diff --git a/scripts/apricot-run.sh b/scripts/apricot-run.sh
index c8d61891..8539b6be 100755
--- a/scripts/apricot-run.sh
+++ b/scripts/apricot-run.sh
@@ -334,25 +334,32 @@ if [[ "${MODE}" == "status" ]]; then
 
     # Single ssh probe with short ConnectTimeout. Four lightweight queries:
     #   1. systemctl --user is-active <unit>  (active|inactive|failed|unknown)
+    #      `|| true` because is-active exits non-zero on inactive/failed/unknown
+    #      units and we want the stdout string, not the exit code. The previous
+    #      `|| echo unknown` appended a second line that broke the single-line
+    #      `|`-printf contract → `read -r` left every other field empty →
+    #      false-positive `failed` after a clean batch.
     #   2. count of completion.marker files under <stamp>/*/
     #   3. count of turn_stats.jsonl files under <stamp>/*/game_*/
-    #   4. count of live godot processes for THIS batch stamp
+    #   4. container liveness for THIS batch stamp.
+    #      Pre-docker-wrapper era counted live godot procs via pgrep, but
+    #      (a) the launch stamp is never in the godot cmdline (the
+    #      autoplay-batch.sh runtime stamp is, and the two are distinct), and
+    #      (b) `pgrep -af "godot.*${STAMP}" | grep "godot --path"` self-matched
+    #      the ssh probe itself (which contains both substrings as literals).
+    #      Under the docker wrapper the launcher.sh blocks on `docker run --rm`
+    #      and the trap docker-kills the container on exit, so container
+    #      existence is the correct liveness signal.
     # We also read seeds_total from the first submode dir if present.
-    #
-    # The godot-proc count is load-bearing: `flatpak run` detaches into a
-    # systemd user scope, so autoplay-batch.sh's `wait` returns and
-    # completion.marker is touched while the actual godot processes are still
-    # running headless games. Without checking live procs, fetch would pull
-    # mid-run turn_stats with outcome=in_progress and the consumer would
-    # think the gate failed when in fact games hadn't finished yet.
     PROBE='set +e
-        IS_ACTIVE=$(systemctl --user is-active '"${UNIT}"' 2>/dev/null || echo unknown)
+        IS_ACTIVE=$(systemctl --user is-active '"${UNIT}"' 2>/dev/null || true)
+        IS_ACTIVE=${IS_ACTIVE:-unknown}
         MARKER_COUNT=$(ls "$HOME/.cache/mc-batches/'"${QUERY_STAMP}"'"/*/completion.marker 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d " ")
         STATS_COUNT=$(ls "$HOME/.cache/mc-batches/'"${QUERY_STAMP}"'"/*/game_*/turn_stats.jsonl 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d " ")
-        GODOT_PROCS=$(pgrep -af "godot.*'"${QUERY_STAMP}"'" 2>/dev/null | grep -c "godot --path" || echo 0)
+        CONTAINER_LIVE=$(docker ps --filter "name=mc-batch-'"${QUERY_STAMP}"'-run" --quiet 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d " ")
         SEEDS_TOTAL=$(cat "$HOME/.cache/mc-batches/'"${QUERY_STAMP}"'"/*/seeds_total 2>/dev/null | head -1)
         SEEDS_TOTAL=${SEEDS_TOTAL:-0}
-        printf "%s|%s|%s|%s|%s\n" "$IS_ACTIVE" "$MARKER_COUNT" "$STATS_COUNT" "$SEEDS_TOTAL" "$GODOT_PROCS"'
+        printf "%s|%s|%s|%s|%s\n" "$IS_ACTIVE" "$MARKER_COUNT" "$STATS_COUNT" "$SEEDS_TOTAL" "$CONTAINER_LIVE"'
 
     PROBE_OUT="$(ssh -o ConnectTimeout=5 -o BatchMode=yes "${APRICOT}" "${PROBE}" 2>/dev/null)" || PROBE_OUT=""
 
@@ -361,21 +368,21 @@ if [[ "${MODE}" == "status" ]]; then
         exit 0
     fi
 
-    IFS='|' read -r IS_ACTIVE MARKER_COUNT STATS_COUNT SEEDS_TOTAL GODOT_PROCS <<<"${PROBE_OUT}"
+    IFS='|' read -r IS_ACTIVE MARKER_COUNT STATS_COUNT SEEDS_TOTAL CONTAINER_LIVE <<<"${PROBE_OUT}"
     MARKER_COUNT="${MARKER_COUNT:-0}"
     STATS_COUNT="${STATS_COUNT:-0}"
     SEEDS_TOTAL="${SEEDS_TOTAL:-0}"
-    GODOT_PROCS="${GODOT_PROCS:-0}"
+    CONTAINER_LIVE="${CONTAINER_LIVE:-0}"
 
-    if [[ "${MARKER_COUNT}" -gt 0 && "${GODOT_PROCS}" -eq 0 ]]; then
+    if [[ "${MARKER_COUNT}" -gt 0 && "${CONTAINER_LIVE}" -eq 0 ]]; then
         STATE="complete"
         MARKER_BOOL="true"
-    elif [[ "${MARKER_COUNT}" -gt 0 && "${GODOT_PROCS}" -gt 0 ]]; then
-        # Batch script returned (touched completion.marker) but flatpak-
-        # detached godot processes are still playing games. Status remains
-        # `running` so `fetch` won't pull mid-run turn_stats snapshots.
+    elif [[ "${CONTAINER_LIVE}" -gt 0 ]]; then
+        # Container still running — batch is in-flight even if the launcher
+        # has somehow touched a stale marker (it shouldn't, the touch is
+        # post-batch, but be defensive).
         STATE="running"
-        MARKER_BOOL="true"
+        MARKER_BOOL=$([[ "${MARKER_COUNT}" -gt 0 ]] && echo "true" || echo "false")
     elif [[ "${IS_ACTIVE}" == "active" || "${IS_ACTIVE}" == "activating" ]]; then
         STATE="running"
         MARKER_BOOL="false"
@@ -384,8 +391,8 @@ if [[ "${MODE}" == "status" ]]; then
         MARKER_BOOL="false"
     fi
 
-    printf '{"stamp":"%s","state":"%s","seeds_done":%s,"seeds_total":%s,"completion_marker":%s,"godot_procs":%s}\n' \
-        "${QUERY_STAMP}" "${STATE}" "${STATS_COUNT}" "${SEEDS_TOTAL}" "${MARKER_BOOL}" "${GODOT_PROCS}"
+    printf '{"stamp":"%s","state":"%s","seeds_done":%s,"seeds_total":%s,"completion_marker":%s,"container_live":%s}\n' \
+        "${QUERY_STAMP}" "${STATE}" "${STATS_COUNT}" "${SEEDS_TOTAL}" "${MARKER_BOOL}" "${CONTAINER_LIVE}"
     exit 0
 fi