diff --git a/src/mcpd/src/services/instance.service.ts b/src/mcpd/src/services/instance.service.ts
index 7129f67..6e72bcc 100644
--- a/src/mcpd/src/services/instance.service.ts
+++ b/src/mcpd/src/services/instance.service.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ export class InstanceService {
       if ((inst.status === 'RUNNING' || inst.status === 'STARTING') && inst.containerId) {
         try {
           const info = await this.orchestrator.inspectContainer(inst.containerId);
+
           if (info.state === 'stopped' || info.state === 'error') {
             // Container died — get last logs for error context
             let errorMsg = `Container ${info.state}`;
@@ -60,6 +61,12 @@ export class InstanceService {
             await this.instanceRepo.updateStatus(inst.id, 'ERROR', {
               metadata: { error: errorMsg },
             });
+          } else if (info.state === 'starting' && inst.status === 'RUNNING') {
+            // Pod went back to starting (e.g. CrashLoopBackOff restart)
+            await this.instanceRepo.updateStatus(inst.id, 'STARTING', {});
+          } else if (info.state === 'running' && inst.status === 'STARTING') {
+            // Pod became ready — promote to RUNNING
+            await this.instanceRepo.updateStatus(inst.id, 'RUNNING', {});
           }
         } catch {
           // Container gone entirely
@@ -305,7 +312,8 @@ export class InstanceService {
         updateFields.port = containerInfo.port;
       }
 
-      instance = await this.instanceRepo.updateStatus(instance.id, 'RUNNING', updateFields);
+      // Set STARTING — syncStatus will promote to RUNNING once the container is actually ready
+      instance = await this.instanceRepo.updateStatus(instance.id, 'STARTING', updateFields);
     } catch (err) {
       instance = await this.instanceRepo.updateStatus(instance.id, 'ERROR', {
         metadata: { error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err) },
diff --git a/src/mcpd/tests/mcp-server-flow.test.ts b/src/mcpd/tests/mcp-server-flow.test.ts
index 5cbc831..ce3c348 100644
--- a/src/mcpd/tests/mcp-server-flow.test.ts
+++ b/src/mcpd/tests/mcp-server-flow.test.ts
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ describe('MCP server full flow', () => {
       expect(instancesRes.statusCode).toBe(200);
       const instances = instancesRes.json<Array<{ id: string; status: string; containerId: string }>>();
       expect(instances).toHaveLength(1);
-      expect(instances[0]!.status).toBe('RUNNING');
+      expect(instances[0]!.status).toBe('STARTING');
       expect(instances[0]!.containerId).toBeTruthy();
 
       // 3. Verify orchestrator was called with correct spec
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@ describe('MCP server full flow', () => {
       expect(listRes.statusCode).toBe(200);
       const instances = listRes.json<Array<{ id: string; status: string }>>();
       expect(instances).toHaveLength(1);
-      expect(instances[0]!.status).toBe('RUNNING');
+      expect(instances[0]!.status).toBe('STARTING');
       const instanceId = instances[0]!.id;
 
       // Delete instance → triggers reconcile → new instance auto-created