diff --git a/decnet/cli/lifecycle.py b/decnet/cli/lifecycle.py
index 0661729a..76f26d34 100644
--- a/decnet/cli/lifecycle.py
+++ b/decnet/cli/lifecycle.py
@@ -55,15 +55,65 @@ def register(app: typer.Typer) -> None:
 
     @app.command()
     def status() -> None:
-        """Show running deckies and their status."""
+        """Show running deckies and the state of every ``decnet-*`` unit.
+
+        Prefers systemd (``systemctl list-units 'decnet-*.service'``) so
+        agents, masters and mixed hosts all get one consistent view of
+        what's installed, loaded, and active. Falls back to the psutil
+        cmdline registry on boxes without systemd (dev laptops, CI
+        containers, non-systemd init) so `decnet status` is still useful
+        there.
+        """
         log.info("status command invoked")
         from decnet.engine import status as _status
         _status()
 
+        units = _utils._systemd_units()
+        if units is not None:
+            _render_systemd_units(units)
+        else:
+            _render_psutil_fallback()
+
+    def _render_systemd_units(units: list[dict]) -> None:
+        svc_table = Table(title="DECNET Services (systemd)", show_lines=True)
+        svc_table.add_column("Unit", style="bold cyan")
+        svc_table.add_column("Load")
+        svc_table.add_column("Active")
+        svc_table.add_column("Sub")
+        svc_table.add_column("Description", style="dim")
+
+        if not units:
+            console.print(
+                "[yellow]No decnet-* systemd units loaded. "
+                "Run `sudo decnet init` to install them.[/]"
+            )
+            return
+
+        def _active_style(active: str) -> str:
+            if active == "active":
+                return "[green]active[/]"
+            if active == "failed":
+                return "[red]failed[/]"
+            return f"[yellow]{active}[/]"
+
+        for u in sorted(units, key=lambda x: x.get("unit", "")):
+            svc_table.add_row(
+                u.get("unit", ""),
+                u.get("load", ""),
+                _active_style(u.get("active", "")),
+                u.get("sub", ""),
+                u.get("description", ""),
+            )
+        console.print(svc_table)
+
+    def _render_psutil_fallback() -> None:
         registry = _utils._service_registry(str(DECNET_INGEST_LOG_FILE))
         if _agent_mode_active():
             registry = [r for r in registry if r[0] not in {"Mutator", "Profiler", "API"}]
-        svc_table = Table(title="DECNET Services", show_lines=True)
+        svc_table = Table(
+            title="DECNET Services (psutil fallback — systemd unavailable)",
+            show_lines=True,
+        )
         svc_table.add_column("Service", style="bold cyan")
         svc_table.add_column("Status")
         svc_table.add_column("PID", style="dim")
diff --git a/decnet/cli/utils.py b/decnet/cli/utils.py
index 19541738..c1dbf6fa 100644
--- a/decnet/cli/utils.py
+++ b/decnet/cli/utils.py
@@ -134,6 +134,46 @@ def _service_registry(log_file: str) -> list[tuple[str, callable, list[str]]]:
     ]
 
 
+def _systemd_units(pattern: str = "decnet-*.service") -> list[dict] | None:
+    """Return state of every systemd unit matching *pattern*, or ``None``
+    when systemctl is unavailable (non-systemd host, container lab,
+    PATH-stripped env, user-manager unreachable).
+
+    Output shape mirrors ``systemctl list-units --output=json``: each
+    dict has ``unit``, ``load``, ``active``, ``sub``, ``description``.
+    Empty list = systemd works but no matching units are loaded (fresh
+    host that never ran ``decnet init``).
+    """
+    import json  # local import — avoids paying it on every CLI startup
+    import shutil
+
+    if not shutil.which("systemctl"):
+        return None
+    try:
+        proc = subprocess.run(  # nosec B603 B607 — fixed argv, no shell
+            [
+                "systemctl", "list-units",
+                "--type=service", "--all",
+                "--no-legend", "--no-pager",
+                "--output=json",
+                pattern,
+            ],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            timeout=5,
+            check=False,
+        )
+    except (OSError, subprocess.SubprocessError):
+        return None
+    if proc.returncode != 0:
+        return None
+    try:
+        data = json.loads(proc.stdout or "[]")
+    except json.JSONDecodeError:
+        return None
+    return data if isinstance(data, list) else None
+
+
 def _kill_all_services() -> None:
     """Find and kill all running DECNET microservice processes."""
     registry = _service_registry(str(DECNET_INGEST_LOG_FILE))