diff --git a/web/app/components/workflow/collaboration/core/__tests__/collaboration-manager.runtime-loading.spec.ts b/web/app/components/workflow/collaboration/core/__tests__/collaboration-manager.runtime-loading.spec.ts
index 58e91af43ad..5e63ae366f1 100644
--- a/web/app/components/workflow/collaboration/core/__tests__/collaboration-manager.runtime-loading.spec.ts
+++ b/web/app/components/workflow/collaboration/core/__tests__/collaboration-manager.runtime-loading.spec.ts
@@ -49,11 +49,10 @@ describe('CollaborationManager CRDT runtime loading', () => {
     expect(manager.isConnected()).toBe(false)
   })
 
-  it('does not create connection state when the runtime fails to load and allows a retry', async () => {
+  it('falls back to local editing instead of leaving the UI stuck when the runtime fails to load', async () => {
     const { CollaborationManager, webSocketClient } = await loadCollaborationModules()
     const manager = new CollaborationManager()
     const runtimeError = new Error('runtime-load-failed')
-    const retryError = new Error('runtime-retry-failed')
     const loadRuntimeSpy = vi
       .spyOn(
         manager as unknown as {
@@ -62,19 +61,44 @@ describe('CollaborationManager CRDT runtime loading', () => {
         'loadCrdtRuntime',
       )
       .mockRejectedValueOnce(runtimeError)
-      .mockRejectedValueOnce(retryError)
     const connectSpy = vi.spyOn(webSocketClient, 'connect')
 
-    await expect(manager.connect('app-runtime-failure')).rejects.toBe(runtimeError)
+    const connectionId = await manager.connect('app-runtime-failure')
 
     expect(loadRuntimeSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
     expect(connectSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(manager.isConnected()).toBe(false)
+    expect(manager.canApplyLocalGraphMutation()).toBe(true)
+    expect(manager.canPersistLocalGraph()).toBe(true)
 
-    await expect(manager.connect('app-runtime-failure')).rejects.toBe(retryError)
+    manager.disconnect(connectionId)
+  })
 
-    expect(loadRuntimeSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+  it('keeps editing blocked when the runtime fails to load on a configured socket URL', async () => {
+    const { CollaborationManager } = await loadCollaborationModules()
+    const websocketManager = await import('../websocket-manager')
+    vi.spyOn(websocketManager, 'isDefaultSocketUrl').mockReturnValue(false)
+    const manager = new CollaborationManager()
+    const runtimeError = new Error('runtime-load-failed')
+    const loadRuntimeSpy = vi
+      .spyOn(
+        manager as unknown as {
+          loadCrdtRuntime: () => Promise<(typeof import('../crdt-runtime'))['crdtRuntime']>
+        },
+        'loadCrdtRuntime',
+      )
+      .mockRejectedValueOnce(runtimeError)
+    const connectSpy = vi.spyOn(websocketManager.webSocketClient, 'connect')
+
+    const connectionId = await manager.connect('app-runtime-failure-configured-socket')
+
+    expect(loadRuntimeSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
     expect(connectSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(manager.isConnected()).toBe(false)
+    expect(manager.canApplyLocalGraphMutation()).toBe(false)
+    expect(manager.canPersistLocalGraph()).toBe(false)
+
+    manager.disconnect(connectionId)
   })
 
   it('initializes one session for concurrent consumers of the same app', async () => {
diff --git a/web/app/components/workflow/collaboration/core/collaboration-manager.ts b/web/app/components/workflow/collaboration/core/collaboration-manager.ts
index 6323fc4e559..a032b1e7647 100644
--- a/web/app/components/workflow/collaboration/core/collaboration-manager.ts
+++ b/web/app/components/workflow/collaboration/core/collaboration-manager.ts
@@ -664,7 +664,24 @@ export class CollaborationManager {
     }
     const connectGeneration = this.connectGeneration
 
-    if (!this.crdtRuntime) await this.ensureCrdtRuntime()
+    if (!this.crdtRuntime) {
+      try {
+        await this.ensureCrdtRuntime()
+      } catch (error) {
+        console.error('Failed to load collaboration runtime, falling back to local editing:', error)
+        if (connectGeneration === this.connectGeneration && this.targetAppId === appId) {
+          this.currentAppId = appId
+          // Mirrors activateLocalDraftFallback(): only degrade to local-only editing on the
+          // default self-hosted socket URL. A configured (Cloud/Enterprise) socket implies a real
+          // collaboration server may have other users editing live, so editing stays blocked here.
+          if (isDefaultSocketUrl() && !this.hasEstablishedConnection)
+            this.localDraftFallbackActive = true
+          this.activeConnections.add(connectionId)
+          this.emitGraphReadyState()
+        }
+        return connectionId
+      }
+    }
 
     if (connectGeneration !== this.connectGeneration || this.targetAppId !== appId)
       return connectionId