diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6b1a9348b..b8f4ca8b0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,20 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- **`gflow data download` refuses an image immediately instead of blaming the project,
+  the trash and your prompt (#877).** Recovery is video-only: the signed URL comes from
+  the `as29s` record Flow emits when a clip's own route loads, and an image's route does
+  not carry one. The command accepted an image media id anyway, launched Chrome, waited
+  45 s, and then produced three guesses — wrong project, clip in trash, *"retry with a
+  simpler prompt text"* — for a condition the catalog row states outright, on a command
+  that has no prompt. It now checks `kind` before anything else and exits 11 saying
+  recovery is video-only. The CLI help, the `gflow_download_media` MCP description and
+  `docs/USAGE.md` all said "asset"; they now say video. The timeout message that remains
+  for a genuine video miss drops the inherited generation-payload remediation and
+  describes what to actually check.
+
 ### Added
 
 - **`gflow data download <media_id>` — recover a billed asset whose download failed.**
diff --git a/docs/USAGE.md b/docs/USAGE.md
index 2e7e7477d..dca33fe69 100644
--- a/docs/USAGE.md
+++ b/docs/USAGE.md
@@ -1329,9 +1329,14 @@ Options:
 
 ## `gflow data download`
 
-Fetch an already-generated asset from Flow by its media ID, for the case where the
+Fetch an already-generated **video** from Flow by its media ID, for the case where the
 generation succeeded but its download did not.
 
+> **Video only.** The signed URL this needs comes from a record Flow emits when a clip's
+> own route loads, and an image's route does not carry one. An image media ID is refused
+> immediately with exit 11 and a message saying so — it does not open a browser or wait.
+> Tracked in [#877](https://github.com/ffroliva/gflow-cli/issues/877).
+
 That case is real and costs money: on `flow.google.com` a generation whose signed media
 URL is not observed within the grace window exits 7 (`WireFormatError`) **after the
 credit has been spent**. The clip is in the Flow project, the catalog has a row for it,
diff --git a/src/gflow_cli/api/transports/migrated_recover.py b/src/gflow_cli/api/transports/migrated_recover.py
index fd39e7de9..c60c8b096 100644
--- a/src/gflow_cli/api/transports/migrated_recover.py
+++ b/src/gflow_cli/api/transports/migrated_recover.py
@@ -104,11 +104,22 @@ async def on_response(response: Any) -> None:
         page.remove_listener("response", on_response)
 
     if not found:
+        # #877: the class-default remediation on WireFormatError is written for
+        # generation payloads — "check request payload parameters or retry with a
+        # simpler prompt text" — and this command has neither a payload nor a prompt.
+        # An image id no longer reaches here (the service refuses on the catalog row),
+        # so the remaining causes really are about the clip.
         raise WireFormatError(
             detail=(
                 f"migrated host: no signed media URL for {media_id} within "
-                f"{wait_s:.0f}s of opening its clip route. The media id may belong to "
-                "another project, or the clip may have been moved to trash in Flow."
+                f"{wait_s:.0f}s of opening its clip route."
+            ),
+            remediation_hint=(
+                "Flow did not report a media URL for this clip. Open the project in "
+                "Flow and check the clip is still there — a clip moved to trash, or a "
+                "media id belonging to a different project, both look like this. If it "
+                "is visible and playable, re-run once: the record is fetched as the "
+                "route loads and a slow load can miss the window."
             ),
             route=_ROUTE,
         )
diff --git a/src/gflow_cli/cli_data.py b/src/gflow_cli/cli_data.py
index 1d14243ff..833c96542 100644
--- a/src/gflow_cli/cli_data.py
+++ b/src/gflow_cli/cli_data.py
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ async def _run_media(*, profile: str | None, media_id: str) -> None:
 )
 @click.option("--json", "as_json", is_flag=True, help="Emit a JSON summary instead of text.")
 def download(media_id: str, out_dir: Path | None, profile: str | None, as_json: bool) -> None:
-    """Fetch an already-generated asset from Flow by its media ID.
+    """Fetch an already-generated video from Flow by its media ID.
 
     For a generation that finished and was billed but whose download failed — the
     migrated host's 20s URL grace expiring leaves exactly this state, with the clip in
@@ -358,6 +358,10 @@ def download(media_id: str, out_dir: Path | None, profile: str | None, as_json:
     Opens the clip's own route, takes the signed URL Flow reports for it, and verifies
     the bytes against the size Flow records before writing. Also writes the
     `local_files` row, so `gflow data list videos` stops showing `copy_count: 0`.
+
+    Video only. The signed URL comes from a record Flow emits when a clip's own route
+    loads; an image's route does not carry one, so an image media ID is refused
+    immediately with exit 11 rather than opening a browser. See issue #877.
     """
     run_with_handlers(
         lambda: _run_download(media_id=media_id, out_dir=out_dir, profile=profile, as_json=as_json),
diff --git a/src/gflow_cli/mcp/tools.py b/src/gflow_cli/mcp/tools.py
index f963ac003..bf9720490 100644
--- a/src/gflow_cli/mcp/tools.py
+++ b/src/gflow_cli/mcp/tools.py
@@ -1436,11 +1436,13 @@ async def gflow_character_show(
 @server.tool(
     name="gflow_download_media",
     description=(
-        "Fetch an already-generated asset from Flow by its media ID and write it to "
+        "Fetch an already-generated VIDEO from Flow by its media ID and write it to "
         "disk. For a generation that finished and was billed but whose download failed "
-        "— the asset is in the Flow project and the local catalog shows no file for it. "
+        "— the clip is in the Flow project and the local catalog shows no file for it. "
         "Spends no credits: the generation was already paid for. The bytes are verified "
-        "against the size Flow reports before the file is written."
+        "against the size Flow reports before the file is written. Video only: an image "
+        "media ID is refused immediately (exit 11) because the signed URL this needs "
+        "comes from a record only a clip's route emits. See issue #877."
     ),
 )
 @_guarded
diff --git a/src/gflow_cli/services/media_recovery.py b/src/gflow_cli/services/media_recovery.py
index 09c8786cb..b7bc8adca 100644
--- a/src/gflow_cli/services/media_recovery.py
+++ b/src/gflow_cli/services/media_recovery.py
@@ -18,10 +18,10 @@
 import structlog
 
 from gflow_cli.config import get_settings
-from gflow_cli.data.models import AssetLookup, LocalFileRecord
+from gflow_cli.data.models import AssetKind, AssetLookup, LocalFileRecord
 from gflow_cli.data.repository import DataRepository
 from gflow_cli.data.store import DataStore
-from gflow_cli.errors import DataStoreError
+from gflow_cli.errors import ConfigurationError, DataStoreError
 
 log = structlog.get_logger(__name__)
 
@@ -115,6 +115,26 @@ async def download_media(
     from gflow_cli.api.transports.migrated_recover import recover_clip  # noqa: PLC0415
 
     asset = resolve_asset(media_id, profile=profile, route=_ROUTE)
+    if asset.kind is not AssetKind.VIDEO:
+        # #877: the signed URL comes from the `as29s` record a clip route emits, which
+        # is a video mechanism — an image's route never emits one. Accepting the id
+        # anyway cost 45 s in a browser and then produced three guesses (wrong project,
+        # trashed clip, "retry with a simpler prompt") for a condition this row states
+        # outright. Refuse here, on what the catalog already knows.
+        raise ConfigurationError(
+            detail=(
+                f"Media {media_id!r} is {asset.kind.value}, and `gflow data download` "
+                "recovers video only. The signed URL it needs comes from the record "
+                "Flow emits when a clip's own route loads, and an image's route does "
+                "not carry one. Tracking the image path in issue #877."
+            ),
+            remediation_hint=(
+                "Nothing to retry — this is a capability gap, not a fault. Open the "
+                "image in Flow and save it from there, or pass a video media id. "
+                "`gflow data list images` shows which rows are images."
+            ),
+            route=_ROUTE,
+        )
     if not asset.flow_project_id:
         raise DataStoreError(
             detail=(
diff --git a/tests/services/test_media_recovery.py b/tests/services/test_media_recovery.py
index 7eef27e7c..e24013149 100644
--- a/tests/services/test_media_recovery.py
+++ b/tests/services/test_media_recovery.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 from gflow_cli.data.repository import DataRepository
 from gflow_cli.data.store import DataStore
-from gflow_cli.errors import DataStoreError
+from gflow_cli.errors import ConfigurationError, DataStoreError
 from gflow_cli.services.media_recovery import (
     DownloadedMedia,
     download_media,
@@ -136,6 +136,71 @@ def _boom(*_a: Any, **_k: Any) -> None:  # pragma: no cover - must not run
         with pytest.raises(DataStoreError, match="no project id"):
             await download_media(media_id="vid-media-alice-0", profile="alice", out_dir=None)
 
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_refuses_an_image_before_launching_a_browser(
+        self, catalog: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        """#877: recovery is video-only, and the refusal has to be immediate.
+
+        The signed URL comes from the ``as29s`` record a clip route emits; an image's
+        route never emits one, so the old code accepted the id, opened Chrome, waited
+        45 s and then blamed the project, the trash and the user's prompt — three
+        guesses, all false, for a condition the catalog row states outright.
+        """
+
+        def _boom(*_a: Any, **_k: Any) -> None:  # pragma: no cover - must not run
+            raise AssertionError("a browser was launched for an image media id")
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr("gflow_cli._cli_helpers._make_provider_dir", _boom)
+
+        with pytest.raises(ConfigurationError, match="video") as excinfo:
+            await download_media(media_id="img-media-alice-0-0", profile="alice", out_dir=None)
+
+        detail = str(excinfo.value)
+        assert "877" in detail, detail
+        # Never repeat the old guesses: the row says it is an image.
+        assert "trash" not in detail.lower(), detail
+
+        # The REMEDIATION, not just the detail. A live run caught this: the first
+        # version of the fix left ConfigurationError's class default in place, so the
+        # message said "check that the transport name is registered via
+        # make_transport()" — one misleading hint swapped for another, with every
+        # test still green because they only read the detail.
+        hint = excinfo.value.remediation_hint
+        assert "make_transport" not in hint, hint
+        assert "transport" not in hint.lower(), hint
+        assert "image" in hint.lower(), hint
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_the_mcp_twin_refuses_an_image_too(
+        self, catalog: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        """The MCP tool is a separate surface, so it gets its own assertion.
+
+        It shares the service, and the service was never the risk — the adapter is.
+        Here the adapter deliberately does NOT re-raise: `_guarded` funnels a
+        `GFlowError` into a problem-details envelope. So the thing to pin is that the
+        reason survives that conversion — an agent that got a generic failure would
+        retry a media id that can never work.
+        """
+        from gflow_cli.mcp import tools as mcp_tools
+
+        def _boom(*_a: Any, **_k: Any) -> None:  # pragma: no cover - must not run
+            raise AssertionError("the MCP twin launched a browser for an image")
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr("gflow_cli._cli_helpers._make_provider_dir", _boom)
+
+        result = await mcp_tools.gflow_download_media(
+            media_id="img-media-alice-0-0", profile="alice"
+        )
+
+        assert result["status"] == "error", result
+        blob = str(result)
+        assert "video only" in blob, blob
+        assert "877" in blob, blob
+        # Not the masked generic envelope — that would lose the reason entirely.
+        assert "unexpected" not in blob.lower(), blob
+
     @pytest.mark.asyncio
     async def test_reports_the_written_file_and_records_it(
         self, catalog: Path, tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
diff --git a/website/docs/USAGE.md b/website/docs/USAGE.md
index e098f9632..f8c7e446c 100644
--- a/website/docs/USAGE.md
+++ b/website/docs/USAGE.md
@@ -1329,9 +1329,14 @@ Options:
 
 ## `gflow data download`
 
-Fetch an already-generated asset from Flow by its media ID, for the case where the
+Fetch an already-generated **video** from Flow by its media ID, for the case where the
 generation succeeded but its download did not.
 
+> **Video only.** The signed URL this needs comes from a record Flow emits when a clip's
+> own route loads, and an image's route does not carry one. An image media ID is refused
+> immediately with exit 11 and a message saying so — it does not open a browser or wait.
+> Tracked in [#877](https://github.com/ffroliva/gflow-cli/issues/877).
+
 That case is real and costs money: on `flow.google.com` a generation whose signed media
 URL is not observed within the grace window exits 7 (`WireFormatError`) **after the
 credit has been spent**. The clip is in the Flow project, the catalog has a row for it,