diff --git a/docs/web-ui/dashboard.md b/docs/web-ui/dashboard.md
index 842e9e37..7cb7cb40 100644
--- a/docs/web-ui/dashboard.md
+++ b/docs/web-ui/dashboard.md
@@ -892,12 +892,22 @@ fetch entirely.
   **When the container is stopped** (`ContainerView.running = false`),
   the async `dashboard-state` fetch is skipped entirely (the agent
   web server is down), so the badge chain is replaced by a single
-  muted `■ not running` badge, the nav strip is empty, and status
-  text / rate-limited / ctx badges are suppressed. The agent icon
-  goes straight to the dimmed `/favicon.svg` fallback instead of
-  attempting a doomed load from the container's URL. Static fields
-  — `needs_update`, `deployed_sha`, `pending_reminders`, `parent`,
-  `config` link — remain visible regardless of run state.
+  badge, the nav strip is empty, and status text / rate-limited / ctx
+  badges are suppressed. The agent icon goes straight to the dimmed
+  `/favicon.svg` fallback instead of attempting a doomed load from the
+  container's URL. Static fields — `needs_update`, `deployed_sha`,
+  `pending_reminders`, `parent`, `config` link — remain visible
+  regardless of run state.
+  **Which single badge (hyperhive#3139):** `ContainerView.failed`
+  (systemd `ActiveState=failed` — the unit exhausted its bounded
+  restarts and gave up on its own) draws a red `✖ gave up` badge;
+  otherwise a plain muted `■ not running` — a container an operator
+  stopped deliberately. Both states read `running: false`; `failed` is
+  the orthogonal fact (a fifth one alongside `paused`/`needs_update`/
+  `needs_login`, same "independent flags, no state machine" shape —
+  see `ContainerView`'s own doc comment) that tells them apart. An
+  older backend without the field serves `failed: undefined`, which
+  reads falsy — degrades cleanly to the single `not running` badge.
   When the container is running, status badges follow — `⊘ rate
   limited` (red, while the harness is parked after a 429), `needs
   login`, `needs update` — plus **one `◐ pending-state…` pill per
diff --git a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/swarm.js b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/swarm.js
index 7e70bcbc..8fad62d8 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/swarm.js
+++ b/frontend/packages/dashboard/src/swarm.js
@@ -302,6 +302,7 @@ function containerRowFingerprint(c, node, pending, opRunning, selected,
   askerCount, targetCount, gatewayLinks, hostname) {
   return JSON.stringify({
     running: c.running,
+    failed: c.failed,
     paused: c.paused,
     needs_login: c.needs_login,
     needs_update: c.needs_update,
@@ -495,10 +496,15 @@ function buildContainerLi(c, node, opts) {
   }
   // Status / runtime badges. Pending transients always win
   // (start / stop / restart / rebuild is in progress). Otherwise,
-  // when the container is stopped, surface a single `■ not running`
-  // badge. `needs_login` is still c0re-owned (reads auth sentinel
-  // files on the host). rate_limited / ctx / status_text are
-  // agent-owned and rendered by the async dashboard-state fetch above.
+  // when the container is stopped, surface a single badge — `✖ gave
+  // up` (red) when systemd's restart bound was hit (`c.failed`), else
+  // the plain muted `■ not running`. Both read `running: false`;
+  // `failed` is what tells "gave up" apart from "stopped on purpose"
+  // (an absent `failed` — an older backend — is `undefined`, falsy,
+  // so this degrades to the old single badge). `needs_login` is still
+  // c0re-owned (reads auth sentinel files on the host). rate_limited /
+  // ctx / status_text are agent-owned and rendered by the async
+  // dashboard-state fetch above.
   if (pending.length) {
     // One badge per pill — an agent can carry several transients at
     // once now (see docs/web-ui.md::Container row), each rendered
@@ -507,6 +513,14 @@ function buildContainerLi(c, node, opts) {
       head.append(el('span', { class: 'pending-state' },
         el('span', { class: 'spinner' }, '◐'), ' ', label + '…'));
     }
+  } else if (!c.running && c.failed) {
+    head.append(el('span',
+      {
+        class: 'badge badge-fail',
+        title: 'container gave up — its unit hit systemd\'s bounded restart limit and stopped '
+          + 'on its own, not on operator request; start it to bring the harness back up',
+      },
+      '✖ gave up'));
   } else if (!c.running) {
     head.append(el('span',
       { class: 'badge badge-muted', title: 'container is shut down — start it to bring the harness back up' },