diff --git a/infrastructure/fragments.py b/infrastructure/fragments.py
index 90754a0..2c287c2 100644
--- a/infrastructure/fragments.py
+++ b/infrastructure/fragments.py
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ Each coop app exposes HTML fragments at ``/internal/fragments/{type}``.
 This module provides helpers to fetch and cache those fragments so that
 consuming apps can compose cross-app UI without shared templates.
 
-All functions return ``""`` on error (graceful degradation — a missing
-fragment simply means a section is absent from the page).
+Failures raise ``FragmentError`` by default so broken fragments are
+immediately visible rather than silently missing from the page.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ _DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 2.0
 FRAGMENT_HEADER = "X-Fragment-Request"
 
 
+class FragmentError(Exception):
+    """Raised when a fragment fetch fails."""
+
+
 def _get_client() -> httpx.AsyncClient:
     global _client
     if _client is None or _client.is_closed:
@@ -61,10 +65,13 @@ async def fetch_fragment(
     *,
     params: dict | None = None,
     timeout: float = _DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
+    required: bool = True,
 ) -> str:
     """Fetch an HTML fragment from another app.
 
-    Returns the raw HTML string, or ``""`` on any error.
+    Returns the raw HTML string.  When *required* is True (default),
+    raises ``FragmentError`` on network errors or non-200 responses.
+    When *required* is False, returns ``""`` on failure.
     """
     base = _internal_url(app_name)
     url = f"{base}/internal/fragments/{fragment_type}"
@@ -77,10 +84,20 @@ async def fetch_fragment(
         )
         if resp.status_code == 200:
             return resp.text
-        log.debug("Fragment %s/%s returned %s", app_name, fragment_type, resp.status_code)
+        msg = f"Fragment {app_name}/{fragment_type} returned {resp.status_code}"
+        if required:
+            log.error(msg)
+            raise FragmentError(msg)
+        log.warning(msg)
         return ""
-    except Exception:
-        log.debug("Fragment %s/%s failed", app_name, fragment_type, exc_info=True)
+    except FragmentError:
+        raise
+    except Exception as exc:
+        msg = f"Fragment {app_name}/{fragment_type} failed: {exc}"
+        if required:
+            log.error(msg)
+            raise FragmentError(msg) from exc
+        log.warning(msg)
         return ""
 
 
@@ -88,15 +105,16 @@ async def fetch_fragments(
     requests: Sequence[tuple[str, str, dict | None]],
     *,
     timeout: float = _DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
+    required: bool = True,
 ) -> list[str]:
     """Fetch multiple fragments concurrently.
 
     *requests* is a sequence of ``(app_name, fragment_type, params)`` tuples.
-    Returns a list of HTML strings in the same order.  Failed fetches
-    produce ``""``.
+    Returns a list of HTML strings in the same order.  When *required*
+    is True, any single failure raises ``FragmentError``.
     """
     return list(await asyncio.gather(*(
-        fetch_fragment(app, ftype, params=params, timeout=timeout)
+        fetch_fragment(app, ftype, params=params, timeout=timeout, required=required)
         for app, ftype, params in requests
     )))
 
@@ -108,11 +126,11 @@ async def fetch_fragment_cached(
     params: dict | None = None,
     ttl: int = 30,
     timeout: float = _DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
+    required: bool = True,
 ) -> str:
     """Fetch a fragment with a Redis cache layer.
 
     Cache key: ``frag:{app}:{type}:{sorted_params}``.
-    Returns ``""`` on error (cache miss + fetch failure).
     """
     # Build a stable cache key
     suffix = ""
@@ -133,7 +151,7 @@ async def fetch_fragment_cached(
 
     # Cache miss — fetch from provider
     html = await fetch_fragment(
-        app_name, fragment_type, params=params, timeout=timeout,
+        app_name, fragment_type, params=params, timeout=timeout, required=required,
     )
 
     # Store in cache (even empty string — avoids hammering a down service)