diff --git a/scripts/src/debug.ts b/scripts/src/debug.ts
index f5900b79..4e12cb2d 100644
--- a/scripts/src/debug.ts
+++ b/scripts/src/debug.ts
@@ -142,6 +142,85 @@ function stringValue(value: unknown): string | null {
   return typeof value === "string" ? value : null;
 }
 
+function numberValue(value: unknown): number | null {
+  const parsed = Number(value);
+  return Number.isFinite(parsed) ? parsed : null;
+}
+
+function rounded(value: number | null): number | null {
+  return value === null ? null : Math.round(value * 100) / 100;
+}
+
+function providerHostPressureSummary(providerId: string): unknown {
+  const response = coreInternalFetch("/api/nodes/system-status?limit=24");
+  const body = recordValue(recordValue(response).body);
+  const systemStatuses = arrayValue(body.systemStatuses);
+  const item = systemStatuses
+    .map((entry) => recordValue(entry))
+    .find((entry) => entry.providerId === providerId) ?? null;
+  if (item === null) {
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      degradedReason: "system-status-not-found",
+      systemStatusFetch: response,
+    };
+  }
+  const current = recordValue(item.current);
+  if (Object.keys(current).length === 0) {
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      providerId,
+      degradedReason: "system-status-current-missing",
+      updatedAt: item.updatedAt ?? null,
+      nodeStatus: item.nodeStatus ?? null,
+      classification: "host-pressure-snapshot-unavailable",
+    };
+  }
+  const cpu = recordValue(current.cpu);
+  const memory = recordValue(current.memory);
+  const disk = recordValue(current.disk);
+  const cores = numberValue(cpu.cores);
+  const load1 = numberValue(cpu.load1);
+  const load5 = numberValue(cpu.load5);
+  const load15 = numberValue(cpu.load15);
+  const load1PerCore = cores !== null && cores > 0 && load1 !== null ? load1 / cores : null;
+  const memoryPercent = numberValue(memory.percent);
+  const memoryAvailableBytes = numberValue(memory.availableBytes);
+  const swapTotalBytes = numberValue(memory.swapTotalBytes);
+  const diskPercent = numberValue(disk.percent);
+  const signals: string[] = [];
+  if (load1PerCore !== null && load1PerCore >= 4) signals.push("load1-per-core>=4");
+  if (memoryPercent !== null && memoryPercent >= 90) signals.push("memory-percent>=90");
+  if (memoryAvailableBytes !== null && memoryAvailableBytes < 512 * 1024 * 1024) signals.push("memory-available<512MiB");
+  if (swapTotalBytes === 0) signals.push("swap-disabled");
+  if (diskPercent !== null && diskPercent >= 90) signals.push("disk-percent>=90");
+  return {
+    ok: current.ok ?? null,
+    providerId,
+    updatedAt: item.updatedAt ?? null,
+    collectedAt: current.collectedAt ?? null,
+    cpu: {
+      cores,
+      load1,
+      load5,
+      load15,
+      load1PerCore: rounded(load1PerCore),
+    },
+    memory: {
+      percent: memoryPercent,
+      availableBytes: memoryAvailableBytes,
+      swapTotalBytes,
+    },
+    disk: {
+      percent: diskPercent,
+      availableBytes: numberValue(disk.availableBytes),
+      mount: disk.mount ?? null,
+    },
+    signals,
+    classification: signals.length > 0 ? "host-pressure-signals-present" : "host-pressure-signals-not-observed",
+  };
+}
+
 export async function debugSshPool(_config: UniDeskConfig, providerId: string): Promise<unknown> {
   const nodesResponse = await coreInternalFetch("/api/nodes");
   const body = recordValue(recordValue(nodesResponse).body);
@@ -185,6 +264,7 @@ export async function debugSshPool(_config: UniDeskConfig, providerId: string):
       updatedAt: node.updatedAt ?? null,
     },
     pool,
+    hostPressure: providerHostPressureSummary(providerId),
     classification: ok
       ? "ssh-tcp-pool-ready"
       : pool.transport !== "tcp-pool"
@@ -195,7 +275,9 @@ export async function debugSshPool(_config: UniDeskConfig, providerId: string):
     next: {
       smoke: `trans ${providerId} argv true`,
       fullHealth: "bun scripts/cli.ts debug health",
+      gcDegradedSnapshot: `bun scripts/cli.ts gc remote ${providerId} snapshot --no-save`,
     },
+    note: "Pool labels are provider-reported channel state; use the smoke command or gc degraded output to verify execution path.",
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/src/gc-remote.ts b/scripts/src/gc-remote.ts
index 60ab8f90..672689a4 100644
--- a/scripts/src/gc-remote.ts
+++ b/scripts/src/gc-remote.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { Buffer } from "node:buffer";
 import { existsSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 
 import { type UniDeskConfig, rootPath } from "./config";
-import { runSshCommandCapture } from "./ssh";
+import { classifySshTcpPoolFailure, runSshCommandCapture, type SshCaptureResult } from "./ssh";
 
 type RemoteGcAction = "plan" | "snapshot" | "trend" | "run" | "status" | "policy-plan" | "policy-install";
 
@@ -254,14 +254,22 @@ async function runRemoteGc(config: UniDeskConfig, providerId: string, action: Re
   const scriptConfig = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify({ providerId, action, options, remoteTarget }), "utf8").toString("base64");
   const result = await runSshCommandCapture(config, providerId, ["py"], remoteGcPython(scriptConfig));
   if (result.exitCode !== 0) {
+    const degraded = remoteGcDegradedFailure(providerId, action, result);
     return {
       ok: false,
       error: "gc-remote-command-failed",
       providerId,
       action: `gc remote ${action}`,
       exitCode: result.exitCode,
+      degradedReason: degraded.degradedReason,
+      transport: degraded.transport,
+      safeCandidateCount: null,
+      runAllowed: false,
+      mutation: false,
+      degraded,
       stdoutTail: result.stdout.slice(-4000),
       stderrTail: result.stderr.slice(-4000),
+      next: degraded.next,
     };
   }
   try {
@@ -279,6 +287,43 @@ async function runRemoteGc(config: UniDeskConfig, providerId: string, action: Re
   }
 }
 
+function remoteGcDegradedFailure(providerId: string, action: RemoteGcAction, result: SshCaptureResult): Record<string, unknown> {
+  const text = `${result.stderr}\n${result.stdout}`;
+  const failureKind = classifySshTcpPoolFailure(text);
+  const timeout = result.exitCode === 124 || text.includes("ssh-runtime-timeout");
+  const providerOffline = text.includes(`provider is not online: ${providerId}`) || text.includes("provider is not online");
+  const degradedReason = failureKind ?? (providerOffline ? "provider-offline" : timeout ? "ssh-runtime-timeout" : "remote-command-failed");
+  return {
+    ok: false,
+    degraded: true,
+    providerId,
+    action: `gc remote ${action}`,
+    degradedReason,
+    transport: {
+      sshTcpPoolFailureKind: failureKind,
+      providerOffline,
+      sshRuntimeTimeout: timeout,
+      exitCode: result.exitCode,
+    },
+    safeCandidateCount: null,
+    runAllowed: false,
+    mutation: false,
+    summary: failureKind !== null
+      ? `remote GC could not acquire a provider data channel: ${failureKind}`
+      : providerOffline
+        ? `provider ${providerId} is offline from the controlled CLI transport view`
+      : timeout
+        ? "remote GC did not complete before the SSH runtime timeout"
+        : "remote GC command failed before producing a valid plan",
+    next: {
+      sshPool: `bun scripts/cli.ts debug ssh-pool ${providerId}`,
+      fullHealth: "bun scripts/cli.ts debug health",
+      smoke: `trans ${providerId} argv true`,
+      retryPlan: `bun scripts/cli.ts gc remote ${providerId} plan --no-snapshot-save`,
+    },
+  };
+}
+
 function remoteGcPython(configBase64: string): string {
   return String.raw`
 import base64