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..6119d47 100755
--- a/commands/forgejo-runner-status.sh
+++ b/commands/forgejo-runner-status.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,31 @@ log()  { printf 'rig-forgejo-runner: %s\n' "$*"; }
 warn() { printf 'rig-forgejo-runner: WARNING: %s\n' "$*" >&2; }
 die()  { printf 'rig-forgejo-runner: ERROR: %s\n' "$1" >&2; exit "${2:-1}"; }
 
+# forgejo_runner_liveness_note <systemctl-state> — what `active` does not cover.
+#
+# `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, which
+# is the wrong place to look.
+#
+# A FUNCTION rather than an inline `if`, because the state boundary is the part
+# worth pinning: an absent or inactive unit must say nothing, and a grep over
+# the source cannot tell the difference (codex/kimi, !134).
+#
+# 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).
+forgejo_runner_liveness_note() {
+  [ "${1:-}" = active ] || return 0
+  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."
+}
+
 usage() {
   cat <<'EOF'
 usage: rig forgejo-runner status [--user <name>]
@@ -80,6 +105,8 @@ log "name:     ${RUNNER_NAME:-unknown}"
 log "labels:   ${LABELS}"
 log "dir:      ${RUNNER_DIR}"
 log "service:  ${SERVICE}"
+forgejo_runner_liveness_note "${STATE:-}"
+
 
 # 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 fd79ee2..5e010bf 100644
--- a/test/cli.sh
+++ b/test/cli.sh
@@ -3428,6 +3428,47 @@ 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"
+
+# codex/kimi on !134: the three greps above prove the LINES EXIST; nothing
+# proved they fire only when the unit is active. Deleting the state guard left
+# the suite 790/790 green, so the acceptance boundary #133 cares about most —
+# no misleading liveness note on an absent or inactive unit — was unprotected.
+# Drive the decision instead, extracted the way test/drill.sh extracts its own.
+# Its own scratch dir: $WORK is rm -rf'd at :3206, well before this block.
+FJS_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
+FJSW="$FJS_DIR/fjs-note.sh"
+{ printf '%s\n' 'log() { printf "rig-forgejo-runner: %s\\n" "$*"; }'
+  awk '/^forgejo_runner_liveness_note\(\) \{/,/^\}/' "$FJS"
+} > "$FJSW"
+check "forgejo-runner: liveness note extracted (guards the awk)" 0 "forgejo_runner_liveness_note() {" \
+  cat "$FJSW"
+note_for() { bash -c '. "$1"; forgejo_runner_liveness_note "$2"' _ "$FJSW" "$1"; }
+check "liveness note: an ACTIVE unit is told what active does not prove" 0 "not proof" note_for active
+check "liveness note: …and is given the remedy" 0 "systemctl restart forgejo-runner" note_for active
+note_is_empty() { [ -z "$(note_for "$1")" ]; }
+check "liveness note: an INACTIVE unit gets nothing" 0 "" note_is_empty inactive
+check "liveness note: an ABSENT unit (empty state) gets nothing" 0 "" note_is_empty ""
+rm -rf "$FJS_DIR"
+# 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) --------------------