diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/socket_server/lifecycle_handlers.rs b/hive-c0re/src/socket_server/lifecycle_handlers.rs
index 29182a69..92a9312f 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/socket_server/lifecycle_handlers.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/socket_server/lifecycle_handlers.rs
@@ -158,23 +158,8 @@ pub(super) fn handle_update(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, agent: &str, name: &str) -
 
 /// `ListDescendants` — every topological descendant of `agent` with
 /// its running/stopped state, parents before children.
-pub(super) async fn handle_list_descendants(agent: &str) -> Response {
+pub(super) async fn handle_list_descendants(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, agent: &str) -> Response {
     tracing::debug!(%agent, "agent: list descendants");
-    // All containers known to nixos-container (running only).
-    let running_set: std::collections::HashSet<String> = match crate::lifecycle::list().await {
-        Ok(names) => names
-            .into_iter()
-            .filter_map(|c| {
-                c.strip_prefix(crate::lifecycle::AGENT_PREFIX)
-                    .map(str::to_owned)
-            })
-            .collect(),
-        Err(e) => {
-            return Response::Err {
-                message: format!("list containers failed: {e:#}"),
-            };
-        }
-    };
     // Walk the full topology and collect every descendant.
     let topo = crate::topology::read();
     let mut names: Vec<String> = topo
@@ -184,10 +169,27 @@ pub(super) async fn handle_list_descendants(agent: &str) -> Response {
         .collect();
     // Parents before children, then alpha within each tier.
     crate::auto_update::topology_sort(&mut names, &topo);
+    // Read from the coordinator's cached container snapshot instead of
+    // live-querying each container's systemd unit state — the same
+    // `containers_snapshot()` the dashboard's `/api/state` cold-load path
+    // already uses, kept fresh by `rescan_containers_and_emit()` on every
+    // mutation plus the crash-watcher's periodic poll. Avoids N
+    // `systemctl is-active` subprocess spawns per `list_containers` call;
+    // per mara, daemons should do the expensive work themselves and serve
+    // clients a cheap cached read.
+    let snapshot = coord.containers_snapshot().await;
+    let running_by_name: std::collections::HashMap<&str, bool> = snapshot
+        .iter()
+        .map(|v| (v.name.as_str(), v.running))
+        .collect();
     let containers = names
         .into_iter()
         .map(|name| {
-            let running = running_set.contains(&name);
+            // A descendant absent from the snapshot (not yet scanned since
+            // its own registration, e.g. mid-spawn) reads as not running
+            // rather than erroring — matches the old membership-check's
+            // default-false behavior for an unknown name.
+            let running = running_by_name.get(name.as_str()).copied().unwrap_or(false);
             hive_sh4re::ContainerInfo { name, running }
         })
         .collect();
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/socket_server/mod.rs b/hive-c0re/src/socket_server/mod.rs
index e9cfc3d0..c2f65173 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/socket_server/mod.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/socket_server/mod.rs
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ async fn dispatch(req: &Request, agent: &str, coord: &Arc<Coordinator>) -> Respo
         Request::Restart { name } => handle_restart(coord, agent, name).await,
         Request::Kill { name } => handle_kill(coord, agent, name).await,
         Request::Update { name } => handle_update(coord, agent, name),
-        Request::ListDescendants => handle_list_descendants(agent).await,
+        Request::ListDescendants => handle_list_descendants(coord, agent).await,
         Request::RequestInitConfig { name, description } => {
             handle_request_init_config(coord, agent, name, description.clone())
         }