diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index 6d11237fe8..92c37c0657 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -5083,6 +5083,7 @@ _LAZY_COMMAND_EXPORTS = {
         "_format_concurrent_instances_message",
         "_format_time_ago",
         "_gateway_service_matches_profile",
+        "_gateway_recovery_partition",
         "_gateway_restart_recovery_profiles",
         "_handoff_reapable_backend_pids",
         "_ledger_reapable_backend_pids",
diff --git a/hermes_cli/update_cmd.py b/hermes_cli/update_cmd.py
index 3813467479..7b5b70b404 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/update_cmd.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/update_cmd.py
@@ -5615,36 +5615,89 @@ def _gateway_service_matches_profile(profile: str, service: object) -> bool:
     }
 
 
-def _gateway_restart_recovery_profiles(
+def _gateway_recovery_partition(
     plan, *, skip_profiles: set[str] | None = None
-) -> list[str]:
-    """Return supervised gateway profiles that a fresh process may restart.
+) -> tuple[dict[str, str], list[dict]]:
+    """Partition pre-update runtimes into fresh-restart candidates and skips.
 
     The update inventory is captured before the checkout changes.  It is the
     only safe source here: re-importing ``hermes_cli.gateway`` in the failing
-    interpreter is exactly what can raise the original ``ImportError``. Manual
-    gateways are intentionally excluded because no supervisor is available to
-    bring them back after a stop.
+    interpreter is exactly what can raise the original ``ImportError``.
+
+    Returns ``(candidates, skipped)`` where ``candidates`` maps profile →
+    supervisor for supervised gateway runtimes the fresh process may restart,
+    and ``skipped`` lists every other inventoried runtime the recovery pass
+    deliberately does NOT touch, each with an explicit reason.  Nothing from
+    the spawn ledger may vanish from the recovery pass silently: manual
+    gateways have no relaunch authority, and serve/dashboard runtimes (the
+    ``update_inventory`` serve collector) are owned by the Desktop app or a
+    human terminal, not by this recovery boundary.
     """
-    profiles: set[str] = set()
     skip_profiles = skip_profiles or set()
+    candidates: dict[str, str] = {}
+    skipped: list[dict] = []
     try:
         for runtime in getattr(plan, "runtimes", ()) or ():
-            if (
-                getattr(runtime, "kind", None) == "gateway"
-                and getattr(runtime, "supervisor", None) in _FRESH_RESTART_SUPERVISORS
-            ):
-                profile = getattr(runtime, "profile", None)
-                if isinstance(profile, str) and profile and profile not in skip_profiles:
-                    profiles.add(profile)
+            kind = getattr(runtime, "kind", None)
+            profile = getattr(runtime, "profile", None)
+            supervisor = getattr(runtime, "supervisor", None)
+            if not isinstance(profile, str) or not profile:
+                continue
+            if kind == "gateway":
+                if profile in skip_profiles:
+                    continue
+                if supervisor in _FRESH_RESTART_SUPERVISORS:
+                    candidates.setdefault(profile, str(supervisor))
+                else:
+                    skipped.append(
+                        {
+                            "profile": profile,
+                            "kind": "gateway",
+                            "supervisor": str(supervisor),
+                            "reason": (
+                                "manual gateway has no supervisor relaunch"
+                                " authority; left running for explicit operator"
+                                " restart"
+                            ),
+                        }
+                    )
+            elif kind in ("serve", "dashboard"):
+                if supervisor == "desktop":
+                    reason = (
+                        "desktop app owns and respawns this serve backend;"
+                        " the recovery pass must not restart it out from under"
+                        " its supervisor"
+                    )
+                else:
+                    reason = (
+                        "manually launched serve/dashboard has no relaunch"
+                        " authority; left running for explicit operator"
+                        " restart"
+                    )
+                skipped.append(
+                    {
+                        "profile": profile,
+                        "kind": str(kind),
+                        "supervisor": str(supervisor),
+                        "reason": reason,
+                    }
+                )
     except Exception as exc:
         logger.debug("Could not prepare fresh gateway restart profiles: %s", exc)
-    return sorted(profiles)
+    return candidates, skipped
+
+
+def _gateway_restart_recovery_profiles(
+    plan, *, skip_profiles: set[str] | None = None
+) -> list[str]:
+    """Return supervised gateway profiles that a fresh process may restart."""
+    candidates, _ = _gateway_recovery_partition(plan, skip_profiles=skip_profiles)
+    return sorted(candidates)
 
 
 def _recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(
     plan, *, gateway_mode: bool, skip_profiles: set[str] | None = None
-) -> dict[str, list[str]]:
+) -> dict[str, list]:
     """Retry supervised gateway restarts from a clean Python process.
 
     ``hermes update`` normally performs the fleet restart in the interpreter
@@ -5658,12 +5711,38 @@ def _recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(
     Only profiles classified as supervisor-owned by the pre-update inventory
     are handed off.  A manual gateway must remain running and be reported for
     explicit operator action rather than being killed without a relaunch
-    authority.  The returned protocol is persisted in the update receipt so
-    operators can distinguish a spawn failure from a per-profile failure.
+    authority; serve/dashboard runtimes from the spawn ledger are likewise
+    recorded as skipped with a reason instead of vanishing from the pass.
+    The returned protocol is persisted in the update receipt so operators can
+    distinguish a spawn failure from a per-profile failure.
+
+    Outcome honesty: ``verified`` means the fresh child independently observed
+    the profile's systemd unit active after the relaunch.  A zero exit from
+    ``gateway restart`` alone is NOT observed proof that the new code
+    generation is serving, so those outcomes are reported as
+    ``relaunch_attempted`` and never claim supervisor coverage.
     """
-    profiles = _gateway_restart_recovery_profiles(plan, skip_profiles=skip_profiles)
+    candidates, skipped = _gateway_recovery_partition(
+        plan, skip_profiles=skip_profiles
+    )
+    profiles = sorted(candidates)
     if not profiles:
-        return {"requested": [], "succeeded": [], "failed": []}
+        return {
+            "requested": [],
+            "verified": [],
+            "relaunch_attempted": [],
+            "failed": [],
+            "skipped": skipped,
+        }
+
+    def _all_failed() -> dict[str, list]:
+        return {
+            "requested": profiles,
+            "verified": [],
+            "relaunch_attempted": [],
+            "failed": profiles,
+            "skipped": skipped,
+        }
 
     command = [
         sys.executable,
@@ -5685,7 +5764,7 @@ def _recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(
         systemd_run = shutil.which("systemd-run")
         if not systemd_run:
             logger.warning("Cannot isolate fresh gateway recovery from the gateway cgroup")
-            return {"requested": profiles, "succeeded": [], "failed": profiles}
+            return _all_failed()
         command = [
             systemd_run,
             "--user",
@@ -5697,7 +5776,7 @@ def _recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(
         ]
 
     kwargs = {
-        "input": json.dumps({"profiles": profiles}),
+        "input": json.dumps({"profiles": profiles, "supervisors": candidates}),
         "capture_output": True,
         "text": True,
         "encoding": "utf-8",
@@ -5718,39 +5797,52 @@ def _recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(
         result = subprocess.run(command, **kwargs)
     except (OSError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired) as exc:
         logger.warning("Fresh gateway restart recovery failed: %s", exc)
-        return {"requested": profiles, "succeeded": [], "failed": profiles}
+        return _all_failed()
 
     if result.returncode != 0:
         logger.warning("Fresh gateway restart recovery exited %s", result.returncode)
-        return {"requested": profiles, "succeeded": [], "failed": profiles}
+        return _all_failed()
 
     try:
         recovery_result = json.loads(result.stdout or "")
-        succeeded = recovery_result.get("succeeded")
+        verified = recovery_result.get("verified")
+        relaunch_attempted = recovery_result.get("relaunch_attempted")
         failed = recovery_result.get("failed")
     except (AttributeError, TypeError, ValueError):
         logger.warning("Fresh gateway restart recovery returned invalid JSON")
-        return {"requested": profiles, "succeeded": [], "failed": profiles}
+        return _all_failed()
 
+    buckets = (verified, relaunch_attempted, failed)
+    reported: list[str] = []
+    if all(isinstance(bucket, list) for bucket in buckets):
+        reported = [*verified, *relaunch_attempted, *failed]
     if (
-        not isinstance(succeeded, list)
-        or not isinstance(failed, list)
-        or any(not isinstance(profile, str) for profile in [*succeeded, *failed])
-        or set(succeeded) != set(profiles)
-        or failed
+        not all(isinstance(bucket, list) for bucket in buckets)
+        or any(not isinstance(profile, str) for profile in reported)
+        or set(reported) != set(profiles)
+        or len(reported) != len(set(reported))
     ):
         logger.warning("Fresh gateway restart recovery returned incomplete profiles")
-        return {
-            "requested": profiles,
-            "succeeded": succeeded if isinstance(succeeded, list) else [],
-            "failed": failed if isinstance(failed, list) else profiles,
-        }
+        return _all_failed()
 
-    print(
-        "  ✓ Retried supervised gateway restart(s) in a fresh process: "
-        + ", ".join(profiles)
-    )
-    return {"requested": profiles, "succeeded": succeeded, "failed": []}
+    if verified:
+        print(
+            "  ✓ Restarted supervised gateway(s) in a fresh process"
+            " (systemd-verified active): " + ", ".join(sorted(verified))
+        )
+    if relaunch_attempted:
+        print(
+            "  ⚠ Relaunch attempted in a fresh process but not"
+            " supervisor-verified (check these gateways manually): "
+            + ", ".join(sorted(relaunch_attempted))
+        )
+    return {
+        "requested": profiles,
+        "verified": sorted(verified),
+        "relaunch_attempted": sorted(relaunch_attempted),
+        "failed": sorted(failed),
+        "skipped": skipped,
+    }
 
 
 def _warn_gateway_restart_phase_aborted(exc: BaseException, pids) -> None:
@@ -8802,16 +8894,14 @@ def _cmd_update_impl(args, gateway_mode: bool):
                 gateway_mode=gateway_mode,
                 skip_profiles=_already_restarted_profiles,
             )
-            _recovery_profiles = list(_recovery_result.get("requested") or [])
-            _recovery_succeeded = set(_recovery_result.get("succeeded") or [])
-            _recovered = not _recovery_profiles or (
-                _recovery_succeeded == set(_recovery_profiles)
-                and not _recovery_result.get("failed")
-            )
-            if _recovery_succeeded:
+            # Only systemd-VERIFIED outcomes may claim supervisor coverage.
+            # A relaunch that merely exited 0 ("relaunch_attempted") was never
+            # observed by the code and must not clear the incomplete flag.
+            _recovery_verified = set(_recovery_result.get("verified") or [])
+            if _recovery_verified:
                 relaunched_profiles.extend(
                     profile
-                    for profile in sorted(_recovery_succeeded)
+                    for profile in sorted(_recovery_verified)
                     if profile not in relaunched_profiles
                 )
             _planned_gateway_runtimes = [
@@ -8823,18 +8913,13 @@ def _cmd_update_impl(args, gateway_mode: bool):
             _planned_gateway_profiles = {
                 runtime.profile for runtime in _planned_gateway_runtimes
             }
-            _covered_gateway_profiles = _already_restarted_profiles | set(
-                _recovery_succeeded
-            )
-            _all_gateway_profiles_are_safe_to_recover = all(
-                runtime.profile in _already_restarted_profiles
-                or getattr(runtime, "supervisor", None) in _FRESH_RESTART_SUPERVISORS
-                for runtime in _planned_gateway_runtimes
+            _covered_gateway_profiles = (
+                _already_restarted_profiles | _recovery_verified
             )
             _recovery_complete = bool(_planned_gateway_profiles) and (
                 _planned_gateway_profiles <= _covered_gateway_profiles
-                and _all_gateway_profiles_are_safe_to_recover
-                and (not _recovery_profiles or _recovered)
+                and not _recovery_result.get("failed")
+                and not _recovery_result.get("relaunch_attempted")
             )
             if _recovery_complete:
                 # The fresh child is the recovery terminal result. Leave the
diff --git a/hermes_cli/update_receipt.py b/hermes_cli/update_receipt.py
index 7de7c95f74..f3df91da40 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/update_receipt.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/update_receipt.py
@@ -113,17 +113,26 @@ class UpdateReceipt:
             "phase_error": phase_error,
         }
         if fresh_recovery is not None:
-            result["fresh_recovery"] = {
-                "requested": [
-                    str(profile) for profile in fresh_recovery.get("requested", [])
-                ],
-                "succeeded": [
-                    str(profile) for profile in fresh_recovery.get("succeeded", [])
-                ],
-                "failed": [
-                    str(profile) for profile in fresh_recovery.get("failed", [])
-                ],
+            # Conservative outcome vocabulary: "verified" is the only bucket
+            # allowed to claim supervisor coverage; "relaunch_attempted" means
+            # the relaunch exited 0 without independent supervisor
+            # observation. "skipped" preserves runtimes (manual gateways,
+            # serve/dashboard entries) the pass deliberately did not touch.
+            persisted: dict[str, Any] = {
+                key: [str(profile) for profile in fresh_recovery.get(key, [])]
+                for key in ("requested", "verified", "relaunch_attempted", "failed")
             }
+            persisted["skipped"] = [
+                {
+                    "profile": str(entry.get("profile", "")),
+                    "kind": str(entry.get("kind", "")),
+                    "supervisor": str(entry.get("supervisor", "")),
+                    "reason": str(entry.get("reason", "")),
+                }
+                for entry in fresh_recovery.get("skipped", [])
+                if isinstance(entry, dict)
+            ]
+            result["fresh_recovery"] = persisted
         self.data["gateway_restart"] = result
 
     def finalize(self, outcome: str) -> None:
diff --git a/hermes_cli/update_restart_recovery.py b/hermes_cli/update_restart_recovery.py
index 560b1bf815..6124bfd441 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/update_restart_recovery.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/update_restart_recovery.py
@@ -6,6 +6,19 @@ itself and launches the regular per-profile gateway command in a new
 interpreter.  It is used only after the in-process restart phase has raised, so
 that the recovery path cannot inherit the stale ``sys.modules`` graph that
 caused the failure.
+
+Outcome vocabulary (deliberately conservative):
+
+- ``verified``          — the relaunch command exited 0 AND the profile's
+  systemd unit was independently observed ``active`` afterwards.  This is the
+  only outcome that may claim supervisor coverage.
+- ``relaunch_attempted`` — the relaunch command exited 0 but no independent
+  supervisor observation was possible (non-systemd supervisor, ``systemctl``
+  missing, or the unit probe was inconclusive).  ``rc == 0`` from
+  ``gateway restart`` is not proof that the new code generation is running,
+  so this outcome must never be treated as verified coverage.
+- ``failed``            — the relaunch command errored, timed out, or exited
+  non-zero.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -14,15 +27,18 @@ import argparse
 import json
 import os
 import re
+import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
-from collections.abc import Callable, Iterable
+from collections.abc import Callable, Iterable, Mapping
 from typing import Any
 
 _RECOVERY_ENV = "HERMES_UPDATE_RESTART_RECOVERY"
 _GATEWAY_MARKERS = ("_HERMES_GATEWAY", "HERMES_GATEWAY", "HERMES_GATEWAY_MODE")
 _PROFILE_RESTART_TIMEOUT = 90
+_VERIFY_TIMEOUT = 15
 _PROFILE_ID_RE = re.compile(r"^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9_-]{0,63}$")
+_SUPERVISOR_RE = re.compile(r"^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9_-]{0,31}$")
 
 
 def _profile_command(profile: str) -> list[str]:
@@ -78,8 +94,57 @@ def _run_profile_restart(
     return getattr(result, "returncode", 1) == 0
 
 
+def _systemd_unit_candidates(profile: str) -> tuple[str, ...]:
+    """Unit names the existing systemd gateway lifecycle produces per profile."""
+    if profile == "default":
+        return (
+            "hermes-gateway.service",
+            "gateway.service",
+            "gateway-default.service",
+        )
+    return (
+        f"hermes-gateway-{profile}.service",
+        f"gateway-{profile}.service",
+    )
+
+
+def _systemd_verified_active(profile: str, *, run: Callable[..., Any]) -> bool:
+    """Return True only when systemd itself reports the profile's unit active.
+
+    This is the observation that separates ``verified`` from
+    ``relaunch_attempted``.  Any failure here (no ``systemctl``, probe error,
+    unit not ``active``) means we could NOT verify — never that the restart
+    failed.
+    """
+    systemctl = shutil.which("systemctl")
+    if not systemctl:
+        return False
+    for unit in _systemd_unit_candidates(profile):
+        try:
+            result = run(
+                [systemctl, "--user", "is-active", unit],
+                capture_output=True,
+                text=True,
+                encoding="utf-8",
+                errors="replace",
+                check=False,
+                timeout=_VERIFY_TIMEOUT,
+            )
+        except (OSError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired):
+            continue
+        if (
+            getattr(result, "returncode", 1) == 0
+            and (getattr(result, "stdout", "") or "").strip() == "active"
+        ):
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
 def restart_profiles(
-    profiles: Iterable[str], *, run: Callable[..., Any] = subprocess.run
+    profiles: Iterable[str],
+    *,
+    supervisors: Mapping[str, str] | None = None,
+    run: Callable[..., Any] = subprocess.run,
 ) -> dict[str, list[str]]:
     """Restart the supplied profiles and return per-profile terminal results.
 
@@ -87,21 +152,38 @@ def restart_profiles(
     supervisor.  Manual gateways are intentionally excluded before this module
     is called: killing one without a relaunch authority would turn stale code
     into an outage.
+
+    A profile only lands in ``verified`` when its supervisor is systemd and
+    ``systemctl --user is-active`` independently confirms the unit after the
+    relaunch command succeeded.  Every other zero-exit relaunch is reported as
+    ``relaunch_attempted`` — the code cannot observe supervisor coverage for
+    those paths and must not claim it.
     """
+    supervisors = supervisors or {}
     normalized = sorted(
         {profile for profile in profiles if isinstance(profile, str) and profile}
     )
-    succeeded: list[str] = []
+    verified: list[str] = []
+    relaunch_attempted: list[str] = []
     failed: list[str] = []
     for profile in normalized:
-        if _run_profile_restart(profile, run=run):
-            succeeded.append(profile)
-        else:
+        if not _run_profile_restart(profile, run=run):
             failed.append(profile)
-    return {"succeeded": succeeded, "failed": failed}
+            continue
+        if supervisors.get(profile) == "systemd" and _systemd_verified_active(
+            profile, run=run
+        ):
+            verified.append(profile)
+        else:
+            relaunch_attempted.append(profile)
+    return {
+        "verified": verified,
+        "relaunch_attempted": relaunch_attempted,
+        "failed": failed,
+    }
 
 
-def _parse_payload(stream) -> list[str]:
+def _parse_payload(stream) -> tuple[list[str], dict[str, str]]:
     payload = json.load(stream)
     profiles = payload.get("profiles") if isinstance(payload, dict) else None
     if not isinstance(profiles, list):
@@ -111,7 +193,19 @@ def _parse_payload(stream) -> list[str]:
         for profile in profiles
     ):
         raise ValueError("recovery profiles contain an invalid profile id")
-    return profiles
+    raw_supervisors = payload.get("supervisors") if isinstance(payload, dict) else None
+    supervisors: dict[str, str] = {}
+    if raw_supervisors is not None:
+        if not isinstance(raw_supervisors, dict) or any(
+            not isinstance(profile, str)
+            or not isinstance(supervisor, str)
+            or not _PROFILE_ID_RE.fullmatch(profile)
+            or not _SUPERVISOR_RE.fullmatch(supervisor)
+            for profile, supervisor in raw_supervisors.items()
+        ):
+            raise ValueError("recovery supervisors map is invalid")
+        supervisors = dict(raw_supervisors)
+    return profiles, supervisors
 
 
 def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
@@ -126,10 +220,19 @@ def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
         parser.error("this command is an internal update-recovery entry point")
 
     try:
-        profiles = _parse_payload(sys.stdin)
-        result = restart_profiles(profiles)
+        profiles, supervisors = _parse_payload(sys.stdin)
+        result = restart_profiles(profiles, supervisors=supervisors)
     except (ValueError, json.JSONDecodeError) as exc:
-        print(json.dumps({"error": str(exc), "succeeded": [], "failed": []}))
+        print(
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "error": str(exc),
+                    "verified": [],
+                    "relaunch_attempted": [],
+                    "failed": [],
+                }
+            )
+        )
         return 2
 
     print(json.dumps(result, sort_keys=True))
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_receipt.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_receipt.py
index d4cf7acf81..cb7634fd0b 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_receipt.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_receipt.py
@@ -68,9 +68,18 @@ class TestReceiptLifecycle:
 
     def test_fresh_recovery_result_reaches_persisted_receipt(self, receipt_home):
         recovery = {
-            "requested": ["coder", "default"],
-            "succeeded": ["default"],
+            "requested": ["coder", "default", "ops"],
+            "verified": ["default"],
+            "relaunch_attempted": ["ops"],
             "failed": ["coder"],
+            "skipped": [
+                {
+                    "profile": "desk",
+                    "kind": "serve",
+                    "supervisor": "desktop",
+                    "reason": "desktop app owns and respawns this serve backend",
+                }
+            ],
         }
 
         ur.begin_update_receipt()
@@ -83,7 +92,11 @@ class TestReceiptLifecycle:
         path = _finalize("partial")
 
         payload = json.loads(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
-        assert payload["gateway_restart"]["fresh_recovery"] == recovery
+        persisted = payload["gateway_restart"]["fresh_recovery"]
+        assert persisted == recovery
+        # The conservative vocabulary is the persisted contract: no bucket may
+        # rebrand an unverified relaunch as supervisor-backed success.
+        assert "succeeded" not in persisted
 
     def test_latest_pointer_written_and_readable(self, receipt_home):
         ur.begin_update_receipt()
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_restart_recovery.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_restart_recovery.py
index 9e66119fd2..f5054bce64 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_restart_recovery.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_update_restart_recovery.py
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@
 The updater may have loaded the pre-pull module graph when the checkout changes.
 If the in-process gateway restart phase then raises, retrying through the same
 interpreter cannot establish a coherent module generation.  Recovery must use a
-new interpreter and must not invent a restart for manual gateways that have no
-supervisor to bring them back.
+new interpreter, must not invent a restart for manual gateways that have no
+supervisor to bring them back, and must not claim supervisor coverage it never
+observed: only a systemd-verified unit counts as ``verified``; a bare rc==0
+relaunch is ``relaunch_attempted``.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -14,6 +16,7 @@ import io
 import json
 import subprocess
 import sys
+import textwrap
 from types import SimpleNamespace
 
 from hermes_cli import update_cmd
@@ -26,10 +29,19 @@ class _Completed:
         self.stderr = stderr
 
 
-def _successful_recovery_result(profiles: list[str]) -> _Completed:
+def _successful_recovery_result(
+    verified: list[str] | None = None,
+    relaunch_attempted: list[str] | None = None,
+) -> _Completed:
     return _Completed(
         0,
-        stdout=json.dumps({"succeeded": profiles, "failed": []}),
+        stdout=json.dumps(
+            {
+                "verified": verified or [],
+                "relaunch_attempted": relaunch_attempted or [],
+                "failed": [],
+            }
+        ),
     )
 
 
@@ -47,7 +59,7 @@ def test_abort_recovery_hands_managed_profiles_to_a_fresh_process(monkeypatch):
 
     def fake_run(argv, **kwargs):
         calls.append((argv, kwargs))
-        return _successful_recovery_result(["coder", "default"])
+        return _successful_recovery_result(verified=["coder", "default"])
 
     monkeypatch.setattr(update_cmd.subprocess, "run", fake_run)
     plan = SimpleNamespace(
@@ -60,18 +72,24 @@ def test_abort_recovery_hands_managed_profiles_to_a_fresh_process(monkeypatch):
     )
 
     result = update_cmd._recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(plan, gateway_mode=False)
-    assert result == {
-        "requested": ["coder", "default"],
-        "succeeded": ["coder", "default"],
-        "failed": [],
-    }
+    assert result["requested"] == ["coder", "default"]
+    assert result["verified"] == ["coder", "default"]
+    assert result["relaunch_attempted"] == []
+    assert result["failed"] == []
+    # Runtimes the pass does not own are recorded, not silently dropped.
+    skipped = {(entry["profile"], entry["kind"]) for entry in result["skipped"]}
+    assert skipped == {("manual-box", "gateway"), ("desktop", "serve")}
+    assert all(entry["reason"] for entry in result["skipped"])
 
     assert len(calls) == 1
     argv, kwargs = calls[0]
     assert argv[0] == sys.executable
     assert argv[1:4] == ["-m", "hermes_cli.update_restart_recovery", "--stdin"]
     payload = json.loads(kwargs["input"])
-    assert payload == {"profiles": ["coder", "default"]}
+    assert payload == {
+        "profiles": ["coder", "default"],
+        "supervisors": {"coder": "launchd", "default": "systemd"},
+    }
     assert kwargs["text"] is True
     assert kwargs["capture_output"] is True
     assert kwargs["check"] is False
@@ -88,16 +106,34 @@ def test_abort_recovery_does_not_claim_success_when_fresh_process_fails(monkeypa
 
     result = update_cmd._recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(plan, gateway_mode=False)
     assert result["requested"] == ["default"]
-    assert result["succeeded"] == []
+    assert result["verified"] == []
+    assert result["relaunch_attempted"] == []
     assert result["failed"] == ["default"]
 
 
+def test_abort_recovery_reports_unverified_relaunch_conservatively(monkeypatch):
+    """rc==0 without a systemd observation must not be reported as verified."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        update_cmd.subprocess,
+        "run",
+        lambda *args, **kwargs: _successful_recovery_result(
+            relaunch_attempted=["default"]
+        ),
+    )
+    plan = SimpleNamespace(runtimes=[_runtime("default", "systemd")])
+
+    result = update_cmd._recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(plan, gateway_mode=False)
+    assert result["verified"] == []
+    assert result["relaunch_attempted"] == ["default"]
+    assert result["failed"] == []
+
+
 def test_abort_recovery_skips_profiles_already_restarted_by_the_phase(monkeypatch):
     calls = []
 
     def fake_run(argv, **kwargs):
         calls.append((argv, kwargs))
-        return _successful_recovery_result(["coder"])
+        return _successful_recovery_result(verified=["coder"])
 
     monkeypatch.setattr(update_cmd.subprocess, "run", fake_run)
     plan = SimpleNamespace(
@@ -109,8 +145,10 @@ def test_abort_recovery_skips_profiles_already_restarted_by_the_phase(monkeypatc
         gateway_mode=False,
         skip_profiles={"default"},
     )
-    assert result == {"requested": ["coder"], "succeeded": ["coder"], "failed": []}
-    assert json.loads(calls[0][1]["input"]) == {"profiles": ["coder"]}
+    assert result["requested"] == ["coder"]
+    assert result["verified"] == ["coder"]
+    assert result["failed"] == []
+    assert json.loads(calls[0][1]["input"])["profiles"] == ["coder"]
 
 
 def test_abort_recovery_rejects_partial_json_success(monkeypatch):
@@ -119,7 +157,9 @@ def test_abort_recovery_rejects_partial_json_success(monkeypatch):
         "run",
         lambda *args, **kwargs: _Completed(
             0,
-            stdout=json.dumps({"succeeded": ["default"], "failed": ["coder"]}),
+            stdout=json.dumps(
+                {"verified": ["default"], "relaunch_attempted": [], "failed": []}
+            ),
         ),
     )
     plan = SimpleNamespace(
@@ -127,9 +167,10 @@ def test_abort_recovery_rejects_partial_json_success(monkeypatch):
     )
 
     result = update_cmd._recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(plan, gateway_mode=False)
+    # "coder" is unaccounted for in the child's report: fail closed.
     assert result["requested"] == ["coder", "default"]
-    assert result["succeeded"] == ["default"]
-    assert result["failed"] == ["coder"]
+    assert result["verified"] == []
+    assert result["failed"] == ["coder", "default"]
 
 
 def test_abort_recovery_rejects_malformed_json_success(monkeypatch):
@@ -142,7 +183,7 @@ def test_abort_recovery_rejects_malformed_json_success(monkeypatch):
 
     result = update_cmd._recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(plan, gateway_mode=False)
     assert result["requested"] == ["default"]
-    assert result["succeeded"] == []
+    assert result["verified"] == []
     assert result["failed"] == ["default"]
 
 
@@ -156,10 +197,36 @@ def test_abort_recovery_does_not_restart_manual_only_fleet(monkeypatch):
     plan = SimpleNamespace(runtimes=[_runtime("manual-box", "manual")])
 
     result = update_cmd._recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(plan, gateway_mode=False)
-    assert result == {"requested": [], "succeeded": [], "failed": []}
+    assert result["requested"] == []
+    assert result["verified"] == []
+    assert result["failed"] == []
+    assert [entry["profile"] for entry in result["skipped"]] == ["manual-box"]
     assert calls == []
 
 
+def test_abort_recovery_records_serve_runtimes_as_skipped_with_reason(monkeypatch):
+    """Serve/dashboard ledger entries must not vanish from the recovery pass."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        update_cmd.subprocess,
+        "run",
+        lambda *args, **kwargs: _successful_recovery_result(verified=["default"]),
+    )
+    plan = SimpleNamespace(
+        runtimes=[
+            _runtime("default", "systemd"),
+            _runtime("default", "desktop", kind="serve"),
+            _runtime("ops", "manual-serve", kind="dashboard"),
+        ]
+    )
+
+    result = update_cmd._recover_gateway_restart_after_abort(plan, gateway_mode=False)
+    by_kind = {entry["kind"]: entry for entry in result["skipped"]}
+    assert set(by_kind) == {"serve", "dashboard"}
+    assert "desktop app" in by_kind["serve"]["reason"]
+    assert by_kind["dashboard"]["profile"] == "ops"
+    assert "relaunch authority" in by_kind["dashboard"]["reason"]
+
+
 def test_service_matching_is_exact_for_overlapping_profile_names():
     assert update_cmd._gateway_service_matches_profile(
         "foo", "hermes-gateway-foo.service"
@@ -186,7 +253,12 @@ def test_recovery_child_restarts_each_profile_with_a_fresh_main(monkeypatch):
     monkeypatch.setenv("_HERMES_GATEWAY", "1")
     result = recovery.restart_profiles(["default", "coder"], run=fake_run)
 
-    assert result == {"succeeded": ["coder", "default"], "failed": []}
+    # No supervisor observations were possible → conservative labels only.
+    assert result == {
+        "verified": [],
+        "relaunch_attempted": ["coder", "default"],
+        "failed": [],
+    }
     assert [call[0] for call in calls] == [
         [sys.executable, "-m", "hermes_cli.main", "-p", "coder", "gateway", "restart"],
         [sys.executable, "-m", "hermes_cli.main", "-p", "default", "gateway", "restart"],
@@ -200,6 +272,52 @@ def test_recovery_child_restarts_each_profile_with_a_fresh_main(monkeypatch):
         assert "_HERMES_GATEWAY" not in kwargs["env"]
 
 
+def test_recovery_child_verifies_systemd_profiles_via_is_active(monkeypatch):
+    recovery = importlib.import_module("hermes_cli.update_restart_recovery")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(recovery.shutil, "which", lambda name: f"/bin/{name}")
+    calls = []
+
+    def fake_run(argv, **kwargs):
+        calls.append(argv)
+        if argv[0].endswith("systemctl"):
+            unit = argv[-1]
+            active = unit == "hermes-gateway.service"
+            return _Completed(0 if active else 3, stdout="active" if active else "inactive")
+        return _Completed(0)
+
+    result = recovery.restart_profiles(
+        ["default", "coder"],
+        supervisors={"default": "systemd", "coder": "launchd"},
+        run=fake_run,
+    )
+
+    assert result == {
+        "verified": ["default"],
+        "relaunch_attempted": ["coder"],
+        "failed": [],
+    }
+    # The launchd profile must never be probed with systemctl.
+    systemctl_units = [argv[-1] for argv in calls if argv[0].endswith("systemctl")]
+    assert all("coder" not in unit for unit in systemctl_units)
+
+
+def test_recovery_child_treats_missing_systemctl_as_unverified(monkeypatch):
+    recovery = importlib.import_module("hermes_cli.update_restart_recovery")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(recovery.shutil, "which", lambda name: None)
+
+    result = recovery.restart_profiles(
+        ["default"],
+        supervisors={"default": "systemd"},
+        run=lambda *args, **kwargs: _Completed(0),
+    )
+
+    assert result == {
+        "verified": [],
+        "relaunch_attempted": ["default"],
+        "failed": [],
+    }
+
+
 def test_recovery_child_reports_failed_profile_without_losing_successes():
     recovery = importlib.import_module("hermes_cli.update_restart_recovery")
     outcomes = iter((_Completed(1), _Completed(0)))
@@ -208,7 +326,11 @@ def test_recovery_child_reports_failed_profile_without_losing_successes():
         ["coder", "default"], run=lambda *args, **kwargs: next(outcomes)
     )
 
-    assert result == {"succeeded": ["default"], "failed": ["coder"]}
+    assert result == {
+        "verified": [],
+        "relaunch_attempted": ["default"],
+        "failed": ["coder"],
+    }
 
 
 def test_recovery_payload_rejects_path_like_profile_ids():
@@ -222,6 +344,23 @@ def test_recovery_payload_rejects_path_like_profile_ids():
         raise AssertionError("path-like profile id must be rejected")
 
 
+def test_recovery_payload_rejects_malformed_supervisors_map():
+    recovery = importlib.import_module("hermes_cli.update_restart_recovery")
+
+    try:
+        recovery._parse_payload(
+            io.StringIO(
+                json.dumps(
+                    {"profiles": ["default"], "supervisors": {"default": "sys/temd"}}
+                )
+            )
+        )
+    except ValueError as exc:
+        assert "supervisors" in str(exc)
+    else:
+        raise AssertionError("malformed supervisors map must be rejected")
+
+
 def test_recovery_module_empty_payload_is_a_real_clean_process():
     result = subprocess.run(
         [sys.executable, "-m", "hermes_cli.update_restart_recovery", "--stdin"],
@@ -232,4 +371,92 @@ def test_recovery_module_empty_payload_is_a_real_clean_process():
     )
 
     assert result.returncode == 0
-    assert json.loads(result.stdout) == {"succeeded": [], "failed": []}
+    assert json.loads(result.stdout) == {
+        "failed": [],
+        "relaunch_attempted": [],
+        "verified": [],
+    }
+
+
+def test_recovery_module_end_to_end_in_a_real_fresh_process(tmp_path):
+    """E2E: the whole recovery protocol through a genuinely fresh interpreter.
+
+    A ``sitecustomize`` shim in the child's ``PYTHONPATH`` intercepts the
+    grandchild ``hermes_cli.main … gateway restart`` invocations (recording
+    them and returning rc 0) and answers ``systemctl --user is-active`` with
+    ``active`` only for the default profile's unit.  Everything else — stdin
+    payload parsing, profile ordering, environment scrubbing, verification
+    classification, JSON output, and exit code — runs the real module code in
+    a real new process, exactly as the aborted updater would spawn it.
+    """
+    ledger = tmp_path / "grandchild_calls.jsonl"
+    shim = textwrap.dedent(
+        f"""
+        import json
+        import shutil
+        import subprocess
+
+        _real_run = subprocess.run
+        _real_which = shutil.which
+        _LEDGER = {str(ledger)!r}
+
+
+        def _shim_which(name, *args, **kwargs):
+            if name == "systemctl":
+                return "/usr/bin/systemctl"
+            return _real_which(name, *args, **kwargs)
+
+
+        shutil.which = _shim_which
+
+
+        def _shim_run(argv, *args, **kwargs):
+            argv_list = list(argv)
+            if "hermes_cli.main" in argv_list:
+                with open(_LEDGER, "a", encoding="utf-8") as fh:
+                    fh.write(json.dumps(argv_list) + "\\n")
+                return subprocess.CompletedProcess(argv_list, 0, "", "")
+            if argv_list and str(argv_list[0]).endswith("systemctl"):
+                unit = argv_list[-1]
+                if unit == "hermes-gateway.service":
+                    return subprocess.CompletedProcess(argv_list, 0, "active\\n", "")
+                return subprocess.CompletedProcess(argv_list, 3, "inactive\\n", "")
+            return _real_run(argv, *args, **kwargs)
+
+
+        subprocess.run = _shim_run
+        """
+    )
+    (tmp_path / "sitecustomize.py").write_text(shim, encoding="utf-8")
+
+    import os
+
+    env = os.environ.copy()
+    env["PYTHONPATH"] = str(tmp_path) + os.pathsep + env.get("PYTHONPATH", "")
+    env["_HERMES_GATEWAY"] = "1"  # must be scrubbed before the grandchild runs
+
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, "-m", "hermes_cli.update_restart_recovery", "--stdin"],
+        input=json.dumps(
+            {
+                "profiles": ["default", "coder"],
+                "supervisors": {"default": "systemd", "coder": "launchd"},
+            }
+        ),
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        check=False,
+        env=env,
+        timeout=120,
+    )
+
+    assert result.returncode == 0, result.stderr
+    assert json.loads(result.stdout) == {
+        "failed": [],
+        "relaunch_attempted": ["coder"],
+        "verified": ["default"],
+    }
+    restarts = [json.loads(line) for line in ledger.read_text().splitlines()]
+    assert [argv[argv.index("-p") + 1] for argv in restarts] == ["coder", "default"]
+    for argv in restarts:
+        assert argv[-2:] == ["gateway", "restart"]
diff --git a/website/docs/reference/cli-commands.md b/website/docs/reference/cli-commands.md
index 823b13037b..6771a80d20 100644
--- a/website/docs/reference/cli-commands.md
+++ b/website/docs/reference/cli-commands.md
@@ -1751,7 +1751,7 @@ Pulls the latest `hermes-agent` code and reinstalls dependencies in the managed
 Additional behavior:
 
 - **Gateway restart.** After a successful update, Hermes attempts to restart all running gateway profiles automatically so they pick up the new code. Use `hermes gateway restart` when you want to restart a gateway without applying an update.
-- **Restart-phase recovery.** If the in-process restart phase aborts while importing the freshly pulled tree, supervised gateway profiles are retried through a clean Python process. Manual gateways are not killed without a relaunch authority; they remain in the incomplete-update report with the exact restart command.
+- **Restart-phase recovery.** If the in-process restart phase aborts while importing the freshly pulled tree, supervised gateway profiles are retried through a clean Python process. Only restarts independently confirmed by systemd (`systemctl --user is-active`) are reported as verified; a relaunch that merely exited 0 is recorded as `relaunch_attempted` and still fails the update conservatively. Manual gateways and serve/dashboard runtimes are never killed without a relaunch authority; they are recorded as skipped with a reason and remain in the incomplete-update report with the exact restart command.
 - **Update receipts + fleet version check.** Every run writes a machine-readable receipt to `~/.hermes/logs/update_receipts/` (pre-update fleet plan, steps, skips with reasons, restart outcome; `latest.json` points at the newest). After the restart phase the updater verifies each live gateway's running code against the updated checkout and prints a per-profile version matrix; a gateway still on pre-update code fails the update (exit 1) with the exact restart command.
 - **Local source changes.** For git installs, dirty tracked files and untracked files are auto-stashed before branch checkout or pull (`git stash push --include-untracked`). Interactive terminal updates ask before restoring the stash. Non-interactive updates restore it by default; set `updates.non_interactive_local_changes: discard` only on managed installs where local source edits should be thrown away after a successful pull. If stash restore conflicts or the pull fails, the stash is left in place for manual recovery.
 - **npm lockfile churn.** Before stashing or switching branches, Hermes makes a best-effort cleanup of tracked `package-lock.json` diffs produced by npm install/build steps. Commit or manually stash intentional lockfile edits before running `hermes update`.