diff --git a/src/core/operator-dashboard.mjs b/src/core/operator-dashboard.mjs
index 04ceb7e..ad3721d 100644
--- a/src/core/operator-dashboard.mjs
+++ b/src/core/operator-dashboard.mjs
@@ -816,6 +816,7 @@ function summarizeServiceSnapshot(snapshot, { authoritativeHealth = null, active
     reachable: snapshot.reachable,
     health_ok: derived.health_ok,
     health_status: derived.status,
+    health_label: derived.label || derived.status,
     health_reasons: derived.reasons || [],
     highest_alert_severity: derived.highest_alert_severity || null,
     paused: derived.paused ?? state.paused ?? health.paused ?? null,
diff --git a/src/core/runtime-health.mjs b/src/core/runtime-health.mjs
index 4fdc475..dcb584e 100644
--- a/src/core/runtime-health.mjs
+++ b/src/core/runtime-health.mjs
@@ -69,50 +69,71 @@ export function deriveServiceHealth({
   const freshnessAgeMs = ageMs(freshnessAt, now);
   const reasons = [];
   let status = paused ? 'paused' : reachable ? 'healthy' : 'offline';
+  let label = status;
 
   if (!reachable) {
     reasons.push('service unreachable');
-  }
-
-  if (health.ok === false && reachable) {
-    status = escalateHealth(status, 'critical');
-    reasons.push(health.reason || 'service health check failed');
-  }
-
-  if (highestAlertSeverity === 'critical') {
-    status = escalateHealth(status, 'critical');
-    reasons.push(`critical alert active (${activeAlerts[0]?.alert_code || 'runtime'})`);
-  } else if (highestAlertSeverity === 'warning') {
-    status = escalateHealth(status, 'warning');
-    reasons.push(`warning alert active (${activeAlerts[0]?.alert_code || 'runtime'})`);
+    label = 'offline';
   }
 
   if (service === 'near-intents-ingest') {
-    if (state.ingest?.connected === false) {
+    const ingestClassification = classifyNearIntentsIngestHealth({
+      state,
+      health,
+      activeAlerts,
+      reachable,
+      now,
+    });
+    status = escalateHealth(status, ingestClassification.status);
+    label = ingestClassification.label;
+    reasons.push(...ingestClassification.reasons);
+  } else {
+    if (health.ok === false && reachable) {
       status = escalateHealth(status, 'critical');
-      reasons.push('websocket disconnected');
+      reasons.push(health.reason || 'service health check failed');
     }
-    if (state.ingest?.last_matching_quote_at && state.ingest?.last_published_at) {
-      const matchingAgeMs = ageMs(state.ingest.last_matching_quote_at, now);
-      const publishedAgeMs = ageMs(state.ingest.last_published_at, now);
-      if (matchingAgeMs != null && publishedAgeMs != null && publishedAgeMs > matchingAgeMs + 5_000) {
-        status = escalateHealth(status, 'critical');
-        reasons.push('quote publish path stalled');
-      }
+
+    if (highestAlertSeverity === 'critical') {
+      status = escalateHealth(status, 'critical');
+      reasons.push(`critical alert active (${activeAlerts[0]?.alert_code || 'runtime'})`);
+    } else if (highestAlertSeverity === 'warning') {
+      status = escalateHealth(status, 'warning');
+      reasons.push(`warning alert active (${activeAlerts[0]?.alert_code || 'runtime'})`);
     }
   }
 
+  if (service !== 'near-intents-ingest' && status === 'healthy') {
+    label = 'healthy';
+  }
+  if (service !== 'near-intents-ingest' && status === 'paused') {
+    label = 'paused';
+  }
+  if (service !== 'near-intents-ingest' && status === 'critical' && label === 'critical') {
+    label = 'critical';
+  }
+  if (service !== 'near-intents-ingest' && status === 'warning' && label === 'warning') {
+    label = 'warning';
+  }
+  if (service !== 'near-intents-ingest' && status === 'offline') {
+    label = 'offline';
+  }
+
   if (service === 'trade-executor' && state.relay?.connected === false) {
     status = escalateHealth(status, 'critical');
-    reasons.push('solver relay disconnected');
+    label = 'relay disconnected';
+    if (!reasons.includes('solver relay disconnected')) {
+      reasons.push('solver relay disconnected');
+    }
   }
 
   if (service === 'history-writer') {
     if (state.database_connectivity === false) {
       status = escalateHealth(status, 'critical');
+      label = 'database disconnected';
       reasons.push('database connectivity failed');
     } else if (freshnessAgeMs != null && freshnessAgeMs > 45_000) {
       status = escalateHealth(status, 'warning');
+      label = 'writer lagging';
       reasons.push('writer freshness degraded');
     }
   }
@@ -120,6 +141,7 @@ export function deriveServiceHealth({
   if (service === 'operator-dashboard') {
     if ((state.source_error_count || 0) > 0 || (health.source_error_count || 0) > 0) {
       status = escalateHealth(status, 'warning');
+      label = 'sources degraded';
       reasons.push('dashboard source degraded');
     }
   }
@@ -130,23 +152,96 @@ export function deriveServiceHealth({
     && hasCriticalTruthAlert(activeAlerts, activePair)
   ) {
     status = escalateHealth(status, 'critical');
+    if (label === 'healthy' || label === 'warning') {
+      label = 'armed on stale truth';
+    }
     reasons.push('armed while critical upstream truth is stale');
   }
 
   return {
     service,
     status,
+    label,
     reachable,
     paused,
     armed: state.armed ?? null,
     health_ok: status === 'healthy' || status === 'paused',
     highest_alert_severity: highestAlertSeverity,
-    reasons,
+    reasons: dedupeReasons(reasons),
     freshness_at: freshnessAt,
     freshness_age_ms: freshnessAgeMs,
   };
 }
 
+function classifyNearIntentsIngestHealth({
+  state,
+  health,
+  activeAlerts,
+  reachable,
+  now,
+}) {
+  const reasons = [];
+  const alertCodes = new Set((activeAlerts || []).map((alert) => alert.alert_code));
+  const connected = state.ingest?.connected ?? health.connected ?? null;
+  const matchingAgeMs = ageMs(state.ingest?.last_matching_quote_at, now);
+  const publishedAgeMs = ageMs(state.ingest?.last_published_at, now);
+
+  if (!reachable) {
+    return {
+      status: 'offline',
+      label: 'offline',
+      reasons: ['service unreachable'],
+    };
+  }
+
+  if (connected === false || alertCodes.has('near_intents_ingest_disconnected')) {
+    return {
+      status: 'critical',
+      label: 'disconnected',
+      reasons: ['websocket disconnected', 'critical alert active (near_intents_ingest_disconnected)'],
+    };
+  }
+
+  if (
+    alertCodes.has('near_intents_publish_stale')
+    || (
+      state.ingest?.last_matching_quote_at
+      && state.ingest?.last_published_at
+      && matchingAgeMs != null
+      && publishedAgeMs != null
+      && publishedAgeMs > matchingAgeMs + 5_000
+    )
+  ) {
+    return {
+      status: 'critical',
+      label: 'publish stalled',
+      reasons: ['quote publish path stalled', 'critical alert active (near_intents_publish_stale)'],
+    };
+  }
+
+  if (alertCodes.has('near_intents_quotes_stale') || health.reason === 'quote truth stale') {
+    reasons.push('connected, no recent quotes for active pair');
+    if (matchingAgeMs != null) {
+      reasons.push(`last matching quote ${matchingAgeMs}ms ago`);
+    }
+    return {
+      status: 'warning',
+      label: 'no recent quotes',
+      reasons,
+    };
+  }
+
+  return {
+    status: health.ok === false ? 'warning' : 'healthy',
+    label: connected === true ? 'healthy' : 'unknown',
+    reasons: health.ok === false ? [health.reason || 'service health degraded'] : [],
+  };
+}
+
+function dedupeReasons(reasons) {
+  return [...new Set((reasons || []).filter(Boolean))];
+}
+
 export function inferServiceFreshnessTimestamp(service, state = {}, health = {}) {
   switch (service) {
     case 'near-intents-ingest':
diff --git a/src/operator-dashboard/static/components/ServiceCard.jsx b/src/operator-dashboard/static/components/ServiceCard.jsx
index 9bd9bc9..93c9f07 100644
--- a/src/operator-dashboard/static/components/ServiceCard.jsx
+++ b/src/operator-dashboard/static/components/ServiceCard.jsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import Pill from './Pill.jsx';
 import { formatAge, formatBoolean } from '../lib/format.js';
 
 export default function ServiceCard({ service }) {
-  const healthLabel = service.health_status || (service.health_ok ? 'healthy' : service.reachable ? 'degraded' : 'offline');
+  const healthLabel = service.health_label || service.health_status || (service.health_ok ? 'healthy' : service.reachable ? 'degraded' : 'offline');
 
   return (
     <div className="service-card">
diff --git a/test/operator-dashboard.test.mjs b/test/operator-dashboard.test.mjs
index 632b380..01b6324 100644
--- a/test/operator-dashboard.test.mjs
+++ b/test/operator-dashboard.test.mjs
@@ -446,13 +446,14 @@ test('system service health uses sentinel-derived severity so stale ingest is ne
           recent_transitions: [],
           service_health: [{
             service: 'near-intents-ingest',
-            status: 'critical',
+            status: 'warning',
+            label: 'no recent quotes',
             reachable: true,
             paused: false,
             armed: null,
             health_ok: false,
             highest_alert_severity: 'critical',
-            reasons: ['critical alert active (near_intents_publish_stale)'],
+            reasons: ['connected, no recent quotes for active pair'],
             freshness_at: '2026-04-03T02:12:00.000Z',
             freshness_age_ms: 110_880_000,
           }],
@@ -463,11 +464,99 @@ test('system service health uses sentinel-derived severity so stale ingest is ne
 
   const ingest = bootstrap.system.service_health.find((service) => service.service === 'near-intents-ingest');
   assert.equal(ingest.health_ok, false);
-  assert.equal(ingest.health_status, 'critical');
-  assert.match(ingest.health_reasons.join(' '), /critical alert active/);
+  assert.equal(ingest.health_status, 'warning');
+  assert.equal(ingest.health_label, 'no recent quotes');
+  assert.match(ingest.health_reasons.join(' '), /connected, no recent quotes/);
   assert.equal(bootstrap.status_bar.highest_alert_severity, 'critical');
 });
 
+test('ingest disconnected still renders as a critical transport failure', () => {
+  const config = buildConfig();
+  const bootstrap = buildDashboardBootstrap({
+    config,
+    auth: {
+      authenticated: true,
+      subject: 'local-operator',
+      mode: 'stub',
+      roles: ['operator'],
+    },
+    portfolioMetric: null,
+    inventorySnapshot: null,
+    marketPrice: null,
+    recentQuotes: [],
+    successfulTrades: {
+      page: 1,
+      page_size: 20,
+      total: 0,
+      total_pages: 1,
+      items: [],
+    },
+    successfulTradeSummary: {
+      total: 0,
+      last_successful_trade_at: null,
+    },
+    fundingObservations: [],
+    recentTradeDecisions: [],
+    recentAlertTransitions: [],
+    serviceSnapshots: [
+      {
+        service: 'near-intents-ingest',
+        label: 'Intents Ingest',
+        base_url: 'http://near-intents-ingest',
+        reachable: true,
+        health: { ok: false, connected: false, reason: 'websocket disconnected' },
+        state: {
+          ingest: {
+            connected: false,
+            last_message_at: '2026-04-04T09:00:00.000Z',
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      {
+        service: 'ops-sentinel',
+        label: 'Ops Sentinel',
+        base_url: 'http://ops-sentinel',
+        reachable: true,
+        health: { ok: true },
+        state: {
+          active_alerts: [{
+            alert_code: 'near_intents_ingest_disconnected',
+            status: 'raised',
+            severity: 'critical',
+            reason: 'websocket disconnected',
+            service_scope: 'near-intents-ingest',
+            pair: config.activePair,
+            raised_at: '2026-04-04T09:30:00.000Z',
+            first_raised_at: '2026-04-04T09:30:00.000Z',
+            cleared_at: null,
+            last_evaluated_at: '2026-04-04T09:30:00.000Z',
+            details: {},
+          }],
+          recent_transitions: [],
+          service_health: [{
+            service: 'near-intents-ingest',
+            status: 'critical',
+            label: 'disconnected',
+            reachable: true,
+            paused: false,
+            armed: null,
+            health_ok: false,
+            highest_alert_severity: 'critical',
+            reasons: ['websocket disconnected', 'critical alert active (near_intents_ingest_disconnected)'],
+            freshness_at: '2026-04-04T09:00:00.000Z',
+            freshness_age_ms: 60_000,
+          }],
+        },
+      },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  const ingest = bootstrap.system.service_health.find((service) => service.service === 'near-intents-ingest');
+  assert.equal(ingest.health_status, 'critical');
+  assert.equal(ingest.health_label, 'disconnected');
+  assert.match(ingest.health_reasons.join(' '), /websocket disconnected/);
+});
+
 test('funding summary includes credited bridge deposits without observer-backed funding observations', () => {
   const config = buildConfig();
   const bootstrap = buildDashboardBootstrap({