diff --git a/hive-forge/src/verbs/list.rs b/hive-forge/src/verbs/list.rs
index 44b3c95a..fa3547ce 100644
--- a/hive-forge/src/verbs/list.rs
+++ b/hive-forge/src/verbs/list.rs
@@ -173,8 +173,9 @@ pub fn run(client: &Client, args: Args) -> Result<()> {
         .page_size(u32::try_from(args.limit).unwrap_or(u32::MAX))
         .send()?;
     let count = issues.len() as u64;
-    let items = serde_json::to_value(issues)?;
+    let mut items = serde_json::to_value(issues)?;
     if client.json_mode() {
+        hoist_merge_state(&mut items);
         return print_json(&items);
     }
     for item in items.as_array().into_iter().flatten() {
@@ -256,6 +257,46 @@ fn trailer(total: Option<u64>, count: u64, page: u64, limit: u64) -> Option<Stri
 /// rather than a per-issue `show`. Defensive: missing fields drop to
 /// placeholders so a partial response from a future API change still
 /// produces readable output instead of panicking on `unwrap`.
+/// Copy a PR row's `merged` / `merged_at` from the nested `pull_request`
+/// object up to the top level of the row.
+///
+/// Forgejo's issue-list endpoint answers "was this merged?" only inside
+/// `pull_request`, while `state` says `closed` for a merged PR *and* one
+/// closed without merging. So the obvious top-level query — `.merged_at`,
+/// or `.state` — is null/ambiguous for **every** row, and with a `//`
+/// default it renders as a confident "nothing merged" that cannot ever be
+/// right. Hoisting makes the obvious query the correct one instead of
+/// leaving a trap only a nested path avoids.
+///
+/// Additive: the original `pull_request` object is left untouched, so a
+/// consumer already reading the nested path keeps working. Issue rows have
+/// no `pull_request` and pass through unchanged.
+///
+/// ⚠️ The head branch is deliberately NOT hoisted — this endpoint does not
+/// carry it at all. The row's `ref` is an **empty string**, not the branch,
+/// so there is nothing to lift; `pr show <n>` has `head_branch`.
+fn hoist_merge_state(items: &mut Value) {
+    let Some(rows) = items.as_array_mut() else {
+        return;
+    };
+    for row in rows {
+        let Some(pr) = row.get("pull_request") else {
+            continue;
+        };
+        let merged = pr.get("merged").cloned();
+        let merged_at = pr.get("merged_at").cloned();
+        let Some(obj) = row.as_object_mut() else {
+            continue;
+        };
+        if let Some(v) = merged {
+            obj.insert("merged".to_owned(), v);
+        }
+        if let Some(v) = merged_at {
+            obj.insert("merged_at".to_owned(), v);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 fn print_row(item: &Value, progress: Option<(usize, usize)>, blocking_open: usize) {
     let number = item.get("number").and_then(Value::as_u64).unwrap_or(0);
     let title = item.get("title").and_then(Value::as_str).unwrap_or("");
@@ -315,6 +356,56 @@ mod tests {
         serde_json::json!({ "number": 1, "title": "x", "state": state })
     }
 
+    /// A merged PR, a closed-but-unmerged PR and a plain issue in one
+    /// array — because telling the first two apart is the entire point,
+    /// and `state` cannot: it reads `closed` for both.
+    #[test]
+    fn hoisting_separates_merged_from_closed_unmerged_and_leaves_issues_alone() {
+        let mut items = serde_json::json!([
+            { "number": 1, "state": "closed",
+              "pull_request": { "merged": true, "merged_at": "2026-08-26T22:47:32+02:00" } },
+            { "number": 2, "state": "closed",
+              "pull_request": { "merged": false, "merged_at": null } },
+            { "number": 3, "state": "closed" },
+        ]);
+
+        // Control: before hoisting, a top-level query cannot tell 1 from 2.
+        assert!(items[0].get("merged").is_none(), "control: not hoisted yet");
+        assert_eq!(
+            items[0]["state"], items[1]["state"],
+            "control: `state` is identical"
+        );
+
+        hoist_merge_state(&mut items);
+
+        assert_eq!(items[0]["merged"], serde_json::json!(true), "merged PR");
+        assert_eq!(
+            items[1]["merged"],
+            serde_json::json!(false),
+            "closed unmerged"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            items[0]["merged_at"],
+            serde_json::json!("2026-08-26T22:47:32+02:00")
+        );
+        assert!(items[1]["merged_at"].is_null());
+        assert!(
+            items[2].get("merged").is_none(),
+            "an issue must not gain a `merged` field"
+        );
+        // Additive: the nested path an existing consumer reads still works.
+        assert_eq!(items[0]["pull_request"]["merged"], serde_json::json!(true));
+    }
+
+    /// Non-array input (an error object, say) must not panic or mangle.
+    #[test]
+    fn hoisting_a_non_array_is_a_no_op() {
+        let mut v = serde_json::json!({ "message": "not found" });
+        let before = v.clone();
+        hoist_merge_state(&mut v);
+        assert_eq!(v, before);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn dep_progress_none_when_no_dependencies() {
         assert_eq!(dep_progress(&[]), None);