diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ede84835..3c75f428 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -44,6 +44,16 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   link was created with. The counters cover authenticated link frames only, so
   they are not expected to match the transport totals in `show_transports`.
   The response shape is unchanged.
+- `show_peers` (`fipsctl show peers`) now reports a peer that has gone quiet
+  as `stale`. Its `connectivity` was read from a state that nothing outside
+  the tests ever changed, so every peer read `connected` until it was
+  removed, including one that had stopped answering tens of seconds earlier.
+  The value is now derived from how long the peer has been silent: `connected`
+  while its idle time is at or below `heartbeat_interval_secs`, and `stale`
+  above it, the same rule that decides whether discovery re-dials an active
+  peer on the path it already has. The `reconnecting` and `disconnected`
+  values the open-discovery tutorial described never occurred, and the
+  tutorial no longer lists them. The response shape is unchanged.
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/docs/tutorials/advertise-your-node.md b/docs/tutorials/advertise-your-node.md
index b22b4154..7f2ffeb2 100644
--- a/docs/tutorials/advertise-your-node.md
+++ b/docs/tutorials/advertise-your-node.md
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ sudo fipsctl show peers
 
 In addition to your configured `test-us01` peer, you may see
 an entry for `test-us03` (the open-discovery test mesh node).
-It will have `connectivity` active and its own
+It will have `connectivity` `connected` and its own
 `transport_addr`. This peering appeared without you
 configuring anything — the test-mesh open-discovery node saw
 your advert, dialed the endpoint, and Noise IK established
diff --git a/docs/tutorials/open-discovery.md b/docs/tutorials/open-discovery.md
index 815897f8..0f13af04 100644
--- a/docs/tutorials/open-discovery.md
+++ b/docs/tutorials/open-discovery.md
@@ -200,11 +200,14 @@ You should see considerably more entries than before:
 Each entry has its own `connectivity` state, and every entry
 that appears here completed a handshake at least once: a peer
 whose advert was stale, or that NAT traversal never reached,
-produces no entry at all rather than a failed one. Healthy links
-read `connected`. A link not heard from recently reads `stale`
-and still carries traffic; one that dropped and is being retried
-reads `reconnecting`, and one explicitly torn down reads
-`disconnected`. Neither of the last two can send.
+produces no entry at all rather than a failed one. A link heard
+from within the last heartbeat interval
+(`node.heartbeat_interval_secs`, 10 seconds by default) reads
+`connected`. One silent for longer reads `stale`; it still
+carries traffic, and it reads `connected` again as soon as the
+peer is heard from. A link that stays silent until it is declared
+dead is removed, so its entry disappears rather than changing
+state.
 
 To get a list of just the connected links:
 
diff --git a/src/control/queries.rs b/src/control/queries.rs
index 5768e480..c1e03b73 100644
--- a/src/control/queries.rs
+++ b/src/control/queries.rs
@@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ pub fn show_peers(node: &Node) -> Value {
     // start (no peer has SRTT) every peer uses the default link cost of 1.0.
     let any_peer_has_srtt = node.peers().any(|p| p.has_srtt());
 
+    let now = now_ms();
     let peers: Vec<Value> = node
         .peers()
         .map(|peer| {
@@ -267,7 +268,7 @@ pub fn show_peers(node: &Node) -> Value {
                 "npub": peer.npub(),
                 "display_name": node.peer_display_name(&node_addr),
                 "ipv6_addr": format!("{}", peer.address()),
-                "connectivity": format!("{}", peer.connectivity()),
+                "connectivity": format!("{}", node.peer_connectivity(peer, now)),
                 "link_id": peer.link_id().as_u64(),
                 "authenticated_at_ms": peer.authenticated_at(),
                 "last_seen_ms": peer.last_seen(),
diff --git a/src/node/lifecycle/mod.rs b/src/node/lifecycle/mod.rs
index 1e40b272..f30cb3d8 100644
--- a/src/node/lifecycle/mod.rs
+++ b/src/node/lifecycle/mod.rs
@@ -3171,13 +3171,7 @@ impl Node {
         let Some(peer) = self.peers.get(peer_node_addr) else {
             return false;
         };
-        let stale_after_ms = self
-            .config()
-            .node
-            .heartbeat_interval_secs
-            .saturating_mul(1000)
-            .max(1000);
-        peer.idle_time(Self::now_ms()) > stale_after_ms
+        self.peer_link_is_stale(peer, Self::now_ms())
     }
 
     fn active_peer_matches_any_candidate(
diff --git a/src/node/mod.rs b/src/node/mod.rs
index ca4f2877..aff6a43a 100644
--- a/src/node/mod.rs
+++ b/src/node/mod.rs
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ use self::reloadable::Reloadable;
 pub(crate) const REKEY_JITTER_SECS: i64 = 15;
 use crate::cache::CoordCache;
 use crate::node::session::SessionEntry;
-use crate::peer::ActivePeer;
 use crate::peer::machine::{PeerMachine, TimerKind};
+use crate::peer::{ActivePeer, ConnectivityState};
 use crate::proto::bloom::{BloomFilter, BloomState};
 use crate::proto::fmp::Fmp;
 use crate::proto::fmp::wire::{
@@ -2141,6 +2141,7 @@ impl Node {
         // SRTT) every peer falls back to the default link cost of 1.0.
         let any_peer_has_srtt = self.peers().any(|p| p.has_srtt());
 
+        let now_ms = Self::now_ms();
         let peer_rows: Vec<snap::PeerRow> = self
             .peers()
             .map(|peer| {
@@ -2193,7 +2194,7 @@ impl Node {
                     npub: peer.npub(),
                     display_name: self.peer_display_name(&node_addr),
                     ipv6_addr: format!("{}", peer.address()),
-                    connectivity: format!("{}", peer.connectivity()),
+                    connectivity: format!("{}", self.peer_connectivity(peer, now_ms)),
                     link_id: peer.link_id().as_u64(),
                     authenticated_at_ms: peer.authenticated_at(),
                     last_seen_ms: peer.last_seen(),
@@ -2841,6 +2842,35 @@ impl Node {
         self.peers.values()
     }
 
+    /// Whether an active peer has been silent at `now_ms` for longer than the
+    /// configured heartbeat interval, floored at one second.
+    ///
+    /// The one idle-time liveness rule: the control socket reports such a peer
+    /// as `stale`, and discovery re-dials it on the path it already has.
+    pub(in crate::node) fn peer_link_is_stale(&self, peer: &ActivePeer, now_ms: u64) -> bool {
+        let stale_after_ms = self
+            .config()
+            .node
+            .heartbeat_interval_secs
+            .saturating_mul(1000)
+            .max(1000);
+        peer.idle_time(now_ms) > stale_after_ms
+    }
+
+    /// Connectivity of an active peer as the control socket reports it:
+    /// `Stale` when [`Self::peer_link_is_stale`] holds at `now_ms`, otherwise
+    /// `Connected`.
+    ///
+    /// Derived from idle time rather than read from the state stored on the
+    /// peer, which nothing in production changes after promotion.
+    pub(crate) fn peer_connectivity(&self, peer: &ActivePeer, now_ms: u64) -> ConnectivityState {
+        if self.peer_link_is_stale(peer, now_ms) {
+            ConnectivityState::Stale
+        } else {
+            ConnectivityState::Connected
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Reference to the Nostr discovery handle if discovery is enabled.
     /// Used by control queries (`show_peers` per-peer Nostr-traversal
     /// state) to read failure-state without taking shared ownership.
diff --git a/src/node/tests/control.rs b/src/node/tests/control.rs
index 4bdf9fb8..dbb08b99 100644
--- a/src/node/tests/control.rs
+++ b/src/node/tests/control.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 //! socket framing.
 
 use super::*;
+use heartbeat::set_heartbeat_interval;
 use spanning_tree::{
     TestNode, add_loopback_alias, cleanup_nodes, drain_all_packets, make_test_node,
     process_available_packets, run_tree_test,
@@ -421,3 +422,110 @@ async fn show_links_reports_the_traffic_counters_of_the_peer_bound_to_each_link(
 
     cleanup_nodes(&mut nodes).await;
 }
+
+/// Insert an authenticated peer last heard from at `last_seen_ms` and return
+/// its address.
+fn insert_peer_last_seen_at(node: &mut Node, link: u64, last_seen_ms: u64) -> NodeAddr {
+    let identity = PeerIdentity::from_pubkey_full(Identity::generate().pubkey_full());
+    let addr = *identity.node_addr();
+    node.peers.insert(
+        addr,
+        ActivePeer::new(identity, LinkId::new(link), last_seen_ms),
+    );
+    addr
+}
+
+/// The `connectivity` string a `show_peers` response gives the peer at `addr`.
+fn connectivity_of(peers: &serde_json::Value, addr: &NodeAddr) -> String {
+    let addr_hex = hex::encode(addr.as_bytes());
+    peers["peers"]
+        .as_array()
+        .expect("show_peers returns a peers array")
+        .iter()
+        .find(|row| row["node_addr"] == addr_hex.as_str())
+        .and_then(|row| row["connectivity"].as_str())
+        .expect("show_peers lists the peer with a connectivity string")
+        .to_string()
+}
+
+/// Render `show_peers` on the loop, then publish a tick and render it again
+/// from the snapshot the control socket serves.
+fn show_peers_both_renders(node: &mut Node) -> [(&'static str, serde_json::Value); 2] {
+    let on_loop = crate::control::queries::show_peers(node);
+    node.record_stats_history();
+    let off_loop = crate::control::queries::show_peers_from_handle(&node.control_read_handle());
+    [("on-loop", on_loop), ("snapshot", off_loop)]
+}
+
+/// `show_peers` reports a peer silent for longer than the heartbeat interval
+/// as `stale`, and a peer heard from just now as `connected`, on both the
+/// on-loop render and the tick-published snapshot render.
+#[test]
+fn show_peers_reports_a_peer_idle_past_the_heartbeat_interval_as_stale() {
+    let mut node = make_node();
+    let interval_ms = node.config().node.heartbeat_interval_secs * 1000;
+    assert_eq!(interval_ms, 10_000, "the default heartbeat interval");
+    let now = Node::now_ms();
+    let fresh = insert_peer_last_seen_at(&mut node, 1, now);
+    let idle = insert_peer_last_seen_at(&mut node, 2, now - interval_ms - 5_000);
+
+    for (render, peers) in show_peers_both_renders(&mut node) {
+        assert_eq!(
+            connectivity_of(&peers, &idle),
+            "stale",
+            "{render} render, peer silent for 15 s"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            connectivity_of(&peers, &fresh),
+            "connected",
+            "{render} render, peer heard from just now"
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+/// The `stale` threshold is the configured heartbeat interval rather than a
+/// fixed ten seconds: with a 30 s interval a peer silent for 15 s still reads
+/// `connected`, and one silent for 35 s reads `stale`.
+#[test]
+fn show_peers_stale_threshold_follows_the_configured_heartbeat_interval() {
+    let mut node = make_node();
+    set_heartbeat_interval(&mut node, 30);
+    let now = Node::now_ms();
+    let quiet = insert_peer_last_seen_at(&mut node, 1, now - 15_000);
+    let idle = insert_peer_last_seen_at(&mut node, 2, now - 35_000);
+
+    for (render, peers) in show_peers_both_renders(&mut node) {
+        assert_eq!(
+            connectivity_of(&peers, &idle),
+            "stale",
+            "{render} render, peer silent for 35 s"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            connectivity_of(&peers, &quiet),
+            "connected",
+            "{render} render, peer silent for 15 s"
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+/// The derived connectivity changes at the heartbeat interval exactly: a peer
+/// silent for the whole interval still reads `connected`, and one millisecond
+/// more reads `stale`. A zero interval is floored at one second, the floor the
+/// discovery re-dial gate applies.
+#[test]
+fn peer_connectivity_turns_stale_one_millisecond_past_the_heartbeat_interval() {
+    let mut node = make_node();
+    let seen = 1_000_000;
+    let addr = insert_peer_last_seen_at(&mut node, 1, seen);
+    let at = |node: &Node, now_ms: u64| {
+        let peer = node.get_peer(&addr).expect("the peer was inserted");
+        node.peer_connectivity(peer, now_ms)
+    };
+
+    assert_eq!(at(&node, seen + 10_000), ConnectivityState::Connected);
+    assert_eq!(at(&node, seen + 10_001), ConnectivityState::Stale);
+
+    set_heartbeat_interval(&mut node, 0);
+    assert_eq!(at(&node, seen + 1_000), ConnectivityState::Connected);
+    assert_eq!(at(&node, seen + 1_001), ConnectivityState::Stale);
+}
diff --git a/src/node/tests/heartbeat.rs b/src/node/tests/heartbeat.rs
index 11e684f7..008d0968 100644
--- a/src/node/tests/heartbeat.rs
+++ b/src/node/tests/heartbeat.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ fn set_link_dead_timeout(node: &mut crate::node::Node, secs: u64) {
 
 /// Set `heartbeat_interval_secs` on an already-constructed node, the same way
 /// `set_link_dead_timeout` does.
-fn set_heartbeat_interval(node: &mut crate::node::Node, secs: u64) {
+pub(super) fn set_heartbeat_interval(node: &mut crate::node::Node, secs: u64) {
     node.replace_context(|ctx| {
         let mut cfg = (*ctx.config).clone();
         cfg.node.heartbeat_interval_secs = secs;