diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 29dc7a6..0c0ffe9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
 <!-- generated:options -->
 | Flag | Description |
 |------|-------------|
-| `-s,` `--sort` `<config|alphabetical|topological>` | Tab display order |
+| `-s,` `--sort` `<config|alphabetical|topological|status>` | Tab display order |
 | `-w,` `--workspace` `<script>` | Run a package.json script across all workspaces |
 | `-n,` `--name` `<name=command>` | Add a named process |
 | `-c,` `--color` `<colors>` | Comma-separated colors (hex or names: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white, gray, orange, purple) |
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ Top-level options apply to all processes (process-level settings override):
 | `stopSignal` | `'SIGTERM' \| 'SIGINT' \| 'SIGHUP'` | Global stop signal, inherited by all processes |
 | `errorMatcher` | `boolean \| string` | Global error matcher, inherited by all processes. `true` = detect ANSI red output, string = regex |
 | `watch` | `string \| string[]` | Global watch patterns, inherited by processes without their own watch |
-| `sort` | `'config' \| 'alphabetical' \| 'topological'` | Tab display order. `'config'` preserves definition order (package.json script order for wildcards), `'alphabetical'` sorts by process name, `'topological'` sorts by dependency tiers. |
+| `sort` | `'config' \| 'alphabetical' \| 'topological' \| 'status'` | Tab display order. `'config'` preserves definition order (package.json script order for wildcards), `'alphabetical'` sorts by process name, `'topological'` sorts by dependency tiers, `'status'` uses config order but moves finished/stopped/failed/skipped tabs to the bottom. |
 | `prefix` | `boolean` | Use prefixed output mode instead of TUI (for CI/scripts) |
 | `timestamps` | `boolean \| string` | Add timestamps to output lines. `true` uses default `HH:mm:ss.SSS` format, or pass a format string (e.g. `"HH:mm:ss"`) |
 | `killOthers` | `boolean` | Kill all processes when any one exits (regardless of exit code) |
diff --git a/scripts/generate-docs.ts b/scripts/generate-docs.ts
index fca77e5..66f7ab1 100644
--- a/scripts/generate-docs.ts
+++ b/scripts/generate-docs.ts
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ interface FieldDoc {
 
 /** Known type aliases to expand for readability */
 const TYPE_ALIASES: Record<string, string> = {
-	SortOrder: "'config' | 'alphabetical' | 'topological'",
+	SortOrder: "'config' | 'alphabetical' | 'topological' | 'status'",
 	Color: 'string'
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cli-flags.ts b/src/cli-flags.ts
index a75631e..d6b1235 100644
--- a/src/cli-flags.ts
+++ b/src/cli-flags.ts
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export const FLAGS: FlagDef[] = [
 		short: '-s',
 		key: 'sort',
 		description: 'Tab display order',
-		valueName: '<config|alphabetical|topological>',
+		valueName: '<config|alphabetical|topological|status>',
 		completionHint: 'none'
 	},
 	{
diff --git a/src/config/validator.test.ts b/src/config/validator.test.ts
index 81969d8..991f6db 100644
--- a/src/config/validator.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/validator.test.ts
@@ -614,6 +614,14 @@ describe('validateConfig — sort', () => {
 		expect(config.sort).toBe('topological')
 	})
 
+	test('preserves sort: status', () => {
+		const config = validateConfig({
+			sort: 'status',
+			processes: { a: { command: 'echo a' } }
+		})
+		expect(config.sort).toBe('status')
+	})
+
 	test('throws on invalid sort value', () => {
 		expect(() =>
 			validateConfig({
diff --git a/src/config/validator.ts b/src/config/validator.ts
index 03a2143..aad9423 100644
--- a/src/config/validator.ts
+++ b/src/config/validator.ts
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ function validateErrorMatcher(name: string, value: unknown): boolean | string |
 	return undefined
 }
 
-const VALID_SORT_VALUES = new Set(['config', 'alphabetical', 'topological'])
+const VALID_SORT_VALUES = new Set(['config', 'alphabetical', 'topological', 'status'])
 
 function validateSort(value: unknown): SortOrder | undefined {
 	if (typeof value === 'string') {
diff --git a/src/process/manager.test.ts b/src/process/manager.test.ts
index f1bef4d..b7765c1 100644
--- a/src/process/manager.test.ts
+++ b/src/process/manager.test.ts
@@ -92,6 +92,19 @@ describe('ProcessManager — initialization', () => {
 		expect(names.indexOf('db')).toBeLessThan(names.indexOf('api'))
 		expect(names.indexOf('api')).toBeLessThan(names.indexOf('web'))
 	})
+
+	test('sort: status returns config order (reorder is applied in TabBar)', () => {
+		const config: ResolvedNumuxConfig = {
+			sort: 'status',
+			processes: {
+				web: { command: 'echo web' },
+				api: { command: 'echo api' },
+				db: { command: 'echo db' }
+			}
+		}
+		const mgr = new ProcessManager(config)
+		expect(mgr.getProcessNames()).toEqual(['web', 'api', 'db'])
+	})
 })
 
 describe('ProcessManager — startAll', () => {
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index c4f47b1..57d1385 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -94,7 +94,8 @@ export interface NumuxConfig<K extends string = string> {
 	watch?: string | string[]
 	/**
 	 * Tab display order. `'config'` preserves definition order (package.json script order for wildcards),
-	 * `'alphabetical'` sorts by process name, `'topological'` sorts by dependency tiers.
+	 * `'alphabetical'` sorts by process name, `'topological'` sorts by dependency tiers,
+	 * `'status'` uses config order but moves finished/stopped/failed/skipped tabs to the bottom.
 	 * @default 'config'
 	 */
 	sort?: SortOrder
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ export interface NumuxConfig<K extends string = string> {
 	processes: Record<K, NumuxProcessConfig<K> | NumuxScriptPattern<K> | string | true>
 }
 
-export type SortOrder = 'config' | 'alphabetical' | 'topological'
+export type SortOrder = 'config' | 'alphabetical' | 'topological' | 'status'
 
 /** Process config after validation — dependsOn is always normalized to an array */
 export interface ResolvedProcessConfig extends Omit<NumuxProcessConfig, 'dependsOn' | 'workspaces'> {
diff --git a/src/ui/app.ts b/src/ui/app.ts
index 917003a..55eadb2 100644
--- a/src/ui/app.ts
+++ b/src/ui/app.ts
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ export class App {
 
 		// Tab bar (vertical sidebar)
 		const processHexColors = buildProcessHexColorMap(this.names, this.config)
-		this.tabBar = new TabBar(this.renderer, this.names, processHexColors)
+		this.tabBar = new TabBar(this.renderer, this.names, processHexColors, this.config.sort === 'status')
 
 		// Content row: sidebar | pane
 		const contentRow = new BoxRenderable(this.renderer, {
diff --git a/src/ui/tabs.ts b/src/ui/tabs.ts
index bafd538..7f8b159 100644
--- a/src/ui/tabs.ts
+++ b/src/ui/tabs.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ export const STATUS_ICON_HEX: Partial<Record<ProcessStatus, string>> = {
 /** Statuses that represent a terminal (done) state — tabs move to bottom */
 export const TERMINAL_STATUSES = new Set<ProcessStatus>(['finished', 'stopped', 'failed', 'skipped'])
 
+export function getDisplayOrder(originalNames: string[], statuses: Map<string, ProcessStatus>): string[] {
+	const active = originalNames.filter(n => !TERMINAL_STATUSES.has(statuses.get(n)!))
+	const terminal = originalNames.filter(n => TERMINAL_STATUSES.has(statuses.get(n)!))
+	return [...active, ...terminal]
+}
+
 export function formatTab(name: string, status: ProcessStatus): string {
 	return `${STATUS_ICONS[status]} ${name}`
 }
@@ -48,12 +54,6 @@ export function formatDescription(status: ProcessStatus, exitCode?: number | nul
 	return desc
 }
 
-export function getDisplayOrder(originalNames: string[], statuses: Map<string, ProcessStatus>): string[] {
-	const active = originalNames.filter(n => !TERMINAL_STATUSES.has(statuses.get(n)!))
-	const terminal = originalNames.filter(n => TERMINAL_STATUSES.has(statuses.get(n)!))
-	return [...active, ...terminal]
-}
-
 export function resolveOptionColors(
 	names: string[],
 	statuses: Map<string, ProcessStatus>,
@@ -182,13 +182,15 @@ export class TabBar {
 	private statuses: Map<string, ProcessStatus>
 	private baseDescriptions: Map<string, string>
 	private processColors: Map<string, string>
+	private reorderByStatus: boolean
 	private inputWaiting = new Set<string>()
 	private erroredProcesses = new Set<string>()
 	private searchMatchCounts = new Map<string, number>()
 
-	constructor(renderer: CliRenderer, names: string[], colors?: Map<string, string>) {
+	constructor(renderer: CliRenderer, names: string[], colors?: Map<string, string>, reorderByStatus = false) {
 		this.originalNames = names
 		this.names = [...names]
+		this.reorderByStatus = reorderByStatus
 		this.statuses = new Map(names.map(n => [n, 'pending' as ProcessStatus]))
 		this.baseDescriptions = new Map(names.map(n => [n, 'pending']))
 		this.processColors = colors ?? new Map()
@@ -270,24 +272,19 @@ export class TabBar {
 	}
 
 	private refreshOptions(): void {
-		// Preserve currently selected name
-		const currentIdx = this.renderable.getSelectedIndex()
-		const currentName = this.names[currentIdx]
-
-		// Reorder: active first, terminal states at bottom
-		this.names = getDisplayOrder(this.originalNames, this.statuses)
-
+		if (this.reorderByStatus) {
+			const currentIdx = this.renderable.getSelectedIndex()
+			const currentName = this.names[currentIdx]
+			this.names = getDisplayOrder(this.originalNames, this.statuses)
+			const newIdx = this.names.indexOf(currentName)
+			if (newIdx >= 0 && newIdx !== currentIdx) {
+				this.renderable.setSelectedIndex(newIdx)
+			}
+		}
 		this.renderable.options = this.names.map(n => ({
 			name: formatTab(n, this.statuses.get(n)!),
 			description: this.getDescription(n)
 		}))
-
-		// Restore selection by name
-		const newIdx = this.names.indexOf(currentName)
-		if (newIdx >= 0 && newIdx !== currentIdx) {
-			this.renderable.setSelectedIndex(newIdx)
-		}
-
 		this.updateOptionColors()
 	}