diff --git a/changelog.d/133.md b/changelog.d/133.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc4f074
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/133.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+### Fixed
+
+- `rig forgejo-runner status` no longer lets a service's `(active)` stand as proof the runner is fetching jobs (#133)
diff --git a/commands/forgejo-runner-status.sh b/commands/forgejo-runner-status.sh
index f201e9f..146d1bd 100755
--- a/commands/forgejo-runner-status.sh
+++ b/commands/forgejo-runner-status.sh
@@ -80,6 +80,23 @@ log "name:     ${RUNNER_NAME:-unknown}"
 log "labels:   ${LABELS}"
 log "dir:      ${RUNNER_DIR}"
 log "service:  ${SERVICE}"
+# `active` is the strongest health signal this command has, and it proves only
+# that a process exists — not that the runner is still asking Forgejo for work.
+# A poller can go quiet while the daemon stays up: measured 2026-07-30 (#129,
+# #133), a daemon logged "[poller] launched" and never fetched a job dispatched
+# four minutes later, while a daemon started fresh claimed that same queued
+# task in one second. Both times it read as a label-mapping bug on the forge.
+#
+# log, not warn: nothing has been DETECTED here. An idle runner with no queued
+# jobs is silent in exactly the same way a stalled one is, so there is no
+# signal separating them — a warning on every status run would be crying wolf,
+# and warn in this file means a drift actually measured (the .runner mode
+# below). Saying what the signal does not cover is the honest middle.
+if [ "${STATE:-}" = active ]; then
+  log "          note: 'active' is not proof the runner is fetching jobs — only that the process is up."
+  log "          If a job stays queued and its run page says it never started, run"
+  log "          'systemctl restart forgejo-runner' and re-read before suspecting the labels."
+fi
 
 # status is the only command an operator runs when nothing is obviously wrong,
 # which makes it the right place to notice a mode that drifted. It reports and
diff --git a/test/cli.sh b/test/cli.sh
index 4846778..4cf5bcd 100644
--- a/test/cli.sh
+++ b/test/cli.sh
@@ -3407,6 +3407,26 @@ check "forgejo-runner: install converges the mode on EVERY run, not only at regi
   fr_secure_every_run
 check "forgejo-runner: status warns on a drifted mode" 0 "FORGEJO_RUNNER_FILE_MODE" \
   grep -o "FORGEJO_RUNNER_FILE_MODE" "$ROOT/commands/forgejo-runner-status.sh"
+# #133: `active` is the strongest signal this command has, and it proves only
+# that a process exists. A poller can go quiet while the process stays up —
+# measured for #129: a daemon logged "[poller] launched" and never fetched a
+# job dispatched four minutes later, while a fresh daemon claimed the same
+# queued task in one second. status is where an operator looks when nothing
+# is obviously wrong, so it says so there.
+FJS="$ROOT/commands/forgejo-runner-status.sh"
+check "forgejo-runner: status says 'active' is not proof the runner is fetching" 0 "not proof" \
+  grep -o "not proof" "$FJS"
+check "forgejo-runner: …and names the remedy, so the line is actionable" 0 "restart" \
+  grep -oi "systemctl restart forgejo-runner" "$FJS"
+# It must NOT be a warning: nothing has been detected. An idle-but-healthy
+# runner logs nothing either, so there is no signal that separates it from a
+# stalled one — a WARNING on every status run would be crying wolf, and this
+# file reserves warn for drift it has actually measured (the .runner mode).
+check "forgejo-runner: the liveness note is informational, never a WARNING" 1 "" \
+  grep -nE 'warn ".*not proof' "$FJS"
+# The header contract at :25 — no token, no network call — survives this.
+check "forgejo-runner: status still makes no network call" 1 "" \
+  grep -nE '^[^#]*(curl|wget) ' "$FJS"
 rm -rf "$FRW"
 
 # --- the checksum gate, DRIVEN not grepped (review !110) --------------------