diff --git a/src/index.css b/src/index.css
index 1dc9ca0..e349f5a 100644
--- a/src/index.css
+++ b/src/index.css
@@ -2237,3 +2237,15 @@ select.studio-input { background: var(--bp-paper); }
 @media (max-width: 700px) {
   .tab-badge { min-width: 14px; height: 12px; font-size: 8px; padding: 0 3px; }
 }
+
+.login-banner {
+  padding: 10px 12px;
+  margin-bottom: 12px;
+  border: 1px solid var(--bp-line, #b08a4a);
+  background: var(--bg-2, #fff6e0);
+  color: var(--text-1, #5a3a00);
+  font-size: 11.5px;
+  line-height: 1.45;
+  letter-spacing: 0.02em;
+}
+.login-banner-warn { border-color: #b08a4a; background: #fff6e0; color: #5a3a00; }
diff --git a/src/scenes/Login.tsx b/src/scenes/Login.tsx
index c0ae28f..9bd4197 100644
--- a/src/scenes/Login.tsx
+++ b/src/scenes/Login.tsx
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ export default function Login() {
   const buildAllowsDev = (import.meta.env.VITE_ENABLE_DEV_LOGIN ?? "true") !== "false";
   const [devLoginEnabled, setDevLoginEnabled] = useState(buildAllowsDev);
   const [ssoState, setSsoState] = useState<"unknown" | "ready" | "not-configured" | "not-wired">("unknown");
+  const [backendState, setBackendState] = useState<"unknown" | "up" | "auth-down" | "proxy-down">("unknown");
   const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false);
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
 
@@ -30,6 +31,18 @@ export default function Login() {
         else setSsoState("not-wired");
       })
       .catch(() => setSsoState("not-wired"));
+    // Backend health precheck. /api/v1/auth/me with no token should return 401
+    // when the backend is up. 502/504 means the proxy is down; 503 means the
+    // auth service is down. We surface this so the operator knows BEFORE they
+    // type their password.
+    fetch("/api/v1/auth/me", { method: "GET" })
+      .then((r) => {
+        if (r.status === 401 || r.status === 403 || r.status === 200) setBackendState("up");
+        else if (r.status === 502 || r.status === 504) setBackendState("proxy-down");
+        else if (r.status === 503) setBackendState("auth-down");
+        else setBackendState("up");
+      })
+      .catch(() => setBackendState("proxy-down"));
   }, [buildAllowsDev]);
 
   const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent) => {
@@ -106,6 +119,17 @@ export default function Login() {
           <div className="login-sub">MISSION CONTROL VERIFICATION REQUIRED</div>
         </div>
         
+        {backendState === "proxy-down" && (
+          <div className="login-banner login-banner-warn">
+            The FlowMaster backend is not reachable from this environment right now. Sign-in will fail until it is restored.
+          </div>
+        )}
+        {backendState === "auth-down" && (
+          <div className="login-banner login-banner-warn">
+            The authentication service is temporarily down. Sign-in will fail until it is restored.
+          </div>
+        )}
+
         {error && <div className="login-error">{error}</div>}
 
         <form className="login-form" onSubmit={handleSubmit}>