diff --git a/src/server/mcp/tools/create-project.test.ts b/src/server/mcp/tools/create-project.test.ts
index f76ba76..3faeef6 100644
--- a/src/server/mcp/tools/create-project.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/mcp/tools/create-project.test.ts
@@ -75,7 +75,23 @@ describe("create_project MCP tool", () => {
         { name: "Bad market", languageCode: "en" },
         toolContext,
       ),
-    ).rejects.toThrow();
+    ).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: "VALIDATION_ERROR" });
+    expect(mocks.createProject).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects an unsupported location as a readable validation error", async () => {
+    const call = () =>
+      createProjectTool.handler(
+        { name: "Bad location", locationCode: 999999 },
+        toolContext,
+      );
+
+    await expect(call()).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: "VALIDATION_ERROR" });
+    // The message must name the offending field so the calling agent can
+    // retry with a supported code, not just repeat the bare error code.
+    await expect(call()).rejects.toThrow(
+      "Unsupported DataForSEO location code",
+    );
     expect(mocks.createProject).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/server/mcp/tools/create-project.ts b/src/server/mcp/tools/create-project.ts
index f3e7f2e..55101bc 100644
--- a/src/server/mcp/tools/create-project.ts
+++ b/src/server/mcp/tools/create-project.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { ProjectService } from "@/server/features/projects/services/ProjectService";
+import { AppError } from "@/server/lib/errors";
 import { mcpResponse } from "@/server/mcp/formatters";
 import { type ToolContext } from "@/server/mcp/context";
 import { optionalMetaOutputSchema } from "@/server/mcp/output-schemas";
@@ -65,9 +66,17 @@ export const createProjectTool = {
   handler: async (args: Args, context: ToolContext) => {
     const { baseUrl, ...auth } = context.auth;
     // Reuse the app's create schema so the market pair rule (a languageCode
-    // requires a locationCode) is enforced identically to the dashboard, and
-    // the domain is normalized the same way.
-    const input = createProjectSchema.parse(args);
+    // requires a locationCode) and domain normalization match the dashboard.
+    // A rejection is bad caller input, not a fault: VALIDATION_ERROR keeps it
+    // out of error reporting while still naming the bad field.
+    const parsedInput = createProjectSchema.safeParse(args);
+    if (!parsedInput.success) {
+      throw new AppError(
+        "VALIDATION_ERROR",
+        z.prettifyError(parsedInput.error),
+      );
+    }
+    const input = parsedInput.data;
     const project = await ProjectService.createProject(
       auth.organizationId,
       input,