diff --git a/test/test_system_status_available_memory.py b/test/test_system_status_available_memory.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c08bde22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_system_status_available_memory.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+"""/api/v3/system/status must report MemAvailable, not just used/total.
+
+"Memory used %" cannot tell a healthy board from one about to fail. Page cache
+counts as used and is reclaimable on demand, so a Pi can read 70% used and be
+perfectly fine, or read the same and be minutes from trouble. MemAvailable is
+the kernel's own estimate of what a new allocation can actually obtain, and it
+is the number that tracked the failure on a 1GB Pi 3B+: healthy running sat at
+500MB+, the crash happened at 73MB, and by then fork() was failing -- sshd
+could not spawn a session and systemd could not respawn the display, while the
+kernel carried on answering pings.
+
+psutil.virtual_memory().available is MemAvailable on Linux. total - used is not
+a substitute: they diverge exactly when unreclaimable memory (shmem, tmpfs) is
+in play, which is when the distinction matters.
+"""
+
+import json
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+import pytest
+from flask import Flask
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).parent.parent))
+
+MB = 1024 * 1024
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def client():
+    pytest.importorskip("psutil")
+    app = Flask(__name__)
+    app.config["TESTING"] = True
+    from web_interface.blueprints.api_v3 import api_v3
+    for attr in ("config_manager", "plugin_manager", "cache_manager"):
+        setattr(api_v3, attr, MagicMock())
+    if "api_v3" not in app.blueprints:
+        app.register_blueprint(api_v3, url_prefix="/api/v3")
+    return app.test_client()
+
+
+def _memory(total_mb, used_mb, available_mb):
+    m = MagicMock()
+    m.total = total_mb * MB
+    m.used = used_mb * MB
+    m.available = available_mb * MB
+    m.percent = round(used_mb / total_mb * 100, 1)
+    return m
+
+
+def _get_status(client, memory):
+    # The endpoint caches for 10s; bypass so each case is measured fresh.
+    with patch("web_interface.cache.get_cached", return_value=None), \
+         patch("psutil.virtual_memory", return_value=memory), \
+         patch("psutil.cpu_percent", return_value=5.0), \
+         patch("psutil.boot_time", return_value=0.0):
+        resp = client.get("/api/v3/system/status")
+    assert resp.status_code == 200, resp.data
+    return json.loads(resp.data)["data"]
+
+
+def test_available_memory_is_reported(client):
+    data = _get_status(client, _memory(total_mb=905, used_mb=620, available_mb=284))
+    assert "memory_available_mb" in data
+    assert data["memory_available_mb"] == pytest.approx(284, abs=0.5)
+
+
+def test_available_is_not_total_minus_used(client):
+    # The case the readout exists for: 600MB is "not used", but only 300MB can
+    # actually be allocated. Reporting used% alone would call this healthy.
+    data = _get_status(client, _memory(total_mb=1000, used_mb=400, available_mb=300))
+
+    derived = data["memory_total_mb"] - data["memory_used_mb"]
+    assert derived == pytest.approx(600, abs=1)
+    assert data["memory_available_mb"] == pytest.approx(300, abs=0.5)
+    assert data["memory_available_mb"] != pytest.approx(derived, abs=1), \
+        "available must come from MemAvailable, not be derived from used"
+
+
+def test_existing_memory_fields_are_unchanged(client):
+    data = _get_status(client, _memory(total_mb=905, used_mb=620, available_mb=284))
+    assert data["memory_total_mb"] == pytest.approx(905, abs=0.5)
+    assert data["memory_used_mb"] == pytest.approx(620, abs=0.5)
+    assert "memory_used_percent" in data
+
+
+def test_a_nearly_exhausted_board_reports_a_small_number(client):
+    # 73MB available is what the board actually read when it stopped being able
+    # to fork. The readout has to surface that rather than round it away.
+    data = _get_status(client, _memory(total_mb=905, used_mb=800, available_mb=73))
+    assert data["memory_available_mb"] == pytest.approx(73, abs=0.5)
diff --git a/web_interface/blueprints/api_v3.py b/web_interface/blueprints/api_v3.py
index a5a2979f..35dfd885 100644
--- a/web_interface/blueprints/api_v3.py
+++ b/web_interface/blueprints/api_v3.py
@@ -1563,6 +1563,11 @@ def get_system_status():
             'memory_used_percent': round(memory_percent, 1),
             'memory_total_mb': round(memory.total / (1024 * 1024), 1),
             'memory_used_mb': round(memory.used / (1024 * 1024), 1),
+            # MemAvailable, not total-minus-used: it accounts for reclaimable
+            # page cache, so it is what actually predicts memory trouble. A
+            # board can read 70% "used" and be fine, or read the same and be
+            # about to fail fork(), and only this number tells them apart.
+            'memory_available_mb': round(memory.available / (1024 * 1024), 1),
             'cpu_temp': round(cpu_temp, 1) if cpu_temp is not None else None,
             'disk_used_percent': round(disk_percent, 1),
             'disk_total_gb': round(disk.total / (1024 * 1024 * 1024), 1),
diff --git a/web_interface/templates/v3/partials/tools.html b/web_interface/templates/v3/partials/tools.html
index f4f7cfdd..dcb576eb 100644
--- a/web_interface/templates/v3/partials/tools.html
+++ b/web_interface/templates/v3/partials/tools.html
@@ -687,12 +687,26 @@
                 const mUsedGb = d.memory_used_mb != null ? (d.memory_used_mb / 1024).toFixed(1) : null;
                 const mTotGb  = d.memory_total_mb != null ? (d.memory_total_mb / 1024).toFixed(1) : null;
                 const temp    = d.cpu_temp != null ? d.cpu_temp + '°C' : 'N/A';
+                // Available memory is the number that predicts trouble. When it
+                // runs out the board does not fail cleanly: fork() starts
+                // returning ENOMEM, so sshd cannot spawn a session and systemd
+                // cannot respawn the display, while the kernel keeps answering
+                // pings. Thresholds are drawn from that failure -- it was
+                // measured at 73MB free, and healthy running sits well above.
+                const availMb = d.memory_available_mb;
+                const availColor = availMb == null ? 'text-gray-400'
+                                 : availMb < 150   ? 'text-red-600'
+                                 : availMb < 300   ? 'text-amber-500'
+                                 : 'text-green-600';
                 panel.innerHTML =
                     diagTile('fa-microchip', 'text-blue-600', 'CPU Usage',
                         (d.cpu_percent != null ? d.cpu_percent : '--') + '%', null) +
                     diagTile('fa-memory', 'text-green-600', 'Memory',
                         (d.memory_used_percent != null ? d.memory_used_percent : '--') + '%',
                         (mUsedGb && mTotGb) ? `${mUsedGb} / ${mTotGb} GB` : null) +
+                    diagTile('fa-memory', availColor, 'Available Memory',
+                        availMb != null ? `${Math.round(availMb)} MB` : '--',
+                        mTotGb ? `of ${mTotGb} GB total` : null) +
                     diagTile('fa-thermometer-half', 'text-red-600', 'CPU Temp', temp, null) +
                     diagTile('fa-hdd', 'text-indigo-600', 'Disk',
                         (d.disk_used_percent != null ? d.disk_used_percent : '--') + '%',