diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 5542dcb..8179d8c 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func isAuthExempt(cmd *cobra.Command) bool {
 
 	// Check if the top-level command is in the exempt list
 	switch topLevel.Name() {
-	case "login", "logout", "help", "completion", "create", "mcp", "upgrade":
+	case "login", "logout", "help", "completion", "create", "mcp", "upgrade", "status":
 		return true
 	case "auth":
 		// Only exempt the auth command itself (status display), not its subcommands
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ func init() {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(createCmd)
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(mcp.MCPCmd)
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(upgradeCmd)
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(statusCmd)
 
 	rootCmd.PersistentPostRunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		// running synchronously so we never slow the command
diff --git a/cmd/status.go b/cmd/status.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..749416c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/status.go
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/pterm/pterm"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+type statusComponent struct {
+	Name   string `json:"name"`
+	Status string `json:"status"`
+}
+
+type statusGroup struct {
+	Name       string            `json:"name"`
+	Status     string            `json:"status"`
+	Components []statusComponent `json:"components"`
+}
+
+type statusResponse struct {
+	Status string        `json:"status"`
+	Groups []statusGroup `json:"groups"`
+}
+
+const defaultBaseURL = "https://api.onkernel.com"
+
+var statusCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "status",
+	Short: "Check the operational status of Kernel services",
+	RunE:  runStatus,
+}
+
+func init() {
+	statusCmd.Flags().StringP("output", "o", "", "Output format (json)")
+}
+
+func getBaseURL() string {
+	if u := os.Getenv("KERNEL_BASE_URL"); strings.TrimSpace(u) != "" {
+		return strings.TrimRight(u, "/")
+	}
+	return defaultBaseURL
+}
+
+func runStatus(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+	output, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("output")
+
+	client := &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second}
+	resp, err := client.Get(getBaseURL() + "/status")
+	if err != nil {
+		pterm.Error.Println("Could not reach Kernel API. Check https://status.kernel.sh for updates.")
+		return fmt.Errorf("request failed: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	if resp.StatusCode < 200 || resp.StatusCode >= 300 {
+		pterm.Error.Println("Could not reach Kernel API. Check https://status.kernel.sh for updates.")
+		return fmt.Errorf("status request failed: %s", resp.Status)
+	}
+
+	var status statusResponse
+	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&status); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid response: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if output == "json" {
+		enc := json.NewEncoder(os.Stdout)
+		enc.SetIndent("", "  ")
+		return enc.Encode(status)
+	}
+
+	printStatus(status)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Colors match the dashboard's api-status-indicator.tsx
+var statusDisplay = map[string]struct {
+	label string
+	rgb   pterm.RGB
+}{
+	"operational":          {label: "Operational", rgb: pterm.NewRGB(31, 163, 130)},
+	"degraded_performance": {label: "Degraded Performance", rgb: pterm.NewRGB(245, 158, 11)},
+	"partial_outage":       {label: "Partial Outage", rgb: pterm.NewRGB(242, 85, 51)},
+	"full_outage":          {label: "Major Outage", rgb: pterm.NewRGB(239, 68, 68)},
+	"maintenance":          {label: "Maintenance", rgb: pterm.NewRGB(36, 99, 235)},
+	"unknown":              {label: "Unknown", rgb: pterm.NewRGB(128, 128, 128)},
+}
+
+func getStatusDisplay(status string) (string, pterm.RGB) {
+	if d, ok := statusDisplay[status]; ok {
+		return d.label, d.rgb
+	}
+	return "Unknown", pterm.NewRGB(128, 128, 128)
+}
+
+func coloredDot(rgb pterm.RGB) string {
+	return rgb.Sprint("●")
+}
+
+func printStatus(resp statusResponse) {
+	label, rgb := getStatusDisplay(resp.Status)
+	header := fmt.Sprintf("Kernel Status: %s", rgb.Sprint(label))
+	pterm.Println()
+	pterm.Println("  " + header)
+
+	for _, group := range resp.Groups {
+		pterm.Println()
+		if len(group.Components) == 0 {
+			groupLabel, groupColor := getStatusDisplay(group.Status)
+			pterm.Printf("  %s %s  %s\n", coloredDot(groupColor), pterm.Bold.Sprint(group.Name), groupLabel)
+		} else {
+			pterm.Println("  " + pterm.Bold.Sprint(group.Name))
+			for _, comp := range group.Components {
+				compLabel, compColor := getStatusDisplay(comp.Status)
+				pterm.Printf("    %s %-20s %s\n", coloredDot(compColor), comp.Name, compLabel)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	pterm.Println()
+}