diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5d38859d8..392e10bb6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ and adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 - The Claude Code prompt hook no longer runs on the messages Claude Code uses to hand a subagent's report back to the main session. Before, such a long report could keep the hook busy past Claude Code's 30-second hook timeout and inject context unrelated to what you asked. Thanks @danusha2345, and @tippmar-nr for the report. (#2184)
 - Newer MCP clients such as Antigravity 2.5 connect again: the server now answers their `server/discover` probe right away with "method not found", so they go straight on to the regular handshake instead of waiting on a reply that could take seconds or never come. Thanks @danusha2345, and @samem26 for the report. (#2084)
 - A CodeGraph session that queried another project through `projectPath` no longer keeps that project locked for as long as it runs: after 10 minutes without a query it lets the project go, so the project's own session and `codegraph index` can take over again (tune with `CODEGRAPH_PROJECT_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS`, `0` keeps it open). Thanks @danusha2345, and @bompus for the report. (#2087)
+- Claude Code now shows the model the full text of `codegraph_status` and of explore's stale-index refusal. Both results also carried `structuredContent`, and Claude Code shows a result's `structuredContent` in place of its text, so the model saw only a freshness JSON object: no refusal message, no retry guidance and no status report. Both results are now text only. Thanks @bompus. (#2088)
 
 ## [1.6.1] - 2026-09-29
 
diff --git a/__tests__/mcp-stale-refusal.test.ts b/__tests__/mcp-stale-refusal.test.ts
index 53362c7a2..309cf92ee 100644
--- a/__tests__/mcp-stale-refusal.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/mcp-stale-refusal.test.ts
@@ -121,7 +121,9 @@ describe('a degraded index refuses answers from changed files (#1959)', () => {
     const result = await handler.execute('codegraph_search', { query: 'unicodeSymbol' });
     expect(result.isError).toBeFalsy();
     expect(result.content[0].text).toContain('cannot answer from this index');
-    expect(result.structuredContent).toEqual({ freshness: { stale: [relative], unchecked: [] } });
+    expect(result.content[0].text).toContain(`- ${relative}`);
+    // Claude Code would show structuredContent in place of this text (#2088).
+    expect(result).not.toHaveProperty('structuredContent');
     expect(result).not.toHaveProperty('_cgAnswerFiles');
   });
 
@@ -137,7 +139,7 @@ describe('a degraded index refuses answers from changed files (#1959)', () => {
   );
 
   it('refuses rather than silently validating only the first 200 contributing files', async () => {
-    for (let i = 0; i < 201; i++) {
+    for (let i = 0; i < 230; i++) {
       fs.writeFileSync(path.join(root, `caller${i}.ts`),
         `import { alphaOnly } from './alpha'; export function caller${i}() { return alphaOnly(); }\n`);
     }
@@ -147,7 +149,13 @@ describe('a degraded index refuses answers from changed files (#1959)', () => {
     const result = await handler.execute('codegraph_impact', { symbol: 'alphaOnly' });
     expect(result.isError).toBeFalsy();
     expect(result.content[0].text).toContain('validation budget');
-    expect((result.structuredContent!.freshness as { unchecked: string[] }).unchecked.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    const text = result.content[0].text;
+    const total = Number(text.match(/validation budget for (\d+) files/)![1]);
+    // A long unchecked list stays bounded: the first 20 and a count of the rest.
+    expect(total).toBeGreaterThan(20);
+    expect(text.split('\n').filter(line => /^- (?!…)/.test(line))).toHaveLength(20);
+    expect(text).toContain(`- … ${total - 20} more (narrow the query)`);
+    expect(result).not.toHaveProperty('structuredContent');
     expect(result.content[0].text).not.toContain('**Impact');
   });
 
diff --git a/__tests__/mcp-status-freshness.test.ts b/__tests__/mcp-status-freshness.test.ts
index 19c14f7ce..923f77ae3 100644
--- a/__tests__/mcp-status-freshness.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/mcp-status-freshness.test.ts
@@ -42,9 +42,8 @@ describe('MCP status freshness (#1959)', () => {
     fs.writeFileSync(path.join(root, 'add.ts'), 'export const added = 1;\n');
 
     const result = await handler.execute('codegraph_status', {});
-    expect(result.structuredContent).toEqual({ freshness: {
-      lastIndexedAt: cg.getLastIndexedAt(), changes: { added: 1, modified: 1, removed: 1 }, complete: true,
-    } });
+    // Claude Code would show structuredContent in place of this text (#2088).
+    expect(result).not.toHaveProperty('structuredContent');
     const changed = result.content[0].text;
     expect(changed).toContain('**Changes since index:** 1 added, 1 modified, 1 removed');
   });
diff --git a/src/mcp/tools.ts b/src/mcp/tools.ts
index d11fa40c5..3aa5fab87 100644
--- a/src/mcp/tools.ts
+++ b/src/mcp/tools.ts
@@ -1538,7 +1538,6 @@ export interface ToolResult {
   _cgExploreEmission?: ExploreEmission;
   /** Internal structured provenance, preserved by query workers and stripped by execute. */
   _cgAnswerFiles?: AnswerFile[];
-  structuredContent?: Record<string, unknown>;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -2811,7 +2810,10 @@ export class ToolHandler {
             if (validation.unchecked.length > 20) lines.push(`- … ${validation.unchecked.length - 20} more (narrow the query)`);
           }
           lines.push('Retry after a successful codegraph sync, or narrow the query.');
-          return { ...this.textResult(lines.join('\n')), structuredContent: { freshness: validation } };
+          // Text only: Claude Code shows the model a result's structuredContent
+          // in place of its text (#2088). The text names every stale file and
+          // the first unchecked ones; the rest only need a narrower query.
+          return this.textResult(lines.join('\n'));
         }
       }
       // Record + STRIP before anything else touches the result: the emission is
@@ -8060,9 +8062,8 @@ export class ToolHandler {
       }
     }
 
-    return { ...this.textResult(lines.join('\n')), structuredContent: {
-      freshness: { lastIndexedAt, changes, complete: changes !== null },
-    } };
+    // Text only, for the same reason as the stale-answer path (#2088).
+    return this.textResult(lines.join('\n'));
   }
 
   /**