diff --git a/apps/api-daemon/src/server.ts b/apps/api-daemon/src/server.ts
index 451a6b8..dd08646 100644
--- a/apps/api-daemon/src/server.ts
+++ b/apps/api-daemon/src/server.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import express from "express";
 import { prisma } from "@streamclipper/db";
 import { env } from "./env";
-import { lastPollErrors } from "./youtubePolling";
+import { lastPollErrors, lastPollDebug } from "./youtubePolling";
 import { lastCaptureDebug } from "./capture/streamIngest";
 
 export function startServer() {
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ export function startServer() {
         recording: c.sessions.length > 0,
         activeSessionId: c.sessions[0]?.id ?? null,
         lastPollError: lastPollErrors.get(c.channelId) ?? null,
+        lastPollDebug: lastPollDebug.get(c.channelId) ?? null,
       })),
     });
   });
diff --git a/apps/api-daemon/src/youtubePolling.ts b/apps/api-daemon/src/youtubePolling.ts
index 477961b..91a9b01 100644
--- a/apps/api-daemon/src/youtubePolling.ts
+++ b/apps/api-daemon/src/youtubePolling.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,14 @@ const BROWSER_USER_AGENT =
  */
 export const lastPollErrors = new Map<string, string>();
 
+/**
+ * Diagnostic snapshot of the last check per channel, kept regardless of
+ * outcome — unlike lastPollErrors (cleared on a clean "not live" result),
+ * this stays populated so a genuinely-live channel that's misreported as
+ * offline can still be debugged via GET /status.
+ */
+export const lastPollDebug = new Map<string, string>();
+
 /**
  * Two earlier approaches both had real problems:
  *  - A naive regex over the channel /live page HTML grabbed the FIRST
@@ -56,6 +64,13 @@ async function findLiveVideoId(channelId: string): Promise<string | null> {
     lastPollErrors.delete(channelId);
 
     const match = html.match(/"videoDetails":\{"videoId":"([^"]+)"/);
+    const hasConsentForm = /action="https:\/\/consent\.youtube\.com/.test(html);
+    lastPollDebug.set(
+      channelId,
+      `finalUrl=${res.url} htmlLength=${html.length} cookieSent=${Boolean(cookieHeader)} ` +
+        `hasVideoDetails=${Boolean(match)} hasConsentForm=${hasConsentForm}`,
+    );
+
     if (!match) return null;
 
     const window = html.slice(match.index!, match.index! + 600);