diff --git a/inc/Abilities/Engine/RunFlowAbility.php b/inc/Abilities/Engine/RunFlowAbility.php
index 75a83badc..fab3d29d8 100644
--- a/inc/Abilities/Engine/RunFlowAbility.php
+++ b/inc/Abilities/Engine/RunFlowAbility.php
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 namespace DataMachine\Abilities\Engine;
 
+use DataMachine\Abilities\Flow\QueueAbility;
 use DataMachine\Core\Agents\AgentIdentityResolver;
 use DataMachine\Engine\ExecutionPlan;
 
@@ -67,8 +68,10 @@ private function registerAbility(): void {
 						'properties' => array(
 							'success'    => array( 'type' => 'boolean' ),
 							'flow_id'    => array( 'type' => 'integer' ),
-							'job_id'     => array( 'type' => 'integer' ),
+							'job_id'     => array( 'type' => array( 'integer', 'null' ) ),
 							'first_step' => array( 'type' => 'string' ),
+							'skipped'    => array( 'type' => 'boolean' ),
+							'reason'     => array( 'type' => 'string' ),
 							'error'      => array( 'type' => 'string' ),
 						),
 					),
@@ -131,6 +134,30 @@ public function execute( array $input ): array {
 		}
 
 		$pipeline_id = (int) $flow['pipeline_id'];
+		$flow_config = datamachine_normalize_engine_config( $flow['flow_config'] ?? array() );
+
+		$empty_drain_skip = $this->getEmptyDrainQueueSkip( $flow_config );
+		if ( null !== $empty_drain_skip ) {
+			do_action(
+				'datamachine_log',
+				'info',
+				'Flow execution skipped - drain queue is empty',
+				array(
+					'flow_id'      => $flow_id,
+					'pipeline_id'  => $pipeline_id,
+					'flow_step_id' => $empty_drain_skip['flow_step_id'],
+				)
+			);
+
+			return array(
+				'success'    => true,
+				'flow_id'    => $flow_id,
+				'job_id'     => null,
+				'first_step' => $empty_drain_skip['flow_step_id'],
+				'skipped'    => true,
+				'reason'     => 'empty_drain_queue',
+			);
+		}
 
 		$agent_identity = null;
 		if ( ! empty( $flow['agent_id'] ) ) {
@@ -187,7 +214,6 @@ public function execute( array $input ): array {
 		// Transition job from pending to processing.
 		$this->db_jobs->start_job( $job_id );
 
-		$flow_config         = $flow['flow_config'] ?? array();
 		$scheduling_config   = $flow['scheduling_config'] ?? array();
 		$run_artifact_policy = \DataMachine\Engine\Bundle\BundleSchema::normalize_run_artifact_egress_policy( $scheduling_config['run_artifacts'] ?? array() );
 
@@ -195,7 +221,6 @@ public function execute( array $input ): array {
 		$pipeline        = $this->db_pipelines->get_pipeline( $pipeline_id );
 		$pipeline_config = $pipeline['pipeline_config'] ?? array();
 
-		$flow_config     = datamachine_normalize_engine_config( $flow_config );
 		$pipeline_config = datamachine_normalize_engine_config( $pipeline_config );
 
 		$job_snapshot = array(
@@ -327,4 +352,38 @@ public function execute( array $input ): array {
 			'first_step' => $first_flow_step_id,
 		);
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Return first-step drain queue details when a scheduled flow has no work.
+	 *
+	 * @param array $flow_config Normalized flow config.
+	 * @return array{flow_step_id:string}|null
+	 */
+	private function getEmptyDrainQueueSkip( array $flow_config ): ?array {
+		try {
+			$first_flow_step_id = ExecutionPlan::from_flow_config( $flow_config )->first_step_id();
+		} catch ( \InvalidArgumentException $e ) {
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		if ( ! $first_flow_step_id || ! isset( $flow_config[ $first_flow_step_id ] ) || ! is_array( $flow_config[ $first_flow_step_id ] ) ) {
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		$first_step = $flow_config[ $first_flow_step_id ];
+		if ( 'fetch' !== (string) ( $first_step['step_type'] ?? '' ) ) {
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		if ( 'drain' !== (string) ( $first_step['queue_mode'] ?? 'static' ) ) {
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		$queue = $first_step[ QueueAbility::SLOT_CONFIG_PATCH_QUEUE ] ?? array();
+		if ( is_array( $queue ) && ! empty( $queue ) ) {
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		return array( 'flow_step_id' => (string) $first_flow_step_id );
+	}
 }
diff --git a/tests/run-flow-empty-drain-queue-smoke.php b/tests/run-flow-empty-drain-queue-smoke.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..119c9ddd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/run-flow-empty-drain-queue-smoke.php
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Pure-PHP smoke test for empty drain queue run-flow short-circuiting.
+ *
+ * Run with: php tests/run-flow-empty-drain-queue-smoke.php
+ *
+ * @package DataMachine\Tests
+ */
+
+$run_flow_file = __DIR__ . '/../inc/Abilities/Engine/RunFlowAbility.php';
+$run_flow_src  = file_get_contents( $run_flow_file ) ?: '';
+
+$assertions = 0;
+
+function assert_run_flow_empty_drain_true( bool $condition, string $message ): void {
+	global $assertions;
+	++$assertions;
+
+	if ( ! $condition ) {
+		fwrite( STDERR, "FAIL: {$message}\n" );
+		exit( 1 );
+	}
+}
+
+function assert_run_flow_empty_drain_contains( string $needle, string $haystack, string $message ): void {
+	assert_run_flow_empty_drain_true( false !== strpos( $haystack, $needle ), $message );
+}
+
+assert_run_flow_empty_drain_contains( 'use DataMachine\\Abilities\\Flow\\QueueAbility;', $run_flow_src, 'run-flow ability imports queue slot constants' );
+assert_run_flow_empty_drain_contains( '$empty_drain_skip = $this->getEmptyDrainQueueSkip( $flow_config );', $run_flow_src, 'run-flow checks empty drain queues' );
+assert_run_flow_empty_drain_contains( "'reason'     => 'empty_drain_queue'", $run_flow_src, 'empty drain skip returns explicit reason' );
+assert_run_flow_empty_drain_contains( '\'drain\' !== (string) ( $first_step[\'queue_mode\'] ?? \'static\' )', $run_flow_src, 'skip is scoped to drain mode' );
+assert_run_flow_empty_drain_contains( 'QueueAbility::SLOT_CONFIG_PATCH_QUEUE', $run_flow_src, 'skip checks the config patch queue slot' );
+
+$skip_pos       = strpos( $run_flow_src, '$empty_drain_skip = $this->getEmptyDrainQueueSkip( $flow_config );' );
+$create_job_pos = strpos( $run_flow_src, '$job_id = $this->db_jobs->create_job( $job_data );' );
+assert_run_flow_empty_drain_true( false !== $skip_pos && false !== $create_job_pos && $skip_pos < $create_job_pos, 'empty drain queue is skipped before job creation' );
+
+echo "OK ({$assertions} assertions)\n";