diff --git a/backend/openedx_ai_extensions/api/v1/workflows/views.py b/backend/openedx_ai_extensions/api/v1/workflows/views.py
index 3bfe99d2..57baa5ce 100644
--- a/backend/openedx_ai_extensions/api/v1/workflows/views.py
+++ b/backend/openedx_ai_extensions/api/v1/workflows/views.py
@@ -7,11 +7,9 @@
 import logging
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 
-from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
 from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
 from django.http import JsonResponse, StreamingHttpResponse
 from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator
-from django.views import View
 from rest_framework import status
 from rest_framework.permissions import IsAuthenticated
 from rest_framework.response import Response
@@ -33,27 +31,22 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-@method_decorator(login_required, name="dispatch")
-@method_decorator(handle_ai_errors, name="dispatch")
-class AIGenericWorkflowView(View):
+class AIGenericWorkflowView(APIView):
     """
     AI Workflow API endpoint
     """
 
+    permission_classes = [IsAuthenticated]
+
+    @method_decorator(handle_ai_errors)
     def post(self, request):
-        """Common handler for GET and POST requests"""
+        """Handle POST requests to execute an AI workflow."""
 
         context = get_context_from_request(request)
         workflow_profile = AIWorkflowScope.get_profile(**context)
 
-        request_body = {}
-        if request.body:
-            try:
-                request_body = json.loads(request.body.decode("utf-8"))
-            except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
-                raise ValidationError("Invalid JSON format in request body.") from e
-        action = request_body.get("action", "")
-        user_input = request_body.get("user_input", {})
+        action = request.data.get("action", "")
+        user_input = request.data.get("user_input", {})
 
         result = workflow_profile.execute(
             user_input=user_input,
diff --git a/backend/openedx_ai_extensions/decorators.py b/backend/openedx_ai_extensions/decorators.py
index af69e4b5..ccbbbe4d 100644
--- a/backend/openedx_ai_extensions/decorators.py
+++ b/backend/openedx_ai_extensions/decorators.py
@@ -12,11 +12,13 @@
     APIConnectionError,
     AuthenticationError,
     ContextWindowExceededError,
+    NotFoundError,
     RateLimitError,
     ServiceUnavailableError,
     Timeout,
 )
 from rest_framework import status
+from rest_framework.exceptions import ParseError
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -28,6 +30,11 @@
         "message": "The AI service is currently unavailable due to an authentication error.",
         "status": status.HTTP_500_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
     },
+    NotFoundError: {
+        "code": "llm_config_error",
+        "message": "The AI service is misconfigured. Please check the LLM settings.",
+        "status": status.HTTP_500_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
+    },
     RateLimitError: {
         "code": "rate_limit_exceeded",
         "message": "The AI service is currently busy. Please try again later.",
@@ -48,6 +55,11 @@
         "message": "The provided input or configuration is invalid.",
         "status": status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST,
     },
+    ParseError: {
+        "code": "parse_error",
+        "message": "The request body could not be parsed. Please check the JSON format.",
+        "status": status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST,
+    },
 }
 
 
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_api.py b/backend/tests/test_api.py
index 01a80d44..c1d23049 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_api.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from django.urls import reverse
 from opaque_keys.edx.keys import CourseKey
 from opaque_keys.edx.locator import BlockUsageLocator
+from rest_framework.exceptions import ParseError
 from rest_framework.test import APIClient, APIRequestFactory
 
 # Mock the submissions module before any imports that depend on it
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@
     AIWorkflowProfilesListView,
     AIWorkflowProfileView,
 )
+from openedx_ai_extensions.decorators import handle_ai_errors  # noqa: E402 pylint: disable=wrong-import-position
 from openedx_ai_extensions.models import PromptTemplate  # noqa: E402 pylint: disable=wrong-import-position
 from openedx_ai_extensions.workflows.models import (  # noqa: E402 pylint: disable=wrong-import-position
     AIWorkflowProfile,
@@ -137,13 +139,9 @@ def test_workflows_endpoint_requires_authentication(api_client):  # pylint: disa
     """
     url = reverse("openedx_ai_extensions:api:v1:aiext_workflows")
 
-    # Test POST without authentication
+    # DRF IsAuthenticated with SessionAuthentication returns 403 (no WWW-Authenticate challenge)
     response = api_client.post(url, {}, format="json")
-    assert response.status_code == 302  # Redirect to login
-
-    # Test GET without authentication
-    response = api_client.get(url)
-    assert response.status_code == 302  # Redirect to login
+    assert response.status_code == 403
 
 
 @pytest.mark.django_db
@@ -434,8 +432,8 @@ def test_workflows_post_with_invalid_json(api_client):  # pylint: disable=redefi
         url, data="invalid json", content_type="application/json"
     )
 
-    # Should return 400 or 500 for invalid JSON
-    assert response.status_code in [400, 500]
+    # ParseError is now mapped to 400 via handle_ai_errors
+    assert response.status_code == 400
     data = response.json()
     assert "error" in data
 
@@ -1407,3 +1405,21 @@ def test_profiles_list_view_unexpected_error(mock_list, api_client, course_key):
     response = api_client.get(url, {"context": context})
     assert response.status_code == 500
     assert response.json()["status"] == "error"
+
+
+# ============================================================================
+# Unit Tests - handle_ai_errors decorator
+# ============================================================================
+
+
+def test_handle_ai_errors_maps_parse_error_to_400():
+    """DRF ParseError (malformed JSON body) is mapped to HTTP 400, not 500."""
+    @handle_ai_errors
+    def fake_view(request):
+        raise ParseError("bad json")
+
+    response = fake_view(Mock())
+    assert response.status_code == 400
+    data = json.loads(response.content)
+    assert data["error"]["code"] == "parse_error"
+    assert data["status"] == "error"