diff --git a/src/faces.rs b/src/faces.rs
index ffd106e..8400f76 100644
--- a/src/faces.rs
+++ b/src/faces.rs
@@ -1516,12 +1516,14 @@ async fn create_person_handler<D: FaceDao>(
         Ok(p) => HttpResponse::Created().json(p),
         Err(e) => {
             // SQLite UNIQUE(name COLLATE NOCASE) → 409 Conflict so the UI
-            // can show "name already exists" without parsing.
-            let msg = format!("{}", e);
-            if msg.to_lowercase().contains("unique") {
+            // can show "name already exists" without parsing. Use {:#} to
+            // include the source chain — anyhow's plain Display only shows
+            // the outermost context ("insert person ...") which hides the
+            // diesel "UNIQUE constraint failed" we're keying on.
+            if is_unique_violation(&e) {
                 HttpResponse::Conflict().body("person name already exists")
             } else {
-                HttpResponse::InternalServerError().body(msg)
+                HttpResponse::InternalServerError().body(format!("{:#}", e))
             }
         }
     }
@@ -1559,11 +1561,10 @@ async fn update_person_handler<D: FaceDao>(
     match dao.update_person(&span_context, path.into_inner(), &body) {
         Ok(p) => HttpResponse::Ok().json(p),
         Err(e) => {
-            let msg = format!("{}", e);
-            if msg.to_lowercase().contains("unique") {
+            if is_unique_violation(&e) {
                 HttpResponse::Conflict().body("person name already exists")
             } else {
-                HttpResponse::InternalServerError().body(msg)
+                HttpResponse::InternalServerError().body(format!("{:#}", e))
             }
         }
     }
@@ -1605,7 +1606,7 @@ async fn merge_persons_handler<D: FaceDao>(
     match dao.merge_persons(&span_context, src, body.into) {
         Ok(p) => HttpResponse::Ok().json(p),
         Err(e) => {
-            let msg = format!("{}", e);
+            let msg = format!("{:#}", e);
             if msg.contains("itself") {
                 HttpResponse::BadRequest().body(msg)
             } else {
@@ -1681,6 +1682,27 @@ fn crop_image_to_bbox(
     Ok(out.into_inner())
 }
 
+/// Returns true if `err` (or anything in its source chain) is a SQLite
+/// `UNIQUE constraint failed`. Walks the chain so callers don't have to
+/// know the wrapping order — anyhow `with_context` plus diesel's own
+/// error layering buries the database error two levels deep.
+///
+/// String matching on `format!("{:#}", e)` would also work but is
+/// fragile (locale-dependent SQLite messages, false positives like
+/// "uniquely identifies"). Downcasting to the actual diesel kind is
+/// the contract-stable check.
+fn is_unique_violation(err: &anyhow::Error) -> bool {
+    use diesel::result::{DatabaseErrorKind, Error as DieselError};
+    err.chain().any(|cause| {
+        cause.downcast_ref::<DieselError>().is_some_and(|de| {
+            matches!(
+                de,
+                DieselError::DatabaseError(DatabaseErrorKind::UniqueViolation, _)
+            )
+        })
+    })
+}
+
 // ── Tests ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 #[cfg(test)]
@@ -1696,6 +1718,61 @@ mod tests {
         opentelemetry::Context::current()
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn is_unique_violation_walks_chain() {
+        // The bug we hit in manual testing: anyhow's plain Display only
+        // shows the outermost context ("insert person Cameron"), so a
+        // naive `format!("{}", e).contains("unique")` check misses the
+        // diesel UNIQUE error nested below. Downcasting the source chain
+        // is the stable contract.
+        let mut dao = fresh_dao();
+        let _ = dao
+            .create_person(
+                &ctx(),
+                &CreatePersonReq {
+                    name: "Cameron".into(),
+                    notes: None,
+                    entity_id: None,
+                },
+                false,
+            )
+            .expect("first insert");
+        let dup_err = dao
+            .create_person(
+                &ctx(),
+                &CreatePersonReq {
+                    name: "Cameron".into(),
+                    notes: None,
+                    entity_id: None,
+                },
+                false,
+            )
+            .expect_err("second insert must fail");
+
+        // Plain Display hides the UNIQUE — that's the bug we're guarding
+        // against. We don't assert a specific outer message; we just
+        // confirm string-matching at the top level is unreliable.
+        let plain = format!("{}", dup_err);
+        assert!(
+            !plain.to_lowercase().contains("unique"),
+            "if Display starts surfacing UNIQUE we can drop the helper, but \
+             today it doesn't and the handler must downcast"
+        );
+
+        // Alt-Display walks the chain — useful for debug body content too.
+        let chained = format!("{:#}", dup_err);
+        assert!(
+            chained.to_uppercase().contains("UNIQUE"),
+            "chained display must surface the diesel error: {chained}"
+        );
+
+        // The contract-stable check the handler actually uses.
+        assert!(
+            is_unique_violation(&dup_err),
+            "is_unique_violation must downcast into the diesel chain"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn person_crud_roundtrip() {
         let mut dao = fresh_dao();