.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/jobs/worker.ts
@@ -387,10 +387,11 @@ async function processPipelineStep(job: Job<ToolJobData>): Promise<ToolJobResult
 
     if (!prevRow || prevRow.status === "failed" || !prevRow.outputRefs?.[0]) {
       // Previous step failed -- propagate the error without processing.
-      const prevError =
+      const prevError = stripInternalPaths(
         prevRow?.status === "failed"
           ? ((prevRow.error as { message?: string } | null)?.message ?? "Processing failed")
-          : "Previous step has no output";
+          : "Previous step has no output",
+      );
       await db
         .update(schema.jobs)
         .set({ status: "failed", completedAt: new Date(), error: { message: prevError } })
@@ -426,7 +427,7 @@ async function processPipelineStep(job: Job<ToolJobData>): Promise<ToolJobResult
     // Step failed -- return failure marker. processToolJob already
     // updated the DB row to "failed" and emitted a terminal event
     // on the step's own progress channel.
-    const errorMsg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+    const errorMsg = stripInternalPaths(err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
     return {
       outputRefs: [],
       filename: data.filename,
@@ -494,7 +495,7 @@ async function processPipelineFinalize(job: Job<ToolJobData>): Promise<ToolJobRe
 
   // ── Failure path ────────────────────────────────────────────
   if (failedAtStep !== null) {
-    const errorMsg = `Step ${failedAtStep + 1}: ${failError}`;
+    const errorMsg = stripInternalPaths(`Step ${failedAtStep + 1}: ${failError}`);
 
     await db
       .update(schema.jobs)
@@ -596,7 +597,7 @@ async function processBatchChild(job: Job<ToolJobData>): Promise<ToolJobResult>
     await recordChildOutcome(job.data.parentId!, job.data.totalFiles!, job.data.filename);
     return result;
   } catch (err) {
-    const error = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+    const error = stripInternalPaths(err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
     await recordChildOutcome(job.data.parentId!, job.data.totalFiles!, job.data.filename, error);
     // Return a completed job with a failure marker so the parent runs.
     return {
@@ -647,7 +648,7 @@ async function processBatchFinalize(job: Job<ToolJobData>): Promise<ToolJobResul
     } else {
       const errorMsg = (row.error as { message?: string } | null)?.message ?? "Processing failed";
       const inputFilename = row.inputRefs?.[0]?.split("/").pop() ?? `file-${i}`;
-      manifest.push({ index: i, filename: inputFilename, error: errorMsg });
+      manifest.push({ index: i, filename: inputFilename, error: stripInternalPaths(errorMsg) });
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/api/errors.test.ts b/tests/unit/api/errors.test.ts
index 0d4adfe0..d78957b2 100644
--- a/tests/unit/api/errors.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/api/errors.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { formatZodErrors } from "../../../apps/api/src/lib/errors.js";
+import { formatZodErrors, stripInternalPaths } from "../../../apps/api/src/lib/errors.js";
 
 describe("formatZodErrors", () => {
   it("formats single issue with path", () => {
@@ -34,3 +34,58 @@ describe("formatZodErrors", () => {
     expect(result).toBe("settings.quality: Too high");
   });
 });
+
+describe("stripInternalPaths", () => {
+  it("strips /tmp scratch paths", () => {
+    const msg = "ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/tmp/workspace/abc123/input.png'";
+    expect(stripInternalPaths(msg)).toBe("ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '[internal]'");
+  });
+
+  it("strips /data/ai/venv Python traceback paths", () => {
+    const msg = 'File "/data/ai/venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/rembg/bg.py", line 42, in remove';
+    expect(stripInternalPaths(msg)).toBe('File "[internal]", line 42, in remove');
+  });
+
+  it("strips /app container paths", () => {
+    const msg = "Error loading model from /app/models/realesrgan-x4.pth";
+    expect(stripInternalPaths(msg)).toBe("Error loading model from [internal]");
+  });
+
+  it("strips /opt paths", () => {
+    const msg = "Cannot find /opt/libreoffice/program/soffice";
+    expect(stripInternalPaths(msg)).toBe("Cannot find [internal]");
+  });
+
+  it("strips /home paths", () => {
+    const msg = "Permission denied: /home/node/.cache/sharp";
+    expect(stripInternalPaths(msg)).toBe("Permission denied: [internal]");
+  });
+
+  it("strips /workspace paths", () => {
+    const msg = "failed at /workspace/snapotter/packages/image-engine/src/convert.ts:42";
+    expect(stripInternalPaths(msg)).toBe("failed at [internal]");
+  });
+
+  it("strips multiple paths in one message", () => {
+    const msg = "cp: /tmp/scratch/a.png -> /data/output/b.png failed";
+    expect(stripInternalPaths(msg)).toBe("cp: [internal] -> [internal] failed");
+  });
+
+  it("leaves safe messages untouched", () => {
+    const msg = "Invalid image format: expected PNG or JPEG";
+    expect(stripInternalPaths(msg)).toBe(msg);
+  });
+
+  it("leaves timeout messages untouched", () => {
+    const msg = "Timed out after 120s";
+    expect(stripInternalPaths(msg)).toBe(msg);
+  });
+
+  it("handles pipeline step error wrapping", () => {
+    const msg = "Step 2: Command failed: /tmp/workspace/job123/ffmpeg -i /data/input.mp4";
+    const result = stripInternalPaths(msg);
+    expect(result).not.toContain("/tmp/");
+    expect(result).not.toContain("/data/");
+    expect(result).toBe("Step 2: Command failed: [internal] -i [internal]");
+  });
+});