diff --git a/cmd/ion-node/main.go b/cmd/ion-node/main.go
index 3cda0be..12035a4 100644
--- a/cmd/ion-node/main.go
+++ b/cmd/ion-node/main.go
@@ -552,12 +552,22 @@ func runStatus(cCtx *cli.Context) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	dids, err := st.CountDIDs()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	pending, err := st.RetryablePendingCount()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	committed := "none"
 	if ok {
 		committed = fmt.Sprintf("%d", w)
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("network=%s committedHeight=%s indexedAnchors=%d datadir=%s\n",
-		cfg.Network, committed, len(anchors), cfg.DataDir)
+	// dids is the count this node has projected; it can undercount while
+	// pendingRetryable > 0 (anchored content not yet fetched from IPFS).
+	fmt.Printf("network=%s committedHeight=%s indexedAnchors=%d dids=%d pendingRetryable=%d datadir=%s\n",
+		cfg.Network, committed, len(anchors), dids, pending, cfg.DataDir)
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -690,7 +700,7 @@ func runServe(cCtx *cli.Context) error {
 	defer casClient.Close()
 
 	resolver := resolve.New(st, casClient, cfg.Method)
-	handler := api.NewHandler(resolver, logger)
+	handler := api.NewHandler(resolver, logger).WithStats(st) // GET /stats: dids, pendingRetryable, heights
 	srv := api.NewServer(cCtx.String("http-addr"), handler.Mux())
 
 	ctx, stop := signal.NotifyContext(context.Background(), os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM)
@@ -722,6 +732,12 @@ func printStatus(n *node) {
 		n.logger.Error("status", "err", err)
 		return
 	}
+	// Surface the two most common silent degradations alongside progress: a peer
+	// count drifting toward zero (sync stall) and a growing retryable-pending set
+	// (IPFS unavailable). dids is best-effort visibility (cheap COUNT).
+	dids, _ := n.store.CountDIDs()
+	pending, _ := n.store.RetryablePendingCount()
 	n.logger.Info("indexer status",
-		"tipHeight", s.TipHeight, "stableFrontier", s.StableFrontier, "committedHeight", s.CommittedHeight)
+		"tipHeight", s.TipHeight, "stableFrontier", s.StableFrontier, "committedHeight", s.CommittedHeight,
+		"peers", n.client.PeerCount(), "dids", dids, "pendingRetryable", pending)
 }
diff --git a/docs/hardening-backlog.md b/docs/hardening-backlog.md
index 8ff26e9..eb8a117 100644
--- a/docs/hardening-backlog.md
+++ b/docs/hardening-backlog.md
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ All items below survived an independent skeptic re-reading the cited code.
 | 11 | 🟡 medium | small | reliability | `merkle-verify-failure-permanently-stalls-indexer` | open |
 | 12 | 🟡 medium | medium | data-integrity | `retry-double-anchor-double-pay` | open |
 | 13 | 🟡 medium | medium | data-integrity | `writer-check-failopen-permanent` | open |
-| 14 | 🟡 medium | small | operational | `no-metrics-no-pending-growth-visibility` | open |
+| 14 | 🟡 medium | small | operational | `no-metrics-no-pending-growth-visibility` | ✅ done (#103) |
 | 15 | 🟡 medium | trivial | correctness | `scan-operation-count-non-canonical-accepted` | ✅ done (#99) |
 | 16 | 🟡 medium | medium | operational | `concurrency-flag-dead-block-download-sequential` | open |
 | 17 | 🟡 medium | small | test-gap | `test-gap-cas-error-classification` | ✅ done (#87) |
diff --git a/internal/api/resolution.go b/internal/api/resolution.go
index 40362a8..8c163e2 100644
--- a/internal/api/resolution.go
+++ b/internal/api/resolution.go
@@ -57,9 +57,19 @@ type DIDResolver interface {
 	Resolve(did string) resolve.Result
 }
 
+// StatsProvider exposes node counts for the /stats endpoint (the projection store
+// satisfies it). All methods are cheap counts.
+type StatsProvider interface {
+	CountDIDs() (int, error)
+	RetryablePendingCount() (int, error)
+	Watermark() (height int32, ok bool, err error)
+	ProcessedWatermark() (height int32, ok bool, err error)
+}
+
 // Handler serves the DID resolution API.
 type Handler struct {
 	resolver DIDResolver
+	stats    StatsProvider // optional; when set, enables GET /stats
 	log      *slog.Logger
 }
 
@@ -71,14 +81,56 @@ func NewHandler(r DIDResolver, log *slog.Logger) *Handler {
 	return &Handler{resolver: r, log: log}
 }
 
-// Mux returns the routed HTTP handler: the resolution endpoint plus /health.
+// WithStats enables the GET /stats endpoint backed by s. Returns the handler for
+// chaining. This keeps agent-native parity: the DID/pending counts an operator reads
+// from the `status` CLI are also machine-readable over HTTP.
+func (h *Handler) WithStats(s StatsProvider) *Handler {
+	h.stats = s
+	return h
+}
+
+// Mux returns the routed HTTP handler: the resolution endpoint, /health, and (when a
+// stats provider is configured) /stats.
 func (h *Handler) Mux() *http.ServeMux {
 	mux := http.NewServeMux()
 	mux.HandleFunc(identifiersPrefix, h.handleResolve)
 	mux.HandleFunc("/health", h.handleHealth)
+	if h.stats != nil {
+		mux.HandleFunc("/stats", h.handleStats)
+	}
 	return mux
 }
 
+func (h *Handler) handleStats(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if r.Method != http.MethodGet {
+		writeJSON(w, http.StatusMethodNotAllowed, map[string]any{"error": "methodNotAllowed"})
+		return
+	}
+	dids, err := h.stats.CountDIDs()
+	if err != nil {
+		h.log.Error("stats: count dids", "err", err)
+		writeJSON(w, http.StatusInternalServerError, map[string]any{"error": "internalError"})
+		return
+	}
+	pending, err := h.stats.RetryablePendingCount()
+	if err != nil {
+		h.log.Error("stats: pending count", "err", err)
+		writeJSON(w, http.StatusInternalServerError, map[string]any{"error": "internalError"})
+		return
+	}
+	committed, _, _ := h.stats.Watermark()
+	processed, _, _ := h.stats.ProcessedWatermark()
+	writeJSON(w, http.StatusOK, map[string]any{
+		"dids":             dids,
+		"pendingRetryable": pending,
+		"committedHeight":  committed,
+		"processedHeight":  processed,
+		// dids reflects locally-resolved content; it can undercount while
+		// pendingRetryable > 0 (anchored content not yet fetched).
+		"fullyResolved": pending == 0,
+	})
+}
+
 func (h *Handler) handleResolve(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	if r.Method != http.MethodGet {
 		writeJSON(w, http.StatusMethodNotAllowed, map[string]any{
diff --git a/internal/api/resolution_test.go b/internal/api/resolution_test.go
index 05df73d..9c09d43 100644
--- a/internal/api/resolution_test.go
+++ b/internal/api/resolution_test.go
@@ -239,3 +239,57 @@ func TestHTTPHealth(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("health = %d %v, want 200 ok", status, body)
 	}
 }
+
+// fakeStats is a canned StatsProvider for the /stats endpoint test.
+type fakeStats struct {
+	dids, pending int
+	committed     int32
+	processed     int32
+}
+
+func (f fakeStats) CountDIDs() (int, error)                  { return f.dids, nil }
+func (f fakeStats) RetryablePendingCount() (int, error)      { return f.pending, nil }
+func (f fakeStats) Watermark() (int32, bool, error)          { return f.committed, true, nil }
+func (f fakeStats) ProcessedWatermark() (int32, bool, error) { return f.processed, true, nil }
+
+// TestStatsEndpoint verifies GET /stats reports the node counts (agent-native parity
+// with the `status` CLI), and is only registered when a StatsProvider is configured.
+func TestStatsEndpoint(t *testing.T) {
+	h := NewHandler(fakeResolver{}, nil).WithStats(fakeStats{dids: 42, pending: 3, committed: 100, processed: 98})
+	srv := httptest.NewServer(h.Mux())
+	defer srv.Close()
+
+	resp, err := http.Get(srv.URL + "/stats")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("GET /stats status = %d, want 200", resp.StatusCode)
+	}
+	var body map[string]any
+	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&body); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := body["dids"]; got != float64(42) {
+		t.Errorf("dids = %v, want 42", got)
+	}
+	if got := body["pendingRetryable"]; got != float64(3) {
+		t.Errorf("pendingRetryable = %v, want 3", got)
+	}
+	if got := body["fullyResolved"]; got != false {
+		t.Errorf("fullyResolved = %v, want false (pending > 0)", got)
+	}
+
+	// Without a StatsProvider, /stats is not registered (404).
+	plain := httptest.NewServer(NewHandler(fakeResolver{}, nil).Mux())
+	defer plain.Close()
+	r2, err := http.Get(plain.URL + "/stats")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer r2.Body.Close()
+	if r2.StatusCode != http.StatusNotFound {
+		t.Errorf("GET /stats without a provider = %d, want 404", r2.StatusCode)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/p2p/peer.go b/internal/p2p/peer.go
index a64c423..3f4e79f 100644
--- a/internal/p2p/peer.go
+++ b/internal/p2p/peer.go
@@ -134,6 +134,14 @@ func (c *Client) pickPeer() *peer.Peer {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// PeerCount returns the number of currently-connected peers — operator visibility
+// for the most common silent degradation (drifting toward zero peers).
+func (c *Client) PeerCount() int {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	return len(c.peers)
+}
+
 // connectedGroups returns the net-group histogram of current peers (for diversity).
 func (c *Client) connectedGroups() map[string]int {
 	c.mu.Lock()
diff --git a/internal/store/bbolt.go b/internal/store/bbolt.go
index 9105b76..0942dd3 100644
--- a/internal/store/bbolt.go
+++ b/internal/store/bbolt.go
@@ -220,6 +220,31 @@ func (s *boltStore) RetryablePendingCount() (int, error) {
 	return n, err
 }
 
+func (s *boltStore) CountDIDs() (int, error) {
+	n := 0
+	err := s.db.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
+		// bucketDIDFwd keys are suffix||0x1f||txnum, sorted, so all entries for one
+		// suffix are contiguous — count a distinct suffix each time the prefix changes.
+		c := tx.Bucket(bucketDIDFwd).Cursor()
+		var last []byte
+		have := false
+		for k, _ := c.First(); k != nil; k, _ = c.Next() {
+			sep := bytes.IndexByte(k, didSep[0])
+			if sep < 0 {
+				continue // malformed key; skip defensively
+			}
+			suffix := k[:sep]
+			if !have || !bytes.Equal(suffix, last) {
+				n++
+				last = append(last[:0], suffix...)
+				have = true
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	return n, err
+}
+
 func (s *boltStore) ResolvePending(txnum uint64, entries []DIDIndexEntry) error {
 	return s.db.Update(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
 		if err := tx.Bucket(bucketPending).Delete(u64be(txnum)); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/store/sqlite.go b/internal/store/sqlite.go
index 9e4be44..3af7f8d 100644
--- a/internal/store/sqlite.go
+++ b/internal/store/sqlite.go
@@ -284,6 +284,14 @@ func (s *sqliteStore) RetryablePendingCount() (int, error) {
 	return n, nil
 }
 
+func (s *sqliteStore) CountDIDs() (int, error) {
+	var n int
+	if err := s.db.QueryRow(`SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT suffix) FROM did_anchors`).Scan(&n); err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("store: count dids: %w", err)
+	}
+	return n, nil
+}
+
 func (s *sqliteStore) ResolvePending(txnum uint64, entries []DIDIndexEntry) error {
 	tx, err := s.db.Begin()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/store/store.go b/internal/store/store.go
index a02524c..8b0b106 100644
--- a/internal/store/store.go
+++ b/internal/store/store.go
@@ -141,6 +141,13 @@ type Store interface {
 	// caveat; it is a cheap COUNT, not a full PendingAnchors scan.
 	RetryablePendingCount() (int, error)
 
+	// CountDIDs returns the number of distinct DID suffixes in the projection — the
+	// count of DIDs this node has indexed and projected up to the processed
+	// watermark. It reflects only locally-resolved content, so it can undercount
+	// while RetryablePendingCount() > 0 (anchored content not yet fetched). Used for
+	// operator visibility (status / the /stats endpoint).
+	CountDIDs() (int, error)
+
 	// ResolvePending splices a now-available anchor's DID entries into the
 	// projection at txnum and removes the pending entry, in one transaction. It
 	// does NOT move the processed watermark (the height was already accounted for
diff --git a/internal/store/store_did_test.go b/internal/store/store_did_test.go
index 183ff71..acc8f98 100644
--- a/internal/store/store_did_test.go
+++ b/internal/store/store_did_test.go
@@ -231,3 +231,35 @@ func TestDIDProjectionParity(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// TestCountDIDs verifies CountDIDs returns the number of DISTINCT suffixes (not the
+// number of did_anchors rows — a DID with several operations counts once), across
+// both engines, and that it stays reorg-coupled with the projection.
+func TestCountDIDs(t *testing.T) {
+	eachEngine(t, func(t *testing.T, s Store) {
+		if n, err := s.CountDIDs(); err != nil || n != 0 {
+			t.Fatalf("CountDIDs on empty = %d, %v; want 0", n, err)
+		}
+		// didA has two ops, didB and didC one each → 3 distinct DIDs, 4 rows.
+		entries := []DIDIndexEntry{
+			mkEntry("didA", 5, 0),
+			mkEntry("didB", 5, 1),
+			mkEntry("didA", 6, 0),
+			mkEntry("didC", 7, 0),
+		}
+		if err := s.CommitProcessed(5, 7, entries, nil); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("CommitProcessed: %v", err)
+		}
+		if n, err := s.CountDIDs(); err != nil || n != 3 {
+			t.Fatalf("CountDIDs = %d, %v; want 3 distinct suffixes", n, err)
+		}
+		// A reorg that rolls back height 6+ drops didA's height-6 op (didA still has
+		// its height-5 op) and didC entirely → 2 distinct DIDs remain.
+		if err := s.Rollback(6); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Rollback: %v", err)
+		}
+		if n, err := s.CountDIDs(); err != nil || n != 2 {
+			t.Errorf("CountDIDs after Rollback(6) = %d, %v; want 2 (didA, didB)", n, err)
+		}
+	})
+}