diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/forge/repos.rs b/hive-c0re/src/forge/repos.rs
index 2778d070..4f0f8bd0 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/forge/repos.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/forge/repos.rs
@@ -274,8 +274,60 @@ pub async fn ensure_config_repo(name: &str) -> Result<()> {
         &token,
     )
     .await?;
-    // Protect `main` core-only, fast-forward-only (no auto force-push).
-    apply_config_repo_branch_protection(name, &token).await
+    // Protect `main` core-only, fast-forward-only (no auto force-push). A
+    // failure here is security-relevant (an unprotected config repo lets an
+    // operator-merged config PR bypass the deploy pipeline), so it's tracked
+    // on the dashboard banner in addition to the journal warning callers
+    // already log — see `record_branch_protection_result`.
+    let result = apply_config_repo_branch_protection(name, &token).await;
+    record_branch_protection_result(name, result.is_ok());
+    result
+}
+
+/// Dashboard-banner tracker for [`apply_config_repo_branch_protection`]
+/// failures. The registry ([`crate::warnings::set_warning`]) only takes
+/// `&'static str` kinds, so a dynamic per-agent key isn't possible — instead
+/// this keeps one static `crit` warning (`"branch_protection_missing"`) whose
+/// message lists every agent currently failing to protect, and clears it
+/// once the set is empty. Called on every `ensure_config_repo` pass (startup
+/// sweep + per-rebuild), so a fixed agent drops out of the message on its
+/// next successful sweep without requiring a restart.
+fn record_branch_protection_result(name: &str, ok: bool) {
+    use std::collections::BTreeSet;
+    use std::sync::{OnceLock, PoisonError};
+
+    use crate::warnings::{WarningGuard, set_warning};
+
+    static FAILING: OnceLock<Mutex<BTreeSet<String>>> = OnceLock::new();
+    static GUARD: OnceLock<Mutex<Option<WarningGuard>>> = OnceLock::new();
+
+    let mut failing = FAILING
+        .get_or_init(|| Mutex::new(BTreeSet::new()))
+        .lock()
+        .unwrap_or_else(PoisonError::into_inner);
+    if ok {
+        failing.remove(name);
+    } else {
+        failing.insert(name.to_owned());
+    }
+
+    let mut guard = GUARD
+        .get_or_init(|| Mutex::new(None))
+        .lock()
+        .unwrap_or_else(PoisonError::into_inner);
+    if failing.is_empty() {
+        *guard = None;
+        return;
+    }
+    let names = failing.iter().cloned().collect::<Vec<_>>().join(", ");
+    let message = format!(
+        "config-repo branch protection not applied for: {names} — \
+         operator-merged config PRs for these agents could bypass the deploy pipeline"
+    );
+    match guard.as_ref() {
+        Some(g) => g.update("crit", message),
+        None => *guard = Some(set_warning("branch_protection_missing", "crit", message)),
+    }
 }
 
 /// Ensure the `internal/docs` repo exists. Called once at startup
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/gateway_nginx.rs b/hive-c0re/src/gateway_nginx.rs
index 85b0432f..69fffa9e 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/gateway_nginx.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/gateway_nginx.rs
@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use std::fmt::Write as _;
 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, AtomicU64, Ordering};
+use std::sync::{Mutex, OnceLock};
 use std::time::{SystemTime, UNIX_EPOCH};
 
 use crate::priv_client;
+use crate::stats::sweep_health::SweepHealth;
 
 use crate::agent_sockets;
 
@@ -30,6 +32,15 @@ static LAST_FAILED_RELOAD: AtomicU64 = AtomicU64::new(0);
 /// Minimum gap between retry attempts after a reload failure (30 s).
 const RELOAD_RETRY_SECS: u64 = 30;
 
+/// Dashboard-banner health tracker for the reload sweep — raises a
+/// `gateway_nginx_reload` warning the first time a reload fails (routing is
+/// broken for whoever depends on the change *right now*, so no debounce
+/// window) and clears it the moment a reload succeeds again.
+fn health() -> &'static Mutex<SweepHealth> {
+    static HEALTH: OnceLock<Mutex<SweepHealth>> = OnceLock::new();
+    HEALTH.get_or_init(|| Mutex::new(SweepHealth::new("gateway_nginx_reload", "warn", 1)))
+}
+
 /// Nginx proxy headers present in every per-agent location block.
 /// `$connection_upgrade` is defined in the http context by the NixOS
 /// nginx module when `recommendedProxySettings = true` (which the
@@ -240,6 +251,9 @@ async fn reload_gateway_nginx() {
             tracing::debug!("gateway nginx sync succeeded");
             RELOAD_PENDING.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
             LAST_FAILED_RELOAD.store(0, Ordering::Relaxed);
+            if let Ok(mut h) = health().lock() {
+                h.record_ok();
+            }
         }
         Err(e) => {
             tracing::warn!(error = %e, "gateway nginx sync failed — will retry");
@@ -248,6 +262,20 @@ async fn reload_gateway_nginx() {
                 .unwrap_or_default()
                 .as_secs();
             LAST_FAILED_RELOAD.store(now, Ordering::Relaxed);
+            if let Ok(mut h) = health().lock() {
+                let err = format!("{e:#}");
+                h.record_err(|ctx| {
+                    let age = ctx.since_last_ok.map_or_else(
+                        || "no success this process".to_owned(),
+                        |d| format!("last ok {} ago", crate::stats::sweep_health::fmt_age(d)),
+                    );
+                    format!(
+                        "gateway nginx reload failing ({} consecutive, {age}) \
+                         — routing changes are not taking effect: {err}",
+                        ctx.consecutive
+                    )
+                });
+            }
         }
     }
 }