diff --git a/src/build.ts b/src/build.ts
index 827ef25c7..5da9734a2 100644
--- a/src/build.ts
+++ b/src/build.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {
 import { warnLegacyCJS } from './features/cjs.ts'
 import { cleanChunks, cleanOutDir } from './features/clean.ts'
 import { copy } from './features/copy.ts'
+import { addDeclarationDiagnosticHints } from './features/declaration-diagnostics.ts'
 import { startDevtoolsUI } from './features/devtools.ts'
 import { isGlobEntry, toObjectEntry } from './features/entry.ts'
 import { buildExe } from './features/exe.ts'
@@ -169,7 +170,10 @@ async function buildSingle(
     watcher = rolldownWatch(configs)
     handleWatcher(watcher)
   } else {
-    const outputs = await rolldownBuild(configs)
+    const outputs = await rolldownBuild(configs).catch((error: unknown) => {
+      addDeclarationDiagnosticHints(error, config)
+      throw error
+    })
     for (const { output } of outputs) {
       chunks.push(...addOutDirToChunks(output, outDir))
     }
@@ -258,6 +262,7 @@ async function buildSingle(
 
         case 'ERROR': {
           await event.result.close()
+          addDeclarationDiagnosticHints(event.error, config)
           logger.error(event.error)
           hasError = true
           break
diff --git a/src/features/declaration-diagnostics.test.ts b/src/features/declaration-diagnostics.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..397785509
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/features/declaration-diagnostics.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import {
+  addDeclarationDiagnosticHints,
+  formatDevDependencyDeclarationHint,
+  type DeclarationDiagnosticContext,
+} from './declaration-diagnostics.ts'
+import type { PackageJson } from 'pkg-types'
+import type { RolldownError } from 'rolldown'
+
+const hint = formatDevDependencyDeclarationHint('dev-only')
+
+describe('addDeclarationDiagnosticHints', () => {
+  it('adds devDependency hints to aggregate and child declaration errors', () => {
+    const diagnostic = createRolldownError({
+      code: 'MISSING_EXPORT',
+      id: '/project/src/index.d.ts',
+      exporter: '/project/node_modules/dev-only/index.d.ts',
+    })
+    const error = createBuildError(diagnostic)
+
+    addDeclarationDiagnosticHints(error, createContext())
+
+    expect(error.message).toContain(hint)
+    expect(diagnostic.message).toContain(hint)
+  })
+
+  it('does not hint for production dependencies', () => {
+    const error = createBuildError(
+      createRolldownError({
+        code: 'MISSING_EXPORT',
+        id: '/project/src/index.d.ts',
+        exporter: '/project/node_modules/dev-only/index.d.ts',
+      }),
+    )
+
+    addDeclarationDiagnosticHints(
+      error,
+      createContext({
+        dependencies: { 'dev-only': '^1.0.0' },
+        devDependencies: { 'dev-only': '^1.0.0' },
+      }),
+    )
+
+    expect(error.message).not.toContain(hint)
+  })
+
+  it('does not hint for runtime missing exports', () => {
+    const error = createBuildError(
+      createRolldownError({
+        code: 'MISSING_EXPORT',
+        id: '/project/src/index.js',
+        exporter: '/project/node_modules/dev-only/index.js',
+      }),
+    )
+
+    addDeclarationDiagnosticHints(error, createContext())
+
+    expect(error.message).not.toContain(hint)
+  })
+
+  it('does not hint for unrelated declaration diagnostics', () => {
+    const error = createBuildError(
+      createRolldownError({
+        code: 'OTHER_ERROR',
+        id: '/project/src/index.d.ts',
+        exporter: '/project/node_modules/dev-only/index.d.ts',
+      }),
+    )
+
+    addDeclarationDiagnosticHints(error, createContext())
+
+    expect(error.message).not.toContain(hint)
+  })
+
+  it('does not infer package names from unstructured import undefined diagnostics', () => {
+    const error = createBuildError(
+      createRolldownError({
+        code: 'IMPORT_IS_UNDEFINED',
+        id: '/project/src/index.d.ts',
+      }),
+    )
+
+    addDeclarationDiagnosticHints(error, createContext())
+
+    expect(error.message).not.toContain(hint)
+  })
+})
+
+function createBuildError(...errors: Error[]): Error {
+  return Object.assign(new Error('Build failed'), { errors })
+}
+
+function createRolldownError(
+  options: Pick<RolldownError, 'code' | 'exporter' | 'id'>,
+): Error {
+  return Object.assign(new Error('Diagnostic failed'), options)
+}
+
+function createContext(pkg: PackageJson = defaultPkg()) {
+  return { pkg } satisfies DeclarationDiagnosticContext
+}
+
+function defaultPkg(): PackageJson {
+  return {
+    name: 'test-pkg',
+    version: '1.0.0',
+    devDependencies: { 'dev-only': '^1.0.0' },
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/features/declaration-diagnostics.ts b/src/features/declaration-diagnostics.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..af2e34287
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/features/declaration-diagnostics.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+import { getDevDependencyOnlyName } from './deps.ts'
+import type { PackageJson } from 'pkg-types'
+import type { RolldownError } from 'rolldown'
+
+const DECLARATION_DEPENDENCY_CODES = new Set(['MISSING_EXPORT'])
+const RE_DTS_FILE = /\.d\.[cm]?ts$/
+
+export interface DeclarationDiagnosticContext {
+  pkg?: PackageJson
+}
+
+interface ErrorWithErrors extends Error {
+  errors?: unknown[]
+}
+
+export function formatDevDependencyDeclarationHint(name: string): string {
+  return `Hint: ${name} is listed in devDependencies only. Move it to dependencies or peerDependencies if it is needed by published declarations.`
+}
+
+export function addDeclarationDiagnosticHints(
+  error: unknown,
+  context: DeclarationDiagnosticContext,
+): void {
+  if (!(error instanceof Error)) return
+
+  const hints = new Set<string>()
+  for (const diagnostic of getDiagnostics(error)) {
+    const hint = getDevDependencyDeclarationHint(diagnostic, context)
+    if (!hint) continue
+    appendHint(diagnostic, hint)
+    hints.add(hint)
+  }
+
+  for (const hint of hints) {
+    appendHint(error, hint)
+  }
+}
+
+function getDiagnostics(error: Error): Error[] {
+  const diagnostics = (error as ErrorWithErrors).errors
+  if (!Array.isArray(diagnostics)) return [error]
+  return diagnostics.filter((diagnostic): diagnostic is Error => {
+    return diagnostic instanceof Error
+  })
+}
+
+function getDevDependencyDeclarationHint(
+  diagnostic: Error,
+  context: DeclarationDiagnosticContext,
+): string | undefined {
+  const { code, exporter, id, loc } = diagnostic as RolldownError
+  if (!code || !DECLARATION_DEPENDENCY_CODES.has(code) || !exporter) return
+  if (!isDeclarationDiagnostic(id, exporter, loc?.file)) return
+
+  const name = getDevDependencyOnlyName(context.pkg, exporter)
+  return name ? formatDevDependencyDeclarationHint(name) : undefined
+}
+
+function appendHint(error: Error, hint: string): void {
+  if (!error.message.includes(hint)) {
+    error.message += `\n${hint}`
+  }
+}
+
+function isDeclarationDiagnostic(...ids: Array<string | undefined>): boolean {
+  return ids.some((id) => id && RE_DTS_FILE.test(id))
+}
diff --git a/src/features/deps.ts b/src/features/deps.ts
index bf5a8eae5..63a7b0ef8 100644
--- a/src/features/deps.ts
+++ b/src/features/deps.ts
@@ -436,6 +436,27 @@ async function resolveDepSubpath(id: string, resolved: ResolvedId | null) {
   return result
 }
 
+export function getDevDependencyOnlyName(
+  pkg: PackageJson | undefined,
+  id: string,
+): string | undefined {
+  if (!pkg) return
+  const parsed = parseNodeModulesPath(id)
+  if (!parsed) return
+  const [name] = parsed
+
+  if (!hasDependency(pkg.devDependencies, name)) return
+  if (
+    hasDependency(pkg.dependencies, name) ||
+    hasDependency(pkg.peerDependencies, name) ||
+    hasDependency(pkg.optionalDependencies, name)
+  ) {
+    return
+  }
+
+  return name
+}
+
 /*
  * Production deps should be excluded from the bundle
  */
@@ -446,3 +467,10 @@ function getProductionDeps(pkg: PackageJson): Set<string> {
     ...Object.keys(pkg.optionalDependencies || {}),
   ])
 }
+
+function hasDependency(
+  deps: PackageJson['dependencies'] | undefined,
+  name: string,
+): boolean {
+  return !!deps && Object.hasOwn(deps, name)
+}
diff --git a/tests/e2e.test.ts b/tests/e2e.test.ts
index 1c81047a7..b581f713d 100644
--- a/tests/e2e.test.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import path from 'node:path'
 import { RE_NODE_MODULES } from 'rolldown-plugin-dts/internal'
 import { describe, expect, test, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { resolveConfig, type UserConfig } from '../src/config/index.ts'
+import { formatDevDependencyDeclarationHint } from '../src/features/declaration-diagnostics.ts'
+import { build } from '../src/index.ts'
 import { slash } from '../src/utils/general.ts'
 import { chdir, testBuild, writeFixtures } from './utils.ts'
 import type { Plugin } from 'rolldown'
@@ -1068,6 +1070,44 @@ test('failOnWarn', async (context) => {
   ).rejects.toThrow('Module not found')
 })
 
+test('dts missing export hints when dependency is dev-only', async (context) => {
+  const { testDir } = await writeFixtures(context, {
+    'index.ts': `
+      import type { Missing } from 'dev-only'
+      export interface Box {
+        value: Missing
+      }
+    `,
+    'node_modules/dev-only/index.d.ts': `
+      export interface Present {
+        value: string
+      }
+    `,
+    'node_modules/dev-only/package.json': JSON.stringify({
+      name: 'dev-only',
+      version: '1.0.0',
+      types: 'index.d.ts',
+    }),
+    'package.json': JSON.stringify({
+      name: 'test-pkg',
+      version: '1.0.0',
+      devDependencies: {
+        'dev-only': '^1.0.0',
+      },
+    }),
+  })
+
+  await expect(
+    build({
+      cwd: testDir,
+      config: false,
+      entry: 'index.ts',
+      dts: true,
+      logLevel: 'silent',
+    }),
+  ).rejects.toThrow(formatDevDependencyDeclarationHint('dev-only'))
+})
+
 describe('resolve dep subpath without exports field', () => {
   test('dep/file should resolve to dep/file.js', async (context) => {
     const node_modules = {