diff --git a/internal/cli/ctl.go b/internal/cli/ctl.go
index c88b3e3..cce20d3 100644
--- a/internal/cli/ctl.go
+++ b/internal/cli/ctl.go
@@ -172,6 +172,33 @@ func newNodesCmd(client func() *ctlClient, asJSON *bool) *cobra.Command {
 	}
 }
 
+// modelStatus says what is happening to a model, in the words that decide what
+// to do about it.
+//
+// The previous rendering distinguished "a replica is coming up" from "nothing
+// could be placed" by a parenthetical — "0/1 ready (1 total)" against "0/1
+// ready" — and those need opposite responses: one means wait, the other means
+// look at explain-placement. On four models the difference is findable; on
+// forty it is invisible, and a model that will never start looks exactly like
+// one that is thirty seconds away.
+//
+// A model appearing here before it serves is deliberate: this is the operator's
+// view, and a model coming up is precisely what someone wants to see. Clients
+// are told separately and only when it is true — /v1/models lists what is
+// actually served, never what is merely catalogued.
+func modelStatus(m adminapi.ModelView) string {
+	switch {
+	case m.Min == 0 && m.Total == 0:
+		return "stopped"
+	case m.Ready >= m.Min && m.Min > 0:
+		return "ready"
+	case m.Total > m.Ready:
+		return "starting"
+	default:
+		return "not placed"
+	}
+}
+
 // idleColumn shows how long a replica has gone unused.
 //
 // "-" for a replica nothing has reported use of, which is emphatically not the
@@ -212,14 +239,15 @@ func newModelsCmd(client func() *ctlClient, asJSON *bool) *cobra.Command {
 			}
 
 			w := tab()
-			fmt.Fprintln(w, "MODEL\tREPLICAS\tALIASES\tPROFILES\tFALLBACKS")
+			fmt.Fprintln(w, "MODEL\tSERVING\tREPLICAS\tSTATUS\tALIASES\tPROFILES\tFALLBACKS")
 			for _, m := range models {
-				replicas := fmt.Sprintf("%d/%d ready", m.Ready, m.Min)
-				if m.Total > m.Ready {
-					replicas += fmt.Sprintf(" (%d total)", m.Total)
+				serving := "no"
+				if m.Ready > 0 {
+					serving = "yes"
 				}
-				fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n",
-					m.Name, replicas, join(m.Aliases), join(m.Profiles), join(m.Fallbacks))
+				fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s\t%s\t%d/%d\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n",
+					m.Name, serving, m.Ready, m.Min, modelStatus(m),
+					join(m.Aliases), join(m.Profiles), join(m.Fallbacks))
 			}
 			return w.Flush()
 		},
diff --git a/internal/cli/status_test.go b/internal/cli/status_test.go
index 7c297ef..0e4f007 100644
--- a/internal/cli/status_test.go
+++ b/internal/cli/status_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package cli
 import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+
+	"gitea.mynodes.xyz/ilker/llmgw/internal/control/adminapi"
 )
 
 func TestBarStaysWithinItsWidth(t *testing.T) {
@@ -33,3 +35,27 @@ func TestIdleColumnDistinguishesUnknownFromIdle(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("idleColumn(90) = %q", got)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestModelStatusSeparatesWaitingFromBroken(t *testing.T) {
+	// These used to differ by a parenthetical — "0/1 ready (1 total)" against
+	// "0/1 ready" — and they need opposite responses: one means wait, the other
+	// means look at explain-placement. On forty models that difference is
+	// invisible.
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name string
+		view adminapi.ModelView
+		want string
+	}{
+		{"serving what it asked for", adminapi.ModelView{Min: 2, Ready: 2, Total: 2}, "ready"},
+		{"a replica is coming up", adminapi.ModelView{Min: 1, Ready: 0, Total: 1}, "starting"},
+		{"nothing could be placed", adminapi.ModelView{Min: 1, Ready: 0, Total: 0}, "not placed"},
+		{"deliberately not running", adminapi.ModelView{Min: 0, Ready: 0, Total: 0}, "stopped"},
+		{"short but rebuilding", adminapi.ModelView{Min: 2, Ready: 1, Total: 2}, "starting"},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := modelStatus(tc.view); got != tc.want {
+				t.Errorf("modelStatus(%+v) = %q, want %q", tc.view, got, tc.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}