diff --git a/server/src/services/native-runtime/runner-api-catalog.ts b/server/src/services/native-runtime/runner-api-catalog.ts
index d52681af90d..d90ad882b9c 100644
--- a/server/src/services/native-runtime/runner-api-catalog.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/native-runtime/runner-api-catalog.ts
@@ -34,8 +34,12 @@ const SYNONYMS: Record<string, string> = {
   blocker: "dependencies", blockers: "dependencies", files: "attachments",
 };
 
+// Function words carry no resource meaning; scoring them let any summary that
+// happens to say "for" or "the" outrank the operation a query names.
+const SEARCH_FUNCTION_WORDS = new Set(["a", "an", "the", "for", "of", "to", "in", "on", "at", "by", "with", "and", "or", "from"]);
+
 function words(text: string): string[] {
-  return text.toLowerCase().split(/[^a-z0-9]+/).filter(Boolean)
+  return text.toLowerCase().split(/[^a-z0-9]+/).filter((word) => word.length > 0 && !SEARCH_FUNCTION_WORDS.has(word))
     .flatMap((word) => [word, ...(SYNONYMS[word] ? [SYNONYMS[word]] : [])])
     .map((word) => word.length > 3 && word.endsWith("s") ? word.slice(0, -1) : word);
 }
diff --git a/server/src/services/native-runtime/runner-api.test.ts b/server/src/services/native-runtime/runner-api.test.ts
index b08b92c611d..4c11333fe52 100644
--- a/server/src/services/native-runtime/runner-api.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/native-runtime/runner-api.test.ts
@@ -202,6 +202,18 @@ describe("runner API catalog", () => {
     expect(operation.authorization.actor).toBeTruthy();
   });
 
+  it("keeps natural-language function words from hiding the requested API resource", () => {
+    expect(searchRunnerApi({ query: "list comments for an issue" }).results[0]?.operationId)
+      .toBe("GET /api/issues/{id}/comments");
+    for (const [query, operation] of [
+      ["queued comments for an issue", "GET /api/issues/{id}/queued-comments"],
+      ["activity for an issue", "GET /api/issues/{id}/activity"],
+      ["runs for an issue", "GET /api/issues/{id}/runs"],
+      ["case for task", "GET /api/issues/{issueId}/cases"],
+    ]) expect(searchRunnerApi({ query }).results.map(row => row.operationId)).toContain(operation);
+    expect(searchRunnerApi({ query: "for an the" }).results).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("ranks natural language, explains dedicated alternatives, and supports exact lookup", () => {
     expect(
       searchRunnerApi({ query: "create project" }).results.map(